H-1B ML Engineer Salary in Washington (2024)
Prevailing wages, top employers, and LCA data for H-1B ml engineers in Washington.
Key Notes for Washington
Microsoft AI Research
Microsoft's AI research division (now including OpenAI investment products) in Redmond is a major H-1B ML sponsor. Azure AI and Copilot teams are growing rapidly.
Allen Institute for AI (AI2)
AI2 in Seattle is a cap-exempt non-profit research institution. Offers H-1B sponsorship without cap lottery for research scientist and ML engineer roles.
Amazon AWS ML Services
AWS ML Services team in Seattle sponsors ML engineers at high volume. SageMaker, Rekognition, Polly teams are large H-1B employers.
Highest ML Wages Outside Bay Area
Seattle's median ML Engineer LCA wage of $160K exceeds all other states except California.
Top H-1B Employers
- Microsoft AI
- Amazon AWS ML
- Google Brain Kirkland
- Apple ML Seattle
- Meta AI Seattle
- Allen Institute for AI
- Turi (Apple)
- NVIDIA Seattle
- Snowflake
- Tableau
Top Cities in Washington
- Seattle
- Redmond
- Bellevue
- Kirkland
- Bothell
- Issaquah
- Renton
- Tacoma
- Spokane
- Spokane Valley
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the prevailing wage for H-1B ML engineers in Washington state?
DOL prevailing wages for ML Engineers (SOC 15-1252) in Seattle MSA range from ~$111K (Level I) to ~$198K (Level IV). Median LCA wage is approximately $160,000 — second only to Bay Area.
Is the Allen Institute for AI (AI2) cap-exempt for H-1B?
Yes. AI2 qualifies as a non-profit research organization and is cap-exempt. This means H-1B petitions for AI2 positions can be filed at any time without going through the annual lottery.
Does Microsoft sponsor H-1B ML engineers at scale in Washington?
Yes. Microsoft is one of the top 5 H-1B sponsors in the US. Their Redmond campus has a large ML engineering workforce across Azure, Office, Bing, and research divisions. PERM green card sponsorship is also active.
How does Seattle compare to SF for H-1B ML engineers?
Seattle offers wages within 5–8% of SF, no state income tax, and significantly lower housing costs. The tradeoff is fewer employer options — Microsoft and Amazon dominate, with a smaller AI startup ecosystem than SF.
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