Newly analyzed work visa filings from 2025 show Meta offered base salaries up to $450,000 for software engineers and up to $650,000 for a vice president of AI.

Thousands of foreign worker visa applications offer a granular look into Meta's compensation strategies, revealing base pay figures that exclude stock and bonus packages. These disclosures establish a new public benchmark, influencing tech industry hiring negotiations and budget allocations. They underscore Meta's aggressive investment in AI as a core strategic priority, highlighting the premium placed on specialized technical roles and signaling an escalating war for top-tier engineering and AI talent.

What We Know So Far

  • Meta offered base salaries of up to $450,000 to at least one software engineer in 2025, according to an analysis of visa filings reported by multiple outlets.
  • A vice president focused on artificial intelligence can command a base salary as high as $650,000, the highest figure reported in the data set.
  • The majority of Meta's employees or new hires included in the filings earn base salaries in the more common range of $150,000 to $250,000.
  • This salary information is drawn from a large-scale analysis of more than 5,000 H-1B and other work visa applications filed by Meta, as first reported by Business Insider and cited by publications like livemint.com.
  • Crucially, the visa filing data includes only annual base salary. It does not account for other significant components of tech compensation, such as stock options, signing bonuses, or performance-based pay.

How Much Do Meta Engineers Make in 2026?

A reported base salary of $450,000 for a software engineer stands out in the latest data, anchoring the upper end of Meta's pay scale. While likely an outlier for a highly specialized or senior role, this figure demonstrates the company's financial commitment to exceptional engineering talent. It illustrates the peak market rate for individual contributors in critical technical domains, providing a key benchmark for high-level engineering compensation.

Most of Meta's technical hires, including many software engineers, reportedly fall within a base salary range of $150,000 to $250,000. This range represents the company's core compensation structure, offering a more realistic baseline comparable to industry standards for companies competing for similar talent pools. It provides a grounded view of typical compensation, complementing the peak figures.