Meta went on a hiring spree in 2025, paying extraordinary salaries to secure top engineering and AI talent. According to a report by Business Insider, more than 5,800 federal H-1B and other work visa applications, the company offered base salaries that rival Silicon Valley’s highest pay scales. As per the H-1B visa data one software engineer earned $450,000 a year, a research engineer took home $400,000, and a product manager received $348,000 all the before stock options, bonuses and perks. A vice president of AI commanded a base salary of $650,000, underscoring Meta’s willingness to pay premiums for specialized roles.
Salaries across key roles at Meta
The filings show that most new hires earned between $150,000 and $250,000, but senior technical and AI-focused positions were compensated far higher. Examples include:
- AI Research Scientist: $163,800 – $328,000
- Machine Learning Engineer: $165,000 – $250,602
- Research Engineer: $124,000 – $400,000
- Software Engineer: $124,000 – $450,000
- UX Researcher: $163,000 – $292,160
- Data Scientist: $122,760 – $295,703
- Product Designer: $132,991 – $279,594
These figures reflect base salaries only, excluding stock options and bonuses that can double or triple total compensation. For high-level researchers, Meta reportedly offered total packages exceeding $100 million.
Here’s a look at the salary range of H-1B employees at Meta
| Role | Salary Range (USD) |
| Software Engineer | $124,000 – $450,000 |
| Research Engineer | $124,000 – $400,000 |
| Product Manager | $165,485 – $348,101 |
| Vice President of AI | $650,000 |
| AI Research Scientist | $163,800 – $328,000 |
| Machine Learning Engineer | $165,000 – $250,602 |
| Machine Learning Systems Engineer | $250,000 |
| ML Engineer | $193,000 – $287,042 |
| Product Manager, Machine Learning | $252,000 |
| Product Policy Manager, GenAI | $198,000 |
| Software Engineer, Machine Learning | $144,096 – $293,118 |
| Software Engineer – ML Generalist | $221,024 |
| Software Engineering Manager, ML | $258,524 |
| Software Systems ML Engineer | $270,732 |
| Applied Research Scientist | $181,786 – $265,129 |
| Research Engineer Manager | $289,144 |
| Research Engineering Manager | $276,678 |
| Research Scientist | $135,516 – $302,134 |
| Research Scientist, Central Applied Science | $263,803 |
| Research Scientist Manager | $258,524 – $263,803 |
| Thermal Research Engineer | $254,000 |
| User Experience Researcher | $170,000 – $242,050 |
| UX Researcher | $163,000 – $292,160 |
| UX Research Science Manager | $302,134 |
| ASIC & FPGA Engineer | $299,880 |
| ASIC Manager, Design Verification | $258,940 – $299,880 |
| Director, Production Engineering | $354,123 |
| Embedded Software Engineer | $169,313 – $269,081 |
| Front End Engineer | $178,000 – $282,461 |
| Production Engineer | $108,098 – $317,242 |
| Production Engineering Manager | $258,524 – $309,797 |
| Senior Staff Software Engineer | $311,029 |
| Software Engineer (Leadership) – Infrastructure | $317,797 |
| Software Engineering Manager | $200,907 – $328,000 |
| Software Engineer Manager | $277,837 – $318,000 |
| Sr Staff Hardware Engineer | $294,520 |
| Staff Software Engineer | $258,524 – $263,803 |
| Database Engineering Manager | $287,470 |
| Data Engineer | $125,068 – $270,000 |
| Data Engineering Director | $336,606 |
| Data Engineer Manager | $224,028 – $305,406 |
| Data Engineering Manager, Analytics | $234,781 – $289,786 |
| Data Science Manager | $230,498 – $305,000 |
| Data Science Manager, Analytics | $260,000 |
| Data Scientist | $122,760 – $295,703 |
| Data Scientist, Analytics | $171,000 – $267,703 |
| Data Scientist Manager | $248,920 – $264,461 |
| Data Scientist, Product Analytics | $162,000 – $260,516 |
| Tech Lead, Data Science | $259,085 |
| Business API Product Marketing Manager | $269,719 |
| IDC Program Manager | $211,934 – $285,564 |
| Product Design Director | $328,103 – $344,171 |
| Product Designer | $132,991 – $279,594 |
| Product Design Manager | $234,706 – $279,594 |
| Product Marketing Manager | $195,000 – $248,000 |
| Program Manager, Performance | $258,950 |
| Technical Program Management Manager | $266,429 |
| Technical Program Manager | $164,131 – $289,397 |
| Trust Compliance & Operations Program Manager | $258,774 |
| Director | $359,940 |
| Director, Product Management | $333,200 – $348,902 |
| Director, Product Strategy | $347,214 |
| Director, Regulatory Escalations | $295,862 |
| Director of Security, Integrity & Investigations Data | $294,000 |
| HR Director, GBG & International HR | $352,416 |
| Product Management Director | $346,240 |
| Technical Lead Manager | $308,566 |
| VP, FoA, Marketing | $476,600 |
Visa trends and workforce shifts
As per the data about half of Meta’s visa hires in 2025 were software engineers, this figure highlight the dependence of the company on international talent. However, the filings also suggest that the fillings in the last quarter of 2025 halved compared to the previous year because of the changes made to the H-1B visa program by the Trump government. During the same period, Meta continued with its restructuring and aggressive expansion of its AI workforce. By year’s end, Meta reported 78,865 employees in its 10-K filing.
