We now have Quarter 4 H1B visa FY 2023 data and Quarter 4 PERM visa FY 2023 data and Quarter 4 H2A visa FY 2023 data.
Employer Search tool is moved to it's own page: "H1B Visa Data Search Tool"

California Foreign Labor Visa Stats (All Years)

Total Visas	% of all Visas	Average Wage	Visa Type
1,236,055	87.25%	$104,510	H-1B
144,051	10.17%	$144,477	PERM
30,331	2.14%	$109,456	E-3 Australian
6,165	0.44%	$31,590	H-2A

As of May 2023, California has seen a total of 1,416,602 visa workers across all visa types. The most common visa class in California is the H-1B visa with 1,236,055 H-1B visas on record over all years accounting for 87.25% of California's total visas. The second most prevalent visa is the PERM visa with 144,051 PERM visas on record over all years accounting for 10.17% of California's total visas.

Top Occupations in California (All Years)

Occupation	# of Jobs	Avg Wage	Approval %
Training and Development Managers	180	$117,139	87.38%
Education Teachers, Postsecondary	176	$63,250	85.85%
Communications Teachers, Postsecondary	166	$65,820	81.77%
Social Scientists and Related Workers, All Other	165	$64,807	82.50%
Psychology Teachers, Postsecondary	161	$61,775	83.42%
Coaches and Scouts	160	$42,737	83.33%
Personal Financial Advisors	158	$61,946	85.41%
Epidemiologists	158	$75,201	87.29%
Atmospheric and Space Scientists	156	$71,675	87.15%
Clinical Research Coordinators	150	$109,276	84.27%

Occupation	# of Jobs	Avg Wage	Approval %

Occupation	# of Jobs	Avg Wage	Approval %
English Language and Literature Teachers, Postsecondary	26	$57,706	21.67%
Soil and Plant Scientists	26	$60,855	21.67%
Business Operations Specialists, All Other	26	$83,497	21.67%
Physicists	26	$83,044	21.85%
Meeting, Convention, and Event Planners	25	$55,351	21.01%
History Teachers, Postsecondary	25	$63,161	21.19%
Political Science Teachers, Postsecondary	25	$64,302	21.37%
Chiropractors	25	$48,205	21.37%
Dietitians and Nutritionists	24	$59,296	20.51%
Compensation, Benefits, and Job Analysis Specialists	24	$73,417	20.51%

California Employees Over Time

California has been in the H1B Visa program since 2011 where 50,870 employees were hired. California peaked in 2018 with 106,682 employees, and has since been on a decline with the most recent number of employees being 18,356 in 2025.

Top Countries with Workers in California From PERM Program (All Years)

Country	# of Jobs	Avg Wage	Approval %
Norway	34	$104,293	44.16%
Syria	34	$71,129	49.28%
Burma (myanmar)	31	$99,295	47.69%
Saudi Arabia	28	$99,049	43.75%
Panama	26	$9,318,560	40.63%
Honduras	25	$73,989	39.68%
Morocco	24	$89,089	42.11%
Slovakia	19	$103,675	37.25%
Uruguay	18	$115,432	38.30%
Estonia	18	$100,030	39.13%

Top Hiring Companies in California (All Years)

Company	# of Jobs	Avg Wage	Approval %
Qualcomm Global Services Inc	28	$89,990	87.50%
Acerta Pharma Llc	28	$117,346	87.50%
Federal Home Loan Bank Of San Francisco	28	$142,010	87.50%
Lululemon Usa Inc	28	$121,517	87.50%
Deliverr Inc	28	$133,334	87.50%
Itamerica Inc	28	$108,361	87.50%
Invincible Tech Systems Inc	28	$106,000	87.50%
Mufg Bank Ltd	28	$124,842	87.50%
Cyphort Inc	28	$115,134	87.50%
Peel Technologies Inc	28	$123,166	87.50%

Company	# of Jobs	Avg Wage	Approval %

Company	# of Jobs	Avg Wage	Approval %
Wilshire United Methodist Church	2	$47,591	33.33%
Jae Electronics Inc	2	$125,195	33.33%
Mirrorplus Technologies Inc	2	$123,490	33.33%
First Imperial Trading Co	2	$120,256	33.33%
Sgs Testcom Inc	2	$76,565	33.33%
Pba Inc	2	$83,190	33.33%
Bling Bling Inc	2	$45,729	33.33%
La Noosha Inc	2	$29,557	33.33%
Asiana Airlines	2	$103,241	33.33%
Dci Llc Db In Ca As Dci Investment Management Llc	2	$112,757	33.33%

Top Industries in California (All Years)

Industry	# of Jobs	Avg Wage	Approval %
Custom Computer Programming Services	328,913	$94,835	91.21%
Computer Systems Design Services	121,832	$116,724	89.70%
Electronic Computer Manufacturing	37,523	$142,016	95.44%
Computer Systems Design And Related Services	34,399	$108,216	89.27%
Other Computer Related Services	30,473	$99,261	87.04%
Colleges Universities And Professional Schools	28,127	$71,811	80.45%
Computing Infrastructure Providers Data Processing Web Hosting And Related Services	26,488	$136,777	92.89%
Semiconductor And Other Electronic Component Manufacturing	21,436	$116,803	90.15%
Semiconductor And Related Device Manufacturing	20,987	$117,887	88.28%
Engineering Services	20,720	$89,583	88.39%

Industry	# of Jobs	Avg Wage	Approval %
Farm Labor Contractors And Crew Leaders	1,804	$33,453	100.00%
Sheep Farming	1,164	$29,844	100.00%
Support Activities For Crop Production	557	$35,723	100.00%
Apiculture	463	$34,353	100.00%
Other Vegetable Except Potato And Melon Farming	322	$34,093	100.00%
Strawberry Farming	238	$31,453	100.00%
Noncitrus Fruit And Tree Nut Farming	188	$34,068	100.00%
Vegetable And Melon Farming	174	$35,597	100.00%
Grape Vineyards	158	$34,478	100.00%
Fruit And Tree Nut Farming	115	$35,908	100.00%

Industry	# of Jobs	Avg Wage	Approval %
Custom Computer Programming Services	42,277	$126,369	100.00%
Computer Systems Design Services	31,732	$121,451	100.00%
Electronic Computer Manufacturing	20,167	$122,175	100.00%
Semiconductor And Other Electronic Component Manufacturing	11,113	$108,986	100.00%
Computer Systems Design And Related Services	8,432	$233,746	100.00%
Semiconductor And Related Device Manufacturing	7,014	$113,231	100.00%
Other Computer Related Services	6,933	$115,320	100.00%
Radio And Television Broadcasting And Wireless Communications Equipment Manufacturing	6,653	$99,660	100.00%
Computing Infrastructure Providers Data Processing Web Hosting And Related Services	6,193	$125,793	100.00%
Engineering Services	4,766	$119,176	100.00%

California Wage Comparison to Other States (All Years)

The chart below compares The average wage in California to that of the other top 9 states with the highest overall average H1-B wage. The average wage in California over all years is $104,510. California has the highest average wage of H1-B workers for all states, with the second highest average wage being WA with an average wage of $103,635.