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 %
Mechanical Engineering Technicians	41	$55,477	75.93%
Chefs and Head Cooks	41	$57,017	78.85%
Fuel Cell Engineers	39	$125,040	75.00%
Aerospace Engineering and Operations Technicians	38	$61,881	82.61%
Medical and Clinical Laboratory Technicians	38	$51,387	82.61%
Genetic Counselors	37	$92,894	80.43%
Chemical Technicians	37	$40,351	80.43%
Geospatial Information Scientists and Technologists	36	$98,318	81.82%
Audiologists	35	$83,183	81.40%
Environmental Economists	34	$72,970	79.07%

Occupation	# of Jobs	Avg Wage	Approval %

Occupation	# of Jobs	Avg Wage	Approval %
Vocational Education Teachers, Postsecondary	9	$69,994	13.04%
Animal Scientists	9	$62,217	13.04%
Life, Physical, and Social Science Technicians, All Other	9	$56,814	13.04%
Slaughterers and Meat Packers	9	$20,821	13.04%
Geography Teachers, Postsecondary	8	$62,404	11.59%
Social Scientists and Related Workers, All Other	8	$80,972	11.59%
Automotive Body and Related Repairers	8	$43,612	11.59%
Marine Engineers and Naval Architects	8	$87,300	11.76%
Farmers, Ranchers, and Other Agricultural Managers	8	$63,037	11.76%
Cement Masons and Concrete Finishers	8	$40,235	11.94%

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 %
India	45,730	$175,901	47.43%
China	16,844	$109,259	50.79%
South Korea	4,340	$147,936	41.14%
Canada	3,905	$143,888	46.41%
Philippines	1,927	$470,682	35.63%
Taiwan	1,908	$260,805	44.94%
Mexico	1,361	$87,276	34.68%
United Kingdom	967	$111,850	44.71%
Japan	844	$231,744	40.04%
France	821	$108,315	46.73%

Top Hiring Companies in California (All Years)

Company	# of Jobs	Avg Wage	Approval %
Gyft Inc	27	$118,694	87.10%
Wsp Usa Buildings Inc	27	$91,415	87.10%
Dassault Systemes Simulia Corp	27	$95,972	87.10%
Petadata Software Llc	27	$101,567	87.10%
Velo3d Inc	27	$120,699	87.10%
The Brattle Group	27	$91,170	87.10%
Ravacons Llc	27	$97,758	87.10%
Toast Inc	27	$148,380	87.10%
Evergent Technologies Inc	27	$116,334	87.10%
General Electric Company Global Research Center	27	$103,994	87.10%

Company	# of Jobs	Avg Wage	Approval %

Company	# of Jobs	Avg Wage	Approval %
Agilone Llc	2	$77,844	33.33%
Bj Collection Inc	2	$91,229	33.33%
Tld Acquisition Co Llc Dba Tld Distribution Co	2	$58,968	33.33%
Arbor Vita Corporation	2	$81,245	33.33%
Agility Holdings	2	$153,858	33.33%
Korean Health Education Information And Research	2	$35,090	33.33%
Gigamon	2	$133,973	33.33%
Aperio Technologies Inc	2	$106,486	33.33%
Koryo Health Foundation	2	$60,195	33.33%
St Home Health Corporation	2	$83,866	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.