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 %
Climate Change Analysts 34 $85,334 82.93%
Environmental Engineering Technicians 34 $58,254 82.93%
Video Game Designers 33 $92,723 80.49%
Criminal Justice and Law Enforcement Teachers, Postsecondary 33 $74,707 80.49%
Financial Managers, Branch or Department 33 $137,990 82.50%
Substance Abuse and Behavioral Disorder Counselors 32 $38,833 82.05%
Copy Writers 32 $65,849 84.21%
Producers 31 $82,957 81.58%
Archivists 29 $52,696 78.38%
Environmental Science and Protection Technicians, Including Health 29 $47,352 78.38%
Occupation # of Jobs Avg Wage Approval %
Occupation # of Jobs Avg Wage Approval %
Commercial Pilots 8 $72,754 11.94%
Social Scientists and Related Workers, All Other 8 $80,972 11.94%
Cement Masons and Concrete Finishers 8 $40,235 11.94%
Automotive Body and Related Repairers 8 $43,612 11.94%
Logistics Analysts 8 $63,521 11.94%
Survey Researchers 7 $43,202 10.45%
Petroleum Engineers 7 $103,676 10.61%
Logistics Engineers 7 $100,011 10.61%
Chemical Technicians 7 $43,029 10.61%
Aircraft Mechanics and Service Technicians 7 $79,230 10.77%
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 %
Lithuania 18 $98,405 39.13%
Uzbekistan 17 $77,721 39.53%
Jamaica 17 $65,783 42.50%
Georgia 17 $98,550 44.74%
Tunisia 16 $96,939 43.24%
Cambodia 16 $77,044 44.44%
Iceland 16 $105,401 47.06%
Dominican Republic 16 $105,647 48.48%
Moldova 15 $84,771 45.45%
Croatia 15 $109,838 45.45%

Top Hiring Companies in California (All Years)

Company # of Jobs Avg Wage Approval %
Right Click Systems Llc 28 $73,691 87.50%
Varnar Inc 28 $94,662 87.50%
Sony Music Holdings Inc 28 $89,444 87.50%
Mci Communications Services Llc 28 $153,897 87.50%
Nominum Inc 28 $114,981 87.50%
Kiranam Technologies Inc 28 $85,232 87.50%
Hughes Network Systems Llc 28 $83,809 87.50%
Anjus Llc 28 $88,991 87.50%
M9 Consulting Inc 28 $100,243 87.50%
Therapy Mantra Inc 28 $78,484 87.50%
Company # of Jobs Avg Wage Approval %
Company # of Jobs Avg Wage Approval %
Int Technologies Llc 2 $78,364 33.33%
Otis Spunkmeyer 2 $80,423 33.33%
Js Auto Tech Inc 2 $68,422 33.33%
Mellanox Technologies Inc 2 $98,634 33.33%
Ljb Group Llc Dba For Speed Oil Change Center 2 $74,495 33.33%
Saion Corp 2 $71,094 33.33%
Edgile Inc 2 $127,774 33.33%
Heschong Mahone Group Inc 2 $64,407 33.33%
Sabocor Co Llp 2 $67,902 33.33%
German American International School 2 $86,039 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%

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.

State Avg Wage
All visa, employer, attorney, and salary data was obtained from the OFLC website.
All NAICS data was obtained from the NAICS website.    All SOC data was obtained from the O*Net database.