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 %
Instructional Designers and Technologists 26 $68,090 81.25%
Mathematical Science Occupations, All Other 24 $71,320 77.42%
Conservation Scientists 24 $63,768 77.42%
Career/Technical Education Teachers, Secondary School 23 $51,531 74.19%
Historians 23 $59,433 76.67%
Anthropologists and Archeologists 22 $55,435 73.33%
Labor Relations Specialists 21 $58,956 75.00%
Education, Training, and Library Workers, All Other 21 $39,504 75.00%
Investment Fund Managers 20 $174,031 74.07%
Musicians and Singers 20 $53,651 74.07%
Occupation # of Jobs Avg Wage Approval %
Occupation # of Jobs Avg Wage Approval %
First-Line Supervisors of Farming, Fishing, and Forestry Workers 7 $31,937 11.29%
Teachers and Instructors, All Other 7 $33,696 11.29%
Financial Managers, Branch or Department 7 $120,677 11.29%
Survey Researchers 7 $43,202 11.29%
Logistics Engineers 7 $100,011 11.48%
Automotive Master Mechanics 7 $34,998 11.48%
Chemical Technicians 7 $43,029 11.48%
Regulatory Affairs Managers 6 $157,611 10.00%
Electro-Mechanical Technicians 6 $60,982 10.00%
Merchandise Displayers and Window Trimmers 6 $31,412 10.00%
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 %
Amazon Web Services Inc 2,900 $129,414 87.11%
A2z Development Center Inc 2,828 $106,798 85.39%
University Of California San Francisco 2,775 $124,278 90.83%
Palo Alto Networks Inc 2,661 $150,593 89.06%
Applied Materials Inc 2,646 $121,672 88.64%
Salesforce Inc 2,599 $159,329 89.22%
Persistent Systems Inc 2,512 $80,253 90.20%
Qualcomm Atheros Inc 2,484 $119,846 89.71%
Marvell Semiconductor Inc 2,478 $112,956 90.17%
Twitter Inc 2,433 $124,754 88.89%
Company # of Jobs Avg Wage Approval %
Balletto Ranch Inc 19 $39,300 100.00%
Hay Bros Sheep 19 $26,274 100.00%
Pine Ridge Winery Llc Dba Seghesio Family Vineyards 19 $37,432 100.00%
Smith Packing Inc 19 $37,756 100.00%
Triple E Livestock Land Company 19 $25,881 100.00%
West Coast Tomato Growers Llc 19 $21,041 100.00%
Diamond Sheep Company 18 $29,071 100.00%
Ecosystem Concepts Inc 18 $30,565 100.00%
Altman Specialty Plants Llc Ca Salinas 18 $37,734 100.00%
Market Demand Corp 18 $33,921 100.00%
Company # of Jobs Avg Wage Approval %
Agreeya Solutions Inc 304 $98,081 41.25%
Alcatel Lucent Usa Inc 297 $113,601 42.25%
University Of Southern California 291 $69,753 44.84%
Arista Networks Inc 288 $111,997 45.00%
Inovant Llc 278 $116,870 43.78%
Samsung Research America Inc 272 $127,988 43.17%
Micron Technology Inc 267 $113,358 43.77%
Roku Inc 265 $161,003 43.95%
Genentech Inc 264 $113,568 44.44%
Omnivision Technologies Inc 259 $104,470 45.68%

Top Industries in California (All Years)

Industry # of Jobs Avg Wage Approval %
Medical Equipment And Supplies Manufacturing 5,546 $113,270 87.85%
Web Search Portals And All Other Information Services 5,472 $175,878 95.70%
Offices Of Physical Occupational And Speech Therapists And Audiologists 5,147 $76,018 90.11%
Elementary And Secondary Schools 5,061 $57,232 88.71%
Architectural Services 4,868 $60,468 86.34%
General Medical And Surgical Hospitals 4,798 $88,394 90.12%
Commercial Banking 4,636 $104,495 89.65%
Marketing Consulting Services 4,499 $93,449 87.56%
Software Publishers 4,342 $162,333 96.49%
Offices Of Lawyers 3,653 $104,423 82.67%
Industry # of Jobs Avg Wage Approval %
Other Noncitrus Fruit Farming 40 $36,074 100.00%
Hay Farming 27 $37,299 100.00%
Tree Nut Farming 25 $37,348 100.00%
Sheep And Goat Farming 24 $30,795 100.00%
Crop Harvesting Primarily By Machine 20 $33,439 100.00%
All Other Crop Farming 19 $38,414 100.00%
Other Animal Production 18 $34,515 100.00%
Flower Nursery Stock And Florists Supplies Merchant Wholesalers 17 $30,575 100.00%
Wineries 15 $39,276 100.00%
Nursery And Floriculture Production 14 $36,474 100.00%
Industry # of Jobs Avg Wage Approval %
Medical Equipment And Supplies Manufacturing 1,297 $108,838 100.00%
All Other Professional Scientific And Technical Services 1,293 $205,455 100.00%
Commercial Banking 1,148 $108,721 100.00%
Religious Organizations 1,123 $122,781 100.00%
Architectural Services 1,067 $66,121 100.00%
Accounting Tax Preparation Bookkeeping And Payroll Services 995 $87,255 100.00%
Other Electronic Component Manufacturing 981 $106,053 100.00%
Management Consulting Services 961 $109,090 100.00%
Offices Of Lawyers 940 $88,352 100.00%
Offices Of Dentists 911 $269,149 100.00%

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