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 %
Business Intelligence Analysts 4,307 $107,865 89.51%
Information Security Analysts 3,900 $109,968 92.44%
Engineers, All Other 3,254 $86,198 86.89%
Architects, Except Landscape and Naval 3,224 $65,629 86.09%
Biomedical Engineers 3,117 $93,190 85.40%
Logisticians 2,959 $81,788 81.54%
Biological Scientists, All Other 2,871 $64,916 88.01%
Materials Engineers 2,842 $106,739 87.26%
Speech-Language Pathologists 2,753 $71,078 88.44%
Lawyers 2,751 $137,344 92.69%
Occupation # of Jobs Avg Wage Approval %
Occupation # of Jobs Avg Wage Approval %
Cooks, Restaurant 378 $31,789 73.54%
Nursing Assistants 336 $28,249 66.93%
Sales Managers 336 $114,509 69.28%
Computer Programmers 335 $96,034 70.38%
Bookkeeping, Accounting, and Auditing Clerks 332 $40,218 74.61%
Biomedical Engineers 319 $94,038 71.69%
Architects, Except Landscape and Naval 318 $71,537 71.62%
Computer Network Architects 311 $128,680 73.35%
Engineers, All Other 302 $107,336 71.90%
Lawyers 286 $126,720 68.59%
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 %
Oportun Inc 167 $134,320 87.89%
Pivotal Software Inc 167 $132,369 87.89%
Skidmore Owings Merrill Llp 167 $66,014 87.89%
Grid Dynamics International Inc 167 $102,213 88.36%
Idexcel Inc 166 $88,923 87.83%
Afterpay Us Inc 166 $143,229 87.83%
California State University Bakersfield 165 $72,915 87.77%
E2 Consulting Engineers Inc 165 $92,100 87.77%
Tek Leaders Inc 164 $86,014 87.23%
Techdemocracy Llc 164 $76,180 87.23%
Company # of Jobs Avg Wage Approval %
Foothill Packing Inc Sa 2 1 $38,792 100.00%
Charles Martha Barra 1 $27,414 100.00%
La Fortaleza Llc 1 $38,792 100.00%
Green Age Development 1 $36,795 100.00%
Foothill Packing Inc 2023 Sa 37 Ocean Mist Oxnard 1 $38,792 100.00%
Total Labor Force Inc 1 $36,421 100.00%
Hays Ranchjohn Hays 1 $17,070 100.00%
Foothill Packing Inc Sa 4 1 $41,080 100.00%
Royal Berry Farms Inc 1 $23,566 100.00%
Ponciano Martinez 1 $41,080 100.00%
Company # of Jobs Avg Wage Approval %
Avi Networks Inc 13 $133,278 33.33%
Xpliant Inc 13 $117,709 33.33%
Ingenio Llc 13 $134,365 33.33%
Quid Inc 13 $99,025 33.33%
St Rose Hospital 13 $102,419 33.33%
Jang Enterprise Inc 13 $35,109 33.33%
Zefr Inc 13 $98,644 33.33%
Adaptive Planning Inc 13 $111,062 33.33%
Markmonitor Inc 13 $126,814 34.21%
Proteus Digital Health Inc 13 $121,758 34.21%

Top Industries in California (All Years)

Industry # of Jobs Avg Wage Approval %
Support Activities For Animal Production 6 $18,896 100.00%
Dairy Cattle And Milk Production 6 $28,104 100.00%
Animal Production And Aquaculture 6 $31,673 100.00%
Farm Management Services 5 $29,707 100.00%
Specialty Food Retailers 4 $32,718 100.00%
Miscellaneous Nondurable Goods Merchant Wholesalers 4 $35,662 100.00%
Beverage Manufacturing 4 $37,367 100.00%
Farm Product Raw Material Merchant Wholesalers 3 $83,893 100.00%
Corn Farming 3 $36,989 100.00%
Berry Except Strawberry Farming 3 $31,906 100.00%

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