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 %
Cargo and Freight Agents	6	$35,031	85.71%
Electrical and Electronics Repairers, Commercial and Industrial Equipment	6	$44,248	85.71%
First-Line Supervisors of Construction Trades and Extraction Workers	5	$63,378	71.43%
Emergency Management Directors	5	$93,812	71.43%
Residential Advisors	5	$37,536	71.43%
Intelligence Analysts	5	$93,895	71.43%
Industrial Engineering Technologists	5	$69,073	71.43%
Advertising Sales Agents	5	$51,401	71.43%
Program Directors	5	$80,371	71.43%
Procurement Clerks	5	$49,234	71.43%

Occupation	# of Jobs	Avg Wage	Approval %

Occupation	# of Jobs	Avg Wage	Approval %
Cutters and Trimmers, Hand	3	$21,625	6.67%
Operating Engineers and Other Construction Equipment Operators	3	$66,491	6.67%
Desktop Publishers	3	$43,562	6.67%
Registered Nurses	3	$74,415	6.67%
Farm and Home Management Advisors	3	$55,841	6.67%
Substance Abuse and Behavioral Disorder Counselors	3	$30,285	6.67%
Paving, Surfacing, and Tamping Equipment Operators	3	$75,331	6.67%
Packaging and Filling Machine Operators and Tenders	3	$25,827	6.67%
Audiologists	3	$45,701,191	6.82%
Electrical and Electronic Equipment Assemblers	3	$42,453	6.82%

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 %
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 %
Other Management Consulting Services	2,366	$87,908	87.99%
Computer And Computer Peripheral Equipment And Software Merchant Wholesalers	2,364	$100,541	89.21%
Educational Support Services	2,320	$83,155	89.16%
All Other Travel Arrangement And Reservation Services	2,300	$133,209	88.63%
Automobile And Light Duty Motor Vehicle Manufacturing	2,257	$142,315	88.03%
Other Activities Related To Real Estate	2,255	$103,489	91.18%
Motion Picture And Video Production	2,234	$81,435	90.85%
Commercial And Institutional Building Construction	2,077	$86,598	85.09%
Temporary Help Services	2,039	$97,246	84.01%
Consumer Lending	1,993	$121,946	82.80%

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%

Industry	# of Jobs	Avg Wage	Approval %
Management Scientific And Technical Consulting Services	702	$113,152	100.00%
Computer And Computer Peripheral Equipment And Software Merchant Wholesalers	675	$92,308	100.00%
Electromedical And Electrotherapeutic Apparatus Manufacturing	672	$101,016	100.00%
Other Activities Related To Real Estate	655	$316,646	100.00%
Temporary Help Services	605	$3,172,154	100.00%
Commercial And Institutional Building Construction	594	$85,618	100.00%
Limited Service Restaurants	584	$32,719	100.00%
Consumer Lending	582	$121,241	100.00%
Other Miscellaneous Durable Goods Merchant Wholesalers	558	$63,576	100.00%
Freight Transportation Arrangement	540	$64,121	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.