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
1,132,362 86.89% $100,819 H-1B
137,987 10.59% $145,140 PERM
27,949 2.14% $107,091 E-3 Australian
4,960 0.38% $29,309 H-2A

As of May 2023, California has seen a total of 1,303,258 visa workers across all visa types. The most common visa class in California is the H-1B visa with 1,132,362 H-1B visas on record over all years accounting for 86.89% of California's total visas. The second most prevalent visa is the PERM visa with 137,987 PERM visas on record over all years accounting for 10.59% of California's total visas.

Top Occupations in California (All Years)

Occupation # of Jobs Avg Wage Approval %
Kindergarten Teachers, Except Special Education 645 $45,444 86.46%
Data Warehousing Specialists 629 $112,730 85.23%
Database Architects 624 $108,974 85.83%
Managers, All Other 619 $115,913 86.82%
Soil and Plant Scientists 619 $54,460 87.06%
Interpreters and Translators 617 $46,490 87.39%
Aerospace Engineers 598 $99,915 85.06%
Judicial Law Clerks 587 $56,549 83.50%
Art Directors 586 $104,432 84.68%
Robotics Engineers 583 $118,656 84.62%
Occupation # of Jobs Avg Wage Approval %
Occupation # of Jobs Avg Wage Approval %
Childcare Workers 90 $26,991 41.47%
Computer User Support Specialists 87 $76,836 40.85%
Nonfarm Animal Caretakers 87 $25,572 41.04%
Instructional Coordinators 87 $54,227 41.23%
Economics Teachers, Postsecondary 87 $66,640 41.43%
Interpreters and Translators 85 $43,451 40.48%
Environmental Engineers 83 $81,807 39.71%
Fashion Designers 81 $53,104 38.94%
Wholesale and Retail Buyers, Except Farm Products 80 $58,525 38.46%
First-Line Supervisors of Office and Administrative Support Workers 79 $55,037 38.16%
California Employees Over Time
California has been in the H1B Visa program since 2011 where 50,870 employees were hired. California peaked in 2022 with 107,868 employees, and has since been on a decline with the most recent number of employees being 90,720 in 2023.

Top Countries with Workers in California From PERM Program (All Years)

Country # of Jobs Avg Wage Approval %
Serbia 48 $102,088 49.48%
Czech Republic 46 $95,827 48.94%
Austria 45 $105,833 50.00%
Kazakhstan 43 $95,552 48.31%
Guatemala 41 $59,581 46.07%
Zimbabwe 39 $72,497 44.83%
Ethiopia 38 $103,317 44.71%
Syria 34 $71,129 44.74%
Norway 34 $104,293 45.33%
Kenya 33 $91,761 48.53%

Top Hiring Companies in California (All Years)

Company # of Jobs Avg Wage Approval %
Hgst Inc 529 $110,258 88.17%
Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc 529 $107,971 88.17%
Lendingclub Corporation 528 $120,566 88.89%
Safeway Inc 527 $143,008 89.17%
Dew Software Inc 522 $84,019 88.32%
Niagara Bottling Llc 521 $81,240 88.31%
Stubhub Inc 520 $125,109 88.44%
Interface Rehab Inc 518 $82,929 88.10%
Mckinsey Company Inc United States 517 $96,067 87.93%
Twitch Interactive Inc 516 $118,042 89.27%
Company # of Jobs Avg Wage Approval %
Company # of Jobs Avg Wage Approval %
Dys Technologies Inc 44 $136,620 31.65%
Niantic Inc 44 $119,372 31.65%
Finisar Corporation 44 $116,515 31.88%
Palm Inc 44 $112,070 31.88%
Redback Networks Inc 44 $90,577 32.35%
Sambanova Systems Inc 44 $121,127 32.59%
Integral Development Corp 44 $131,393 32.59%
Fanatics Retail Group Fulfillment Inc Dba Fanatics 43 $110,088 32.09%
Litmus 7 Systems Consulting Inc 43 $122,230 32.33%
Westways Staffing Services Inc 43 $30,960 32.58%

Top Industries in California (All Years)

Industry # of Jobs Avg Wage Approval %
Custom Computer Programming Services 312,578 $92,566 91.22%
Computer Systems Design Services 109,823 $112,222 89.12%
Electronic Computer Manufacturing 31,967 $136,456 89.17%
Computer Systems Design And Related Services 31,940 $105,105 95.47%
Other Computer Related Services 28,918 $96,928 86.88%
Colleges Universities And Professional Schools 25,329 $70,893 80.65%
Computing Infrastructure Providers Data Processing Web Hosting And Related Services 22,511 $132,927 92.36%
Engineering Services 19,340 $88,113 87.03%
Semiconductor And Other Electronic Component Manufacturing 19,317 $113,740 89.21%
Semiconductor And Related Device Manufacturing 18,978 $114,532 89.43%
Industry # of Jobs Avg Wage Approval %
Farm Labor Contractors And Crew Leaders 1,255 $29,995 100.00%
Sheep Farming 973 $28,127 100.00%
Support Activities For Crop Production 556 $35,714 100.00%
Apiculture 306 $31,428 100.00%
Other Vegetable Except Potato And Melon Farming 234 $31,607 100.00%
Strawberry Farming 185 $28,901 100.00%
Noncitrus Fruit And Tree Nut Farming 174 $33,516 100.00%
Vegetable And Melon Farming 147 $34,652 100.00%
Grape Vineyards 106 $30,027 100.00%
Fruit And Tree Nut Farming 97 $34,426 100.00%
Industry # of Jobs Avg Wage Approval %
Computer Systems Design Services 29,897 $120,796 73.89%
Semiconductor And Related Device Manufacturing 6,758 $112,365 22.60%
Other Computer Related Services 6,599 $114,410 36.13%
Financial Transactions Processing Reserve And Clearinghouse Activities 3,953 $119,753 37.81%
Colleges Universities And Professional Schools 3,799 $68,611 47.45%
Nursing Care Facilities Skilled Nursing Facilities 2,085 $82,066 30.85%
Full Service Restaurants 1,217 $37,937 18.44%
Religious Organizations 1,098 $124,462 16.73%
Architectural Services 992 $65,424 18.88%
Radio Broadcasting Stations 874 $101,751 19.22%

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 $100,819. 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 $99,834.

State Avg Wage