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 %
Advertising and Promotions Managers	439	$90,438	84.91%
Mathematicians	439	$94,141	86.93%
Automotive Engineers	430	$123,850	89.21%
Educational, Guidance, School, and Vocational Counselors	424	$47,583	88.70%
Urban and Regional Planners	417	$73,783	88.16%
Mechatronics Engineers	414	$118,422	87.90%
Computer User Support Specialists	402	$60,438	85.90%
Photonics Engineers	396	$129,211	86.09%
Psychiatrists	378	$201,260	82.35%
Paralegals and Legal Assistants	376	$55,714	83.19%

Occupation	# of Jobs	Avg Wage	Approval %

Occupation	# of Jobs	Avg Wage	Approval %
Purchasing Agents, Except Wholesale, Retail, and Farm Products	64	$60,118	36.57%
First-Line Supervisors of Production and Operating Workers	64	$58,071	37.43%
Training and Development Specialists	59	$67,320	35.33%
Producers and Directors	58	$87,889	35.15%
Music Directors and Composers	58	$46,582	35.15%
Sales Representatives, Wholesale and Manufacturing, Technical and Scientific Products	58	$83,918	35.37%
Customer Service Representatives	58	$36,731	35.37%
Dishwashers	55	$23,482	33.54%
Cashiers	53	$24,505	32.52%
Treasurers and Controllers	52	$99,512	32.10%

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 %
Newport Corporation	28	$94,955	87.50%
Ssc Technologies Inc	28	$114,270	87.50%
Lumos Labs Inc	28	$113,435	87.50%
Liveaction Inc	28	$101,904	87.50%
Bankruptcy Management Solutions Inc	28	$90,581	87.50%
Ibrain Technologies Inc	28	$90,607	87.50%
Expensify Inc	28	$101,679	87.50%
Icertis Inc	28	$128,346	87.50%
Interdigital Communications Inc	28	$124,460	87.50%
Denali Therapeutics Inc	28	$124,195	87.50%

Company	# of Jobs	Avg Wage	Approval %

Company	# of Jobs	Avg Wage	Approval %
Original Wireless Inc	2	$64,646	33.33%
Quorum Consulting Inc	2	$64,771	33.33%
Pentair Water Pool And Spa Inc	2	$102,721	33.33%
Ayuda Group Llc	2	$66,300	33.33%
Dereks Bistro Inc	2	$39,187	33.33%
Nextg Networks Inc	2	$80,871	33.33%
Multi Cable Inc	2	$58,302	33.33%
Homak Enterprises Inc	2	$54,881	33.33%
Cj Tech America Inc	2	$89,170	33.33%
I Many Inc	2	$111,977	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%

Industry	# of Jobs	Avg Wage	Approval %
Custom Computer Programming Services	42,277	$126,369	100.00%
Computer Systems Design Services	31,732	$121,451	100.00%
Electronic Computer Manufacturing	20,167	$122,175	100.00%
Semiconductor And Other Electronic Component Manufacturing	11,113	$108,986	100.00%
Computer Systems Design And Related Services	8,432	$233,746	100.00%
Semiconductor And Related Device Manufacturing	7,014	$113,231	100.00%
Other Computer Related Services	6,933	$115,320	100.00%
Radio And Television Broadcasting And Wireless Communications Equipment Manufacturing	6,653	$99,660	100.00%
Computing Infrastructure Providers Data Processing Web Hosting And Related Services	6,193	$125,793	100.00%
Engineering Services	4,766	$119,176	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.