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 %
Geneticists	114	$74,340	86.36%
Sustainability Specialists	114	$80,905	86.36%
Child, Family, and School Social Workers	113	$47,884	86.26%
Special Education Teachers, Middle School	113	$55,819	86.92%
Political Scientists	112	$66,815	87.50%
Nurse Practitioners	110	$103,317	86.61%
History Teachers, Postsecondary	108	$62,877	85.71%
Zoologists and Wildlife Biologists	107	$56,730	85.60%
Music Directors and Composers	104	$44,483	85.95%
Obstetricians and Gynecologists	103	$183,688	85.83%

Occupation	# of Jobs	Avg Wage	Approval %

Occupation	# of Jobs	Avg Wage	Approval %
Personal Financial Advisors	20	$83,706	19.80%
Billing and Posting Clerks	20	$36,266	20.00%
Sheet Metal Workers	20	$31,221	20.00%
Order Clerks	19	$29,764	19.00%
Dental Assistants	19	$34,208	19.00%
Agricultural Sciences Teachers, Postsecondary	19	$62,098	19.19%
Mechanical Engineering Technicians	19	$63,601	19.39%
Securities, Commodities, and Financial Services Sales Agents	18	$105,277	18.37%
First-Line Supervisors of Mechanics, Installers, and Repairers	18	$81,992	18.56%
Medical Records and Health Information Technicians	18	$45,130	18.56%

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 %
Etrade Financial Holdings Llc	28	$127,656	90.32%
Open Networking Foundation	28	$133,685	90.32%
Brightinsight Inc	28	$155,724	90.32%
Quinnox Inc	27	$69,266	87.10%
Panzura Inc	27	$102,047	87.10%
Insightly Inc	27	$114,110	87.10%
Ch2m Hill Engineers Inc	27	$92,531	87.10%
Radcom Software Services Llc	27	$104,875	87.10%
Prime Software Technologies Inc	27	$88,471	87.10%
Unigen Corporation	27	$75,070	87.10%

Company	# of Jobs	Avg Wage	Approval %

Company	# of Jobs	Avg Wage	Approval %
Zion Residential Care Inc	2	$18,450	33.33%
Generatione Consulting Llc	2	$125,466	33.33%
Ark Technology Inc	2	$34,850	33.33%
Dynasty Sports Group Llc	2	$106,028	33.33%
Roving Networks Inc	2	$82,306	33.33%
Polycoat Products	2	$86,809	33.33%
Jai Inc	2	$111,706	33.33%
Uti United States Inc	2	$72,977	33.33%
Sunhealthcare Group Dba Careerstaff Services Corp	2	$63,835	33.33%
Essen Polymers Inc	2	$80,735	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.