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 %
Occupational Health and Safety Specialists 102 $71,710 85.00%
Zoologists and Wildlife Biologists 101 $54,440 85.59%
Nurse Practitioners 100 $100,706 84.75%
History Teachers, Postsecondary 96 $60,925 81.36%
Quality Control Systems Managers 96 $116,161 83.48%
Music Directors and Composers 95 $42,340 82.61%
Political Scientists 95 $64,068 84.82%
Recreational Therapists 94 $55,110 84.68%
Compliance Managers 93 $150,930 84.55%
Clergy 92 $41,020 85.19%
Occupation # of Jobs Avg Wage Approval %
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 %
India 42,735 $178,228 48.91%
China 15,777 $108,656 53.06%
South Korea 4,032 $154,868 40.97%
Canada 3,684 $145,079 47.74%
Taiwan 1,769 $272,719 36.38%
Philippines 1,733 $517,903 45.04%
Mexico 1,231 $85,995 37.92%
United Kingdom 913 $111,050 45.38%
Japan 796 $241,546 40.24%
France 786 $107,939 47.61%

Top Hiring Companies in California (All Years)

Company # of Jobs Avg Wage Approval %
University Of California San Francisco 2,464 $128,609 84.38%
Persistent Systems Inc 2,441 $79,207 83.80%
Twitter Inc 2,433 $124,754 87.08%
Marvell Semiconductor Inc 2,303 $109,783 83.72%
Adobe Inc 2,296 $149,584 86.48%
Qualcomm Atheros Inc 2,289 $117,740 88.45%
Applied Materials Inc 2,269 $117,309 88.05%
Qualcomm Incorporated 2,241 $88,160 90.00%
Amazon Web Services Inc 2,186 $123,935 89.12%
Palo Alto Networks Inc 2,163 $142,208 91.38%
Company # of Jobs Avg Wage Approval %
Company # of Jobs Avg Wage Approval %
Arista Networks Inc 278 $111,279 43.44%
University Of Southern California 277 $68,833 43.28%
Micron Technology Inc 260 $112,719 40.75%
Samsung Research America Inc 259 $127,397 41.11%
Omnivision Technologies Inc 256 $104,315 43.10%
Epam Systems Inc 244 $98,656 41.36%
Roku Inc 244 $160,908 41.57%
Genentech Inc 243 $113,194 41.47%
Lendingclub Corporation 242 $121,330 44.32%
Amazon Corporate Llc 239 $107,560 44.10%

Top Industries in California (All Years)

Industry # of Jobs Avg Wage Approval %
Nursery And Tree Production 25 $34,380 100.00%
Sheep And Goat Farming 24 $30,795 100.00%
Flower Nursery Stock And Florists Supplies Merchant Wholesalers 17 $30,575 100.00%
Tree Nut Farming 17 $34,754 100.00%
Hay Farming 17 $35,034 100.00%
Other Animal Production 15 $33,355 100.00%
Crop Harvesting Primarily By Machine 13 $30,080 100.00%
Nursery And Floriculture Production 13 $36,296 100.00%
All Other Crop Farming 12 $36,859 100.00%
Postharvest Crop Activities Except Cotton Ginning 11 $26,058 100.00%

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 $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