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 %
Logistics Managers 62 $105,785 84.93%
Architecture Teachers, Postsecondary 61 $75,030 85.92%
Reporters and Correspondents 61 $40,410 85.92%
Directors, Religious Activities and Education 60 $41,212 85.71%
Biochemical Engineers 60 $96,059 85.71%
Vocational Education Teachers, Postsecondary 60 $49,695 86.96%
Geography Teachers, Postsecondary 59 $65,022 85.51%
Law Teachers, Postsecondary 58 $79,641 84.06%
Nursing Instructors and Teachers, Postsecondary 57 $67,759 83.82%
Dentists, All Other Specialists 56 $112,072 82.35%
Occupation # of Jobs Avg Wage Approval %
Occupation # of Jobs Avg Wage Approval %
Photonics Engineers 11 $126,756 13.92%
Industrial Machinery Mechanics 11 $54,795 13.92%
First-Line Supervisors of Housekeeping and Janitorial Workers 11 $41,901 13.92%
Architecture Teachers, Postsecondary 11 $55,640 14.10%
Set and Exhibit Designers 11 $47,367 14.29%
Social and Human Service Assistants 11 $30,623 14.29%
Epidemiologists 11 $63,109 14.29%
Sociology Teachers, Postsecondary 11 $55,094 14.29%
Civil Engineering Technicians 10 $64,305 12.99%
Regulatory Affairs Specialists 10 $76,263 12.99%
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 %
Belgium 78 $108,805 43.58%
United States Of America 71 $1,093,106 42.26%
Bulgaria 68 $95,088 44.16%
Portugal 64 $107,430 42.11%
Switzerland 55 $2,684,021 39.29%
El Salvador 55 $53,574 40.15%
Hungary 53 $98,983 44.92%
Serbia 51 $101,501 45.13%
Costa Rica 51 $104,307 45.13%
Finland 49 $109,962 44.55%

Top Hiring Companies in California (All Years)

Company # of Jobs Avg Wage Approval %
Makro Technologies Inc 28 $78,715 87.50%
Ellianse Llc 28 $73,816 87.50%
Appisoft Inc 28 $80,608 87.50%
Johnson Johnson Services Inc 28 $137,578 87.50%
Energy Exemplar Llc 28 $90,525 87.50%
Blue Telcom Inc 28 $58,813 87.50%
Dna Twopointo Inc 28 $94,400 87.50%
Alliance Information Technology And Computer Softw 28 $62,737 87.50%
Best It Experts Inc 28 $66,029 87.50%
Cygnus Professionals Inc 28 $86,050 87.50%
Company # of Jobs Avg Wage Approval %
Company # of Jobs Avg Wage Approval %
Flores Design Fine Furniture Inc Dba Flores Design 2 $0 33.33%
Xyz Distributors Inc 2 $75,702 33.33%
Electronic Manufacturing Technology Inc 2 $75,036 33.33%
Turner And Townsend Inc 2 $91,874 33.33%
Citco Fund Services San Francisco Inc 2 $94,245 33.33%
Vitria Technology 2 $95,274 33.33%
Smartech Communications 2 $58,490 33.33%
Sansonic Electronics Usa Llc 2 $67,808 33.33%
Equus Computer Systems Inc 2 $53,550 33.33%
Pni Sensor Corporation 2 $97,313 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%

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.

State Avg Wage
All visa, employer, attorney, and salary data was obtained from the OFLC website.
All NAICS data was obtained from the NAICS website.    All SOC data was obtained from the O*Net database.