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 %
Museum Technicians and Conservators 52 $52,534 86.67%
Solar Energy Systems Engineers 51 $92,548 85.00%
Architecture Teachers, Postsecondary 50 $71,032 84.75%
Physician Assistants 48 $99,713 81.36%
Microsystems Engineers 48 $123,913 82.76%
Education Administrators, Elementary and Secondary School 47 $91,509 82.46%
Document Management Specialists 47 $54,711 83.93%
Models 46 $42,873 82.14%
Optometrists 46 $100,256 82.14%
Executive Secretaries and Executive Administrative Assistants 44 $41,748 80.00%
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 %
Other Accounting Services 1,094 $73,533 80.15%
Communications Equipment Manufacturing 1,062 $127,600 83.95%
Testing Laboratories And Services 1,049 $73,009 85.77%
Freight Transportation Arrangement 1,040 $60,742 86.52%
Other Communications Equipment Manufacturing 991 $98,959 87.16%
Human Resources Consulting Services 989 $92,946 87.14%
Other Financial Investment Activities 956 $98,547 84.45%
All Other Outpatient Care Centers 954 $137,838 86.73%
Audio And Video Equipment Manufacturing 946 $90,859 87.35%
Industrial Design Services 946 $75,778 87.51%
Industry # of Jobs Avg Wage Approval %
Soybean Farming 1 $38,792 100.00%
Merchant Wholesalers Nondurable Goods 1 $30,722 100.00%
Saw Blade And Handtool Manufacturing 1 $36,421 100.00%
Rice Farming 1 $38,792 100.00%
Citrus Except Orange Groves 1 $38,792 100.00%
All Other Animal Production 1 $23,469 100.00%

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