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 %
Software Quality Assurance Engineers and Testers 6,153 $99,711 91.67%
Computer Hardware Engineers 5,883 $118,198 88.72%
Civil Engineers 5,576 $81,188 86.01%
Information Technology Project Managers 5,460 $115,436 88.22%
Computer and Information Research Scientists 5,435 $126,687 88.29%
Graphic Designers 5,374 $61,642 92.48%
Marketing Managers 4,787 $141,945 83.15%
Biochemists and Biophysicists 4,586 $98,193 83.49%
Business Intelligence Analysts 4,424 $107,157 91.94%
Architectural and Engineering Managers 4,120 $158,213 87.21%
Occupation # of Jobs Avg Wage Approval %
Soil and Plant Scientists 1 $52,000 2.94%
Combined Food Preparation and Serving Workers, Including Fast Food 1 $33,384 3.13%
Nonfarm Animal Caretakers 1 $30,722 3.45%
Occupation # of Jobs Avg Wage Approval %
Architectural and Engineering Managers 606 $145,728 88.60%
Multimedia Artists and Animators 596 $310,872 88.82%
Information Security Analysts 493 $116,050 75.85%
Materials Engineers 471 $104,075 74.53%
Financial Managers 469 $134,053 80.17%
Database Administrators 454 $96,395 77.61%
Logisticians 447 $80,450 78.42%
Graphic Designers 426 $47,669 74.87%
General and Operations Managers 373 $117,201 71.59%
Operations Research Analysts 353 $69,962 68.41%
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 %
Argentina 175 $96,380 50.43%
Egypt 162 $103,584 46.96%
Poland 159 $103,080 50.48%
Nigeria 150 $96,617 47.62%
Sweden 146 $113,209 47.10%
Lebanon 137 $72,931 50.00%
Netherlands 135 $114,095 49.27%
Colombia 124 $87,465 45.59%
South Africa 121 $1,563,288 44.49%
Chile 116 $103,746 44.96%

Top Hiring Companies in California (All Years)

Company # of Jobs Avg Wage Approval %
Pro Tek Consulting 404 $76,988 88.02%
Randstad Technologies Lp 401 $81,724 87.75%
Directv Llc 401 $102,883 88.13%
Jade Global Inc 396 $95,332 87.22%
Becton Dickinson And Company 392 $106,238 86.73%
Horizon Technologies Inc 391 $64,067 86.70%
Beckman Research Institute Of The City Of Hope 387 $59,458 86.19%
Altimetrik Corp 386 $105,959 86.35%
Innominds Software Inc 386 $92,386 86.74%
Snowflake Inc 385 $148,873 86.52%
Company # of Jobs Avg Wage Approval %
Company # of Jobs Avg Wage Approval %
Stec Inc 33 $93,072 34.38%
Guthy Renker Llc 33 $82,063 34.38%
Zenith Electronics Llc 33 $124,587 34.74%
Ishift Corp 33 $105,518 34.74%
Collective Health Inc 32 $114,488 33.68%
Appdirect Inc 32 $115,666 34.04%
Leantaas Inc 32 $112,172 34.04%
Rjp Framing Inc 32 $35,402 34.04%
Auris Health Inc 32 $130,758 34.04%
Cliniprostaffing 32 $18,304 34.41%

Top Industries in California (All Years)

Industry # of Jobs Avg Wage Approval %
Custom Computer Programming Services 312,578 $92,566 91.22%
Computer Systems Design Services 109,823 $112,222 89.12%
Electronic Computer Manufacturing 31,967 $136,456 89.17%
Computer Systems Design And Related Services 31,940 $105,105 95.47%
Other Computer Related Services 28,918 $96,928 86.88%
Colleges Universities And Professional Schools 25,329 $70,893 80.65%
Computing Infrastructure Providers Data Processing Web Hosting And Related Services 22,511 $132,927 92.36%
Engineering Services 19,340 $88,113 87.03%
Semiconductor And Other Electronic Component Manufacturing 19,317 $113,740 89.21%
Semiconductor And Related Device Manufacturing 18,978 $114,532 89.43%
Industry # of Jobs Avg Wage Approval %
Farm Labor Contractors And Crew Leaders 1,255 $29,995 100.00%
Sheep Farming 973 $28,127 100.00%
Support Activities For Crop Production 556 $35,714 100.00%
Apiculture 306 $31,428 100.00%
Other Vegetable Except Potato And Melon Farming 234 $31,607 100.00%
Strawberry Farming 185 $28,901 100.00%
Noncitrus Fruit And Tree Nut Farming 174 $33,516 100.00%
Vegetable And Melon Farming 147 $34,652 100.00%
Grape Vineyards 106 $30,027 100.00%
Fruit And Tree Nut Farming 97 $34,426 100.00%
Industry # of Jobs Avg Wage Approval %
Computer Systems Design Services 29,897 $120,796 73.89%
Semiconductor And Related Device Manufacturing 6,758 $112,365 22.60%
Other Computer Related Services 6,599 $114,410 36.13%
Financial Transactions Processing Reserve And Clearinghouse Activities 3,953 $119,753 37.81%
Colleges Universities And Professional Schools 3,799 $68,611 47.45%
Nursing Care Facilities Skilled Nursing Facilities 2,085 $82,066 30.85%
Full Service Restaurants 1,217 $37,937 18.44%
Religious Organizations 1,098 $124,462 16.73%
Architectural Services 992 $65,424 18.88%
Radio Broadcasting Stations 874 $101,751 19.22%

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