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 %
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 %
Varian Medical Systems Inc 484 $112,964 88.48%
Pacific Investment Management Company Llc 484 $96,927 88.97%
Qualys Inc 483 $110,405 88.79%
Esurance Insurance Services Inc 482 $88,307 88.77%
Stanford Health Care 482 $92,910 88.93%
Shubh Solutions Llc 481 $62,868 88.75%
Western Dental Services Inc 477 $120,110 88.17%
Groupon Inc 476 $117,639 88.31%
Cornerstone Ondemand Inc 476 $95,273 88.48%
Exilant Technologies Private Limited 474 $87,018 88.10%
Company # of Jobs Avg Wage Approval %
Company # of Jobs Avg Wage Approval %
Godaddycom Llc 41 $118,960 32.54%
Netsuite 41 $105,023 33.06%
Karma Automotive Llc 41 $104,268 33.06%
Sydata Inc 41 $115,515 33.33%
Nio Usa Inc 41 $131,716 33.33%
Blend Labs Inc 41 $118,865 33.88%
Match Group Llc 40 $127,491 33.33%
Canoo Inc 40 $117,846 33.33%
Keep Truckin Inc 40 $112,247 33.33%
Jazz Pharmaceuticals 40 $118,762 33.61%

Top Industries in California (All Years)

Industry # of Jobs Avg Wage Approval %
Business Associations 10 $34,251 100.00%
Agriculture Construction And Mining Machinery Manufacturing 9 $26,434 100.00%
Wineries 9 $35,580 100.00%
Fruit And Tree Nut Combination Farming 9 $29,083 100.00%
Oilseed And Grain Farming 7 $36,070 100.00%
Goat Farming 7 $32,049 100.00%
Oilseed And Grain Combination Farming 6 $36,657 100.00%
Dairy Cattle And Milk Production 6 $28,104 100.00%
Animal Production And Aquaculture 6 $31,673 100.00%
Support Activities For Animal Production 5 $14,459 100.00%

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