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 %
Computer Systems Engineers/Architects 6,347 $100,866 88.65%
Civil Engineers 6,170 $82,905 90.82%
Software Quality Assurance Engineers and Testers 6,123 $99,679 91.21%
Graphic Designers 5,882 $64,188 88.70%
Information Technology Project Managers 5,436 $115,387 83.52%
Computer and Information Research Scientists 5,407 $126,714 87.34%
Marketing Managers 5,310 $145,179 87.35%
Biochemists and Biophysicists 5,146 $96,909 88.53%
Architectural and Engineering Managers 4,803 $163,084 89.46%
Medical Scientists, Except Epidemiologists 4,419 $68,494 82.99%
Occupation # of Jobs Avg Wage Approval %
Architectural and Engineering Managers 634 $146,820 84.20%
Multimedia Artists and Animators 605 $307,659 88.84%
Financial Managers 496 $134,652 73.70%
Information Security Analysts 493 $116,050 75.04%
Materials Engineers 489 $104,849 75.12%
Logisticians 458 $80,470 72.01%
Database Administrators 454 $96,395 74.06%
Graphic Designers 448 $48,308 75.04%
General and Operations Managers 398 $118,791 70.82%
Operations Research Analysts 389 $73,562 70.86%
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 %
India 45,730 $175,901 47.43%
China 16,844 $109,259 50.79%
South Korea 4,340 $147,936 41.14%
Canada 3,905 $143,888 46.41%
Philippines 1,927 $470,682 35.63%
Taiwan 1,908 $260,805 44.94%
Mexico 1,361 $87,276 34.68%
United Kingdom 967 $111,850 44.71%
Japan 844 $231,744 40.04%
France 821 $108,315 46.73%

Top Hiring Companies in California (All Years)

Company # of Jobs Avg Wage Approval %
Newport Corporation 28 $94,955 87.50%
Ssc Technologies Inc 28 $114,270 87.50%
Lumos Labs Inc 28 $113,435 87.50%
Liveaction Inc 28 $101,904 87.50%
Bankruptcy Management Solutions Inc 28 $90,581 87.50%
Ibrain Technologies Inc 28 $90,607 87.50%
Expensify Inc 28 $101,679 87.50%
Icertis Inc 28 $128,346 87.50%
Interdigital Communications Inc 28 $124,460 87.50%
Denali Therapeutics Inc 28 $124,195 87.50%
Company # of Jobs Avg Wage Approval %
Company # of Jobs Avg Wage Approval %
Original Wireless Inc 2 $64,646 33.33%
Quorum Consulting Inc 2 $64,771 33.33%
Pentair Water Pool And Spa Inc 2 $102,721 33.33%
Ayuda Group Llc 2 $66,300 33.33%
Dereks Bistro Inc 2 $39,187 33.33%
Nextg Networks Inc 2 $80,871 33.33%
Multi Cable Inc 2 $58,302 33.33%
Homak Enterprises Inc 2 $54,881 33.33%
Cj Tech America Inc 2 $89,170 33.33%
I Many Inc 2 $111,977 33.33%

Top Industries in California (All Years)

Industry # of Jobs Avg Wage Approval %
Capacitor Resistor Coil Transformer And Other Inductor Manufacturing 47 $85,002 81.03%
Sign Manufacturing 47 $71,237 82.46%
Private Mail Centers 47 $89,907 82.46%
Petroleum Refineries 46 $108,732 80.70%
Blood And Organ Banks 46 $76,072 80.70%
Lessors Of Miniwarehouses And Self Storage Units 46 $103,176 80.70%
Public Finance Activities 46 $75,980 82.14%
Food Product Machinery Manufacturing 45 $84,350 80.36%
Outpatient Care Centers 45 $103,380 81.82%
Photofinishing Laboratories Except One Hour 45 $118,265 81.82%
Industry # of Jobs Avg Wage Approval %

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