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 %
Mckesson Corporation 241 $101,098 87.00%
Align Technology Inc 241 $127,550 87.64%
Criticalriver Inc 241 $78,678 87.64%
Gm Cruise Llc 240 $124,988 87.27%
Aspire Systems Inc 240 $73,834 87.59%
Contextlogic Inc Dba Wish 240 $149,384 88.24%
Formac Inc 239 $101,970 87.87%
Rgb Systems 238 $70,806 88.15%
Versa Networks Inc 238 $151,890 88.15%
Omega Solutions Inc 238 $78,261 88.15%
Company # of Jobs Avg Wage Approval %
Company # of Jobs Avg Wage Approval %
Exelixis Inc 20 $132,305 33.90%
Stampscom 20 $94,201 33.90%
Aquantia Corp 20 $115,117 33.90%
Central Business Solutions Llc 20 $91,707 33.90%
Specialized Bicycle Components Inc 20 $100,771 34.48%
Chartboost Inc 20 $122,179 34.48%
2k Games Inc 20 $107,494 34.48%
Knowles Electronics Llc 20 $125,108 34.48%
Ten X Llc 20 $124,396 34.48%
Datavisor Inc 20 $131,106 34.48%

Top Industries in California (All Years)

Industry # of Jobs Avg Wage Approval %
Educational Support Services 2,162 $81,497 87.96%
Other Activities Related To Real Estate 2,154 $102,582 88.06%
All Other Travel Arrangement And Reservation Services 2,120 $130,903 87.35%
Motion Picture And Video Production 2,102 $79,130 91.19%
Temporary Help Services 1,881 $95,750 82.61%
Advertising Agencies 1,881 $80,679 82.94%
Commercial And Institutional Building Construction 1,878 $84,647 82.91%
Consumer Lending 1,823 $119,006 80.95%
Radio Broadcasting Stations 1,798 $93,557 81.54%
Process Physical Distribution And Logistics Consulting Services 1,668 $88,821 90.95%
Industry # of Jobs Avg Wage Approval %
Horses And Other Equine Production 4 $34,050 100.00%
Beverage Manufacturing 4 $37,367 100.00%
Miscellaneous Nondurable Goods Merchant Wholesalers 4 $35,662 100.00%
Specialty Food Retailers 4 $32,718 100.00%
Orange Groves 4 $38,563 100.00%
Farm Management Services 4 $26,863 100.00%
Other Grain Farming 3 $27,484 100.00%
Corn Farming 3 $36,989 100.00%
Berry Except Strawberry Farming 3 $31,906 100.00%
Other Food Crops Grown Under Cover 2 $37,606 100.00%

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