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 %
Mechanical Engineering Technicians 41 $55,477 75.93%
Chefs and Head Cooks 41 $57,017 78.85%
Fuel Cell Engineers 39 $125,040 75.00%
Aerospace Engineering and Operations Technicians 38 $61,881 82.61%
Medical and Clinical Laboratory Technicians 38 $51,387 82.61%
Genetic Counselors 37 $92,894 80.43%
Chemical Technicians 37 $40,351 80.43%
Geospatial Information Scientists and Technologists 36 $98,318 81.82%
Audiologists 35 $83,183 81.40%
Environmental Economists 34 $72,970 79.07%
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 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 %
Vmware Inc 7,154 $128,056 96.23%
Salesforcecom Inc 7,082 $130,141 96.01%
Tesla Inc 7,063 $123,168 96.49%
Ebay Inc 6,992 $134,370 96.28%
Microsoft Corporation 6,398 $132,381 94.53%
Uber Technologies Inc 5,076 $126,603 93.21%
Nvidia Corporation 4,827 $153,503 89.37%
Oracle America Inc 4,745 $120,873 94.71%
Larsen Toubro Infotech Limited 4,620 $69,860 94.34%
Intuit Inc 4,605 $130,733 94.95%
Company # of Jobs Avg Wage Approval %
Plant Sciences Inc 30 $33,508 100.00%
Lucky Ag Inc 29 $33,093 100.00%
Ag Empleo Llc 29 $38,129 100.00%
Heritage Farms Llc 28 $43,110 100.00%
Star Creek Land Stewards 27 $27,616 100.00%
Nj Harvesting Inc 26 $38,803 100.00%
Premium Employment Services Inc 25 $33,671 100.00%
Kaos Sheep Outfit 25 $25,943 100.00%
Robert Carreiro 24 $29,363 100.00%
Living Systems Land Management Llc 24 $22,046 100.00%
Company # of Jobs Avg Wage Approval %
Oath Holdings Inc 517 $113,571 35.51%
Snap Inc 494 $111,003 40.89%
Doordash Inc 487 $138,129 44.11%
Amazon Web Services Inc 478 $131,902 47.37%
Pricewaterhousecoopers 477 $106,457 48.33%
Visa Usa 447 $117,352 45.43%
Hewlett Packard Company 428 $96,594 44.91%
Srs Consulting Inc 415 $125,613 43.55%
Qualcomm Innovation Center Inc 408 $97,113 44.64%
Blizzard Entertainment Inc 401 $477,099 46.09%

Top Industries in California (All Years)

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