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 %
Business Intelligence Analysts	4,307	$107,865	89.51%
Information Security Analysts	3,900	$109,968	92.44%
Engineers, All Other	3,254	$86,198	86.89%
Architects, Except Landscape and Naval	3,224	$65,629	86.09%
Biomedical Engineers	3,117	$93,190	85.40%
Logisticians	2,959	$81,788	81.54%
Biological Scientists, All Other	2,871	$64,916	88.01%
Materials Engineers	2,842	$106,739	87.26%
Speech-Language Pathologists	2,753	$71,078	88.44%
Lawyers	2,751	$137,344	92.69%

Occupation	# of Jobs	Avg Wage	Approval %

Occupation	# of Jobs	Avg Wage	Approval %
Cooks, Restaurant	378	$31,789	73.54%
Nursing Assistants	336	$28,249	66.93%
Sales Managers	336	$114,509	69.28%
Computer Programmers	335	$96,034	70.38%
Bookkeeping, Accounting, and Auditing Clerks	332	$40,218	74.61%
Biomedical Engineers	319	$94,038	71.69%
Architects, Except Landscape and Naval	318	$71,537	71.62%
Computer Network Architects	311	$128,680	73.35%
Engineers, All Other	302	$107,336	71.90%
Lawyers	286	$126,720	68.59%

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 %
Sun Mar Rehabilitation Services Llc	28	$87,689	87.50%
Ulkasemi	28	$96,124	87.50%
Competitive Computer Information Technologies Inc	28	$82,009	87.50%
Umlaut Inc	28	$91,069	87.50%
Aditi Consulting Llc	28	$96,865	87.50%
Anagh Technologies Inc	28	$93,251	87.50%
Alert Enterprise Inc	28	$82,836	87.50%
Gss Infotech Inc	28	$71,808	87.50%
Uniwaysoft Group Inc	28	$64,222	87.50%
Truist Bank	28	$113,591	87.50%

Company	# of Jobs	Avg Wage	Approval %

Company	# of Jobs	Avg Wage	Approval %
Ica Communications Arts Llc	2	$46,426	33.33%
Fata Inc Tata Acupuncturedba	2	$32,864	33.33%
Always Better Care Home Health Provider	2	$44,512	33.33%
Peppinos Italian Family Restaurant Dba Peppinos Inc	2	$26,541	33.33%
Guasha Research Institute Corp	2	$29,973	33.33%
Barry Controls	2	$72,426	33.33%
Gabledon And Sons Construction Inc	2	$47,362	33.33%
Keystone Brokerage Consulting	2	$56,483	33.33%
Types Ezr Inc	2	$47,986	33.33%
Bell Microproducts	2	$70,304	33.33%

Top Industries in California (All Years)

Industry	# of Jobs	Avg Wage	Approval %
Other Personal Care Services	34	$84,794	85.00%
Electric Bulk Power Transmission And Control	34	$89,168	85.00%
Other Nondepository Credit Intermediation	34	$119,990	85.00%
Household And Institutional Furniture Manufacturing	33	$60,312	82.50%
Plastics Bottle Manufacturing	33	$69,534	82.50%
Other Building Equipment Contractors	33	$64,837	84.62%
Other Grantmaking And Giving Services	33	$84,410	84.62%
Zoos And Botanical Gardens	33	$65,542	84.62%
Other Fabricated Metal Product Manufacturing	33	$78,930	84.62%
Petroleum And Petroleum Products Merchant Wholesalers Except Bulk Stations And Terminals	33	$76,413	84.62%

Industry	# of Jobs	Avg Wage	Approval %

Industry	# of Jobs	Avg Wage	Approval %
Pesticide And Other Agricultural Chemical Manufacturing	13	$94,949	86.67%
Ophthalmic Goods Merchant Wholesalers	13	$75,194	92.86%
Hospitals	12	$86,128	85.71%
Construction Machinery Manufacturing	12	$82,593	85.71%
Support Activities For Air Transportation	12	$62,468	85.71%
Regulation Licensing And Inspection Of Miscellaneous Commercial Sectors	12	$61,884	85.71%
All Other Ambulatory Health Care Services	12	$50,225	85.71%
Other Food Crops Grown Under Cover	12	$83,439	85.71%
Textile Product Mills	12	$64,638	85.71%
Nonscheduled Chartered Freight Air Transportation	12	$85,897	85.71%

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.