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 %
Forescout Technologies Inc	28	$115,242	87.50%
Persistent Telecom Solutions Inc	28	$82,655	87.50%
City Of Sacramento	28	$85,379	87.50%
Fictiv Inc	28	$127,661	87.50%
Lyra Health Inc	28	$146,848	87.50%
Crosscircles Inc	28	$62,455	87.50%
Kairos Technologies Inc	28	$93,667	87.50%
Quadrant Resource Llc	28	$102,798	87.50%
Infosemantics Inc	28	$70,485	87.50%
Djo Llc	28	$98,419	90.32%

Company	# of Jobs	Avg Wage	Approval %

Company	# of Jobs	Avg Wage	Approval %
Central Farm Inc	2	$44,658	33.33%
Good Stuff Restaurant	2	$24,190	33.33%
Jc Bc Inc Dba Hama Restaurant	2	$28,829	33.33%
American Bureau Of Shipping	2	$83,273	33.33%
Leucadia Pizzaria Italian Restaurant	2	$23,837	33.33%
Pacific Asian Consortium In Employment Pace	2	$0	33.33%
Integrated Healthcare Medical Group Inc	2	$40,508	33.33%
Surveying Drafting Services Inc	2	$57,491	33.33%
La Piccola Scuola Italiana Di San Francisco	2	$46,260	33.33%
Mesriani Associates A Plc	2	$46,176	33.33%

Top Industries in California (All Years)

Industry	# of Jobs	Avg Wage	Approval %
Coffee And Tea Manufacturing	70	$76,383	84.34%
All Other Miscellaneous Fabricated Metal Product Manufacturing	70	$78,139	84.34%
Dairy Product Manufacturing	69	$92,260	83.13%
Advertising Material Distribution Services	69	$99,132	84.15%
Printing	69	$69,641	86.25%
Commercial And Industrial Machinery And Equipment Except Automotive And Electronic Repair And Maintenance	69	$69,442	86.25%
Paint And Coating Manufacturing	69	$81,352	86.25%
Deep Sea Freight Transportation	68	$68,576	85.00%
Coastal And Great Lakes Freight Transportation	68	$108,394	87.18%
Sports Teams And Clubs	67	$57,682	85.90%

Industry	# of Jobs	Avg Wage	Approval %

Industry	# of Jobs	Avg Wage	Approval %
Baked Goods Retailers	27	$44,820	93.10%
Other Business Support Services	27	$93,708	93.10%
Promoters Of Performing Arts Sports And Similar Events	27	$90,921	93.10%
Frozen Fruit Juice And Vegetable Manufacturing	27	$73,712	93.10%
Automotive Body Paint Interior And Glass Repair	27	$46,400	93.10%
Plastics Packaging Film And Sheet Including Laminated Manufacturing	27	$42,623	93.10%
Jewelry And Silverware Manufacturing	27	$39,989	96.43%
Tile And Terrazzo Contractors	27	$50,467	96.43%
Glass And Glazing Contractors	26	$72,838	92.86%
Furniture And Related Product Manufacturing	26	$40,968	92.86%

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.