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 %
Etrade Financial Holdings Llc	28	$127,656	90.32%
Open Networking Foundation	28	$133,685	90.32%
Brightinsight Inc	28	$155,724	90.32%
Quinnox Inc	27	$69,266	87.10%
Panzura Inc	27	$102,047	87.10%
Insightly Inc	27	$114,110	87.10%
Ch2m Hill Engineers Inc	27	$92,531	87.10%
Radcom Software Services Llc	27	$104,875	87.10%
Prime Software Technologies Inc	27	$88,471	87.10%
Unigen Corporation	27	$75,070	87.10%

Company	# of Jobs	Avg Wage	Approval %

Company	# of Jobs	Avg Wage	Approval %
Zion Residential Care Inc	2	$18,450	33.33%
Generatione Consulting Llc	2	$125,466	33.33%
Ark Technology Inc	2	$34,850	33.33%
Dynasty Sports Group Llc	2	$106,028	33.33%
Roving Networks Inc	2	$82,306	33.33%
Polycoat Products	2	$86,809	33.33%
Jai Inc	2	$111,706	33.33%
Uti United States Inc	2	$72,977	33.33%
Sunhealthcare Group Dba Careerstaff Services Corp	2	$63,835	33.33%
Essen Polymers Inc	2	$80,735	33.33%

Top Industries in California (All Years)

Industry	# of Jobs	Avg Wage	Approval %
General Line Grocery Merchant Wholesalers	144	$58,800	87.80%
Lessors Of Nonresidential Buildings Except Miniwarehouses	143	$103,008	88.27%
Toy And Hobby Goods And Supplies Merchant Wholesalers	143	$73,436	88.27%
Postproduction Services And Other Motion Picture And Video Industries	143	$71,531	88.82%
Media Streaming Distribution Services Social Networks And Other Media Networks And Content Providers	143	$137,106	89.38%
Other Sound Recording Industries	142	$123,233	88.75%
Air Conditioning And Warm Air Heating Equipment And Commercial And Industrial Refrigeration Equipment Manufacturing	141	$95,876	88.68%
Tour Operators	139	$56,897	87.42%
Psychiatric And Substance Abuse Hospitals	139	$123,986	87.42%
Outpatient Mental Health And Substance Abuse Centers	137	$59,113	87.82%

Industry	# of Jobs	Avg Wage	Approval %

Industry	# of Jobs	Avg Wage	Approval %
Frozen Specialty Food Manufacturing	49	$80,923	92.45%
Residential Property Managers	49	$76,654	94.23%
Metal And Mineral Except Petroleum Merchant Wholesalers	48	$61,226	92.31%
Book Periodical And Newspaper Merchant Wholesalers	46	$111,858	88.46%
Cut And Sew Apparel Contractors	46	$44,822	90.20%
Indoor And Outdoor Display Advertising	46	$113,028	92.00%
Hardware And Plumbing And Heating Equipment And Supplies Merchant Wholesalers	46	$61,865	93.88%
Commercial And Industrial Machinery And Equipment Except Automotive And Electronic Repair And Maintenance	45	$59,391	91.84%
Automotive Repair And Maintenance	45	$43,399	91.84%
Ophthalmic Goods Manufacturing	45	$97,429	91.84%

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.