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 %
Validation Engineers 810 $97,100 86.17%
Landscape Architects 784 $60,046 84.39%
Veterinarians 783 $90,005 87.58%
Budget Analysts 776 $64,090 88.08%
Instructional Coordinators 757 $54,839 87.21%
Engineering Teachers, Postsecondary 738 $75,897 86.42%
Actuaries 682 $87,792 82.47%
Internists, General 665 $157,387 82.51%
Training and Development Specialists 662 $59,772 85.42%
Biological Technicians 651 $47,575 84.66%
Occupation # of Jobs Avg Wage Approval %
Occupation # of Jobs Avg Wage Approval %
Medical Scientists, Except Epidemiologists 100 $69,750 42.02%
Food Service Managers 99 $52,479 41.95%
Managers, All Other 98 $137,559 41.53%
Chemists 98 $72,008 42.24%
Health Specialties Teachers, Postsecondary 98 $68,358 42.42%
Executive Secretaries and Executive Administrative Assistants 97 $52,414 41.99%
Elementary School Teachers, Except Special Education 94 $60,099 41.78%
Landscape Architects 91 $65,437 41.18%
Natural Sciences Managers 90 $142,103 40.72%
Food Preparation Workers 90 $25,144 41.28%
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 %
Emc Corporation 1,389 $105,891 90.25%
Cadence Design Systems Inc 1,376 $130,117 90.41%
Gilead Sciences Inc 1,368 $113,461 90.30%
Lyft Inc 1,364 $133,764 90.27%
Adobe Systems Incorporated 1,348 $114,849 89.81%
Igate Technologies Inc 1,304 $70,682 86.93%
Satyam Computer Services Ltd 1,296 $76,079 86.69%
The Leland Stanford Jr University 1,287 $66,304 86.55%
Pinterest Inc 1,287 $128,678 87.08%
Rivian Automotive Llc 1,268 $122,196 89.55%
Company # of Jobs Avg Wage Approval %
Company # of Jobs Avg Wage Approval %
Pfs Llc 148 $24,008 41.81%
Veritas Technologies Llc 145 $119,791 42.52%
Informatica Corporation 144 $101,335 42.73%
Erp Erp Corp 143 $110,575 44.27%
Robinhood Markets Inc 135 $130,219 42.45%
Fireeye Inc 129 $122,847 40.95%
Hortonworks Inc 129 $117,054 41.08%
First Republic Bank 129 $137,753 41.61%
Affirm Inc 126 $117,343 41.04%
Prospance Inc 124 $116,259 40.66%

Top Industries in California (All Years)

Industry # of Jobs Avg Wage Approval %
Nursery And Tree Production 25 $34,380 100.00%
Sheep And Goat Farming 24 $30,795 100.00%
Flower Nursery Stock And Florists Supplies Merchant Wholesalers 17 $30,575 100.00%
Tree Nut Farming 17 $34,754 100.00%
Hay Farming 17 $35,034 100.00%
Other Animal Production 15 $33,355 100.00%
Crop Harvesting Primarily By Machine 13 $30,080 100.00%
Nursery And Floriculture Production 13 $36,296 100.00%
All Other Crop Farming 12 $36,859 100.00%
Postharvest Crop Activities Except Cotton Ginning 11 $26,058 100.00%

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