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 %
Software Developers, Applications 194,395 $113,169 89.39%
Computer Systems Analysts 104,820 $82,449 91.36%
Software Developers, Systems Software 58,461 $123,631 89.70%
Computer Programmers 52,531 $69,328 89.59%
Computer Occupations, All Other 51,542 $83,906 91.49%
Electronics Engineers, Except Computer 35,308 $115,630 90.24%
Accountants and Auditors 20,885 $66,832 91.51%
Computer and Information Systems Managers 16,526 $166,691 91.14%
Management Analysts 16,324 $88,735 91.36%
Electrical Engineers 14,812 $115,370 88.12%
Occupation # of Jobs Avg Wage Approval %
Software Developers, Applications 26,501 $160,578 100.57%
Software Developers, Systems Software 15,558 $135,395 61.50%
Electronics Engineers, Except Computer 9,042 $110,904 216.89%
Computer Systems Analysts 6,736 $171,673 247.47%
Computer Occupations, All Other 3,487 $113,110 196.12%
Computer and Information Systems Managers 2,245 $163,817 154.30%
Accountants and Auditors 2,162 $125,666 152.15%
Statisticians 1,989 $82,692 150.34%
Marketing Managers 1,281 $141,556 106.48%
Sales Engineers 1,278 $117,607 114.52%
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 %
Italy 311 $102,109 42.54%
Thailand 306 $58,313 44.54%
Spain 293 $105,403 50.26%
Singapore 278 $109,854 49.91%
Nepal 256 $84,532 47.50%
Malaysia 233 $97,820 43.47%
Ireland 226 $98,932 44.14%
Indonesia 204 $82,045 41.38%
Bangladesh 202 $90,833 44.69%
Hong Kong 192 $89,149 44.04%

Top Hiring Companies in California (All Years)

Company # of Jobs Avg Wage Approval %
Nextgen Technologies Inc 384 $91,156 86.68%
Bio Rad Laboratories Inc 383 $108,911 86.46%
Cloudera Inc 381 $129,128 86.20%
Logic Planet Cs Inc 380 $55,793 86.17%
Infinera Corporation 380 $124,034 86.17%
Delta Dental Of California 379 $116,161 86.93%
Intel Mobile Communications North America 378 $109,228 87.30%
Mastech Inc A Mastech Holdings Inc Company 378 $95,475 87.30%
Altera Corporation 377 $102,327 87.47%
Cepheid 377 $114,572 87.47%
Company # of Jobs Avg Wage Approval %
Company # of Jobs Avg Wage Approval %
Skidmore Owings Merrill Llp 32 $75,131 34.41%
Novatel Wireless 32 $96,233 34.41%
Metricstream Inc 32 $120,402 34.78%
University Of California San Francisco 32 $94,127 34.78%
Jds Uniphase Corporation 32 $106,971 35.16%
Fluor Enterprises Inc 31 $106,816 34.44%
Apn Software Services Inc 31 $101,486 34.44%
Sri International 31 $77,983 34.44%
Mercedes Benz Research Development 31 $114,404 34.44%
Spokeo Inc 31 $100,550 34.44%

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