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 %
Farmworkers and Laborers, Crop, Nursery, and Greenhouse	1,722	$31,984	677.95%
Farmworkers, Farm, Ranch, and Aquacultural Animals	1,264	$28,731	499.60%
Farmworkers and Laborers, Crop	714	$32,564	291.43%
Agricultural Equipment Operators	115	$33,388	47.52%
Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers	34	$38,233	15.81%
Farm Equipment Mechanics and Service Technicians	25	$37,078	12.69%
Agricultural Workers, All Other	12	$30,352	6.94%
First-Line Supervisors of Farming, Fishing, and Forestry Workers	11	$37,981	7.14%
Maids and Housekeeping Cleaners	7	$32,112	7.53%
Food Preparation Workers	5	$33,159	7.69%

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 %
Bulgaria	66	$94,715	41.25%
United States Of America	66	$1,169,048	44.30%
Mongolia	65	$74,696	44.83%
Portugal	59	$107,444	40.69%
El Salvador	54	$53,942	41.22%
Switzerland	53	$2,780,717	41.73%
Hungary	51	$99,080	44.74%
Finland	49	$109,962	44.55%
Denmark	49	$118,372	45.79%
Costa Rica	48	$103,734	45.28%

Top Hiring Companies in California (All Years)

Company	# of Jobs	Avg Wage	Approval %
Broadcom Corporation	2,023	$115,843	86.75%
Pricewaterhousecoopers Llp	1,992	$80,473	85.53%
University Of California Los Angeles	1,953	$65,931	84.69%
Yahoo Inc	1,943	$108,708	85.59%
Juniper Networks Inc	1,928	$126,041	85.20%
Nisum Technologies Inc	1,924	$107,070	87.49%
The University Of Southern California	1,895	$62,887	86.37%
Amazoncom Services Inc	1,884	$106,404	89.71%
Netflix Inc	1,876	$163,446	91.07%
Sap Labs Llc	1,844	$106,357	90.84%

Company	# of Jobs	Avg Wage	Approval %

Company	# of Jobs	Avg Wage	Approval %
Visa Technology And Operations Llc	233	$128,582	43.47%
Citrix Systems Inc	233	$129,543	44.05%
Juniper Networks Us Inc	232	$112,051	44.87%
Kpmg Llp	231	$101,016	45.03%
Oracle Usa Inc	222	$81,589	44.22%
Rivian Automotive Llc	219	$128,657	45.44%
Akamai Technologies Inc	210	$114,826	44.21%
Twilio Inc	209	$131,685	45.43%
Akvarr Inc	208	$93,549	47.71%
Okta Inc	202	$130,328	46.44%

Top Industries in California (All Years)

Industry	# of Jobs	Avg Wage	Approval %
Research And Development In The Social Sciences And Humanities	915	$72,439	87.64%
Supermarkets And Other Grocery Retailers Except Convenience Retailers	898	$113,213	86.18%
Other Electronic Parts And Equipment Merchant Wholesalers	890	$101,451	85.82%
Other Electrical Equipment And Component Manufacturing	880	$104,185	86.11%
Other Services Related To Advertising	880	$95,800	87.04%
Medical Laboratories	878	$100,756	87.36%
Analytical Laboratory Instrument Manufacturing	872	$103,804	87.29%
Landscape Architectural Services	844	$58,411	86.92%
Medicinal And Botanical Manufacturing	842	$95,968	87.89%
Aircraft Manufacturing	828	$104,174	87.07%

Industry	# of Jobs	Avg Wage	Approval %

Industry	# of Jobs	Avg Wage	Approval %
Direct Insurance Except Life Health And Medical Carriers	69	$117,286	21.77%
Fitness And Recreational Sports Centers	68	$99,690	22.22%
Packaged Frozen Food Merchant Wholesalers	68	$68,255	22.30%
Industrial Building Construction	67	$82,252	22.11%
Other Specialty Trade Contractors	66	$49,726	23.00%
Arts Entertainment And Recreation	66	$96,917	23.16%
Lessors Of Nonresidential Buildings Except Miniwarehouses	66	$86,832	23.91%
Other Miscellaneous Manufacturing	65	$82,783	23.90%
Credit Card Issuing	64	$114,961	23.79%
Hardware Manufacturing	64	$90,741	23.79%

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.