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 %
Software Developers, Applications 193,998 $113,139 89.21%
Computer Systems Analysts 104,772 $82,444 91.31%
Software Developers, Systems Software 58,151 $123,588 89.22%
Computer Programmers 52,515 $69,323 89.56%
Computer Occupations, All Other 51,521 $83,900 91.45%
Electronics Engineers, Except Computer 39,912 $119,022 90.94%
Accountants and Auditors 23,125 $69,041 91.77%
Computer and Information Systems Managers 19,359 $173,059 91.40%
Management Analysts 17,285 $90,027 91.40%
Electrical Engineers 16,250 $117,766 88.31%
Occupation # of Jobs Avg Wage Approval %
Software Developers, Applications 26,507 $160,581 96.90%
Software Developers, Systems Software 15,563 $135,396 61.52%
Electronics Engineers, Except Computer 9,259 $111,482 219.88%
Computer Systems Analysts 6,744 $171,595 237.30%
Computer Occupations, All Other 3,491 $113,090 186.78%
Computer and Information Systems Managers 2,352 $165,802 148.96%
Accountants and Auditors 2,305 $123,676 162.21%
Statisticians 2,015 $82,718 149.70%
Sales Engineers 1,325 $118,264 104.83%
Marketing Managers 1,310 $141,709 107.73%
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 %
Norway 34 $104,293 44.16%
Syria 34 $71,129 49.28%
Burma (myanmar) 31 $99,295 47.69%
Saudi Arabia 28 $99,049 43.75%
Panama 26 $9,318,560 40.63%
Honduras 25 $73,989 39.68%
Morocco 24 $89,089 42.11%
Slovakia 19 $103,675 37.25%
Uruguay 18 $115,432 38.30%
Estonia 18 $100,030 39.13%

Top Hiring Companies in California (All Years)

Company # of Jobs Avg Wage Approval %
Amazon Development Center Us Inc 1,631 $133,414 92.88%
Rivian Automotive Llc 1,586 $126,264 91.84%
Gilead Sciences Inc 1,571 $117,479 93.29%
Advanced Micro Devices Inc 1,528 $135,107 90.84%
Cadence Design Systems Inc 1,520 $132,995 90.80%
Pinterest Inc 1,514 $134,608 95.34%
Etouch Systems Corporation 1,442 $86,313 91.21%
Lyft Inc 1,436 $133,653 91.00%
Emc Corporation 1,435 $107,882 90.94%
Waymo Llc 1,431 $140,273 92.98%
Company # of Jobs Avg Wage Approval %
Bruno Farms Inc 15 $29,705 100.00%
John M Lasgoity 14 $22,555 100.00%
Sierra Farms Llc 14 $33,875 100.00%
Rancho Del Mar Inc 14 $28,169 100.00%
Gregory Livestock Co 14 $33,424 100.00%
St Romo Labor Force Llc 14 $32,270 100.00%
Valley Produce Harvesting Inc 14 $34,264 100.00%
Jc Harvesting Corporation 14 $36,014 100.00%
Sheep Company Llc 14 $27,506 100.00%
Millers Honey Farms Inc 14 $28,251 100.00%
Company # of Jobs Avg Wage Approval %
Ellie Mae Inc 154 $118,383 42.08%
Veritas Technologies Llc 148 $119,998 41.34%
Pfs Llc 148 $24,008 41.34%
Informatica Corporation 144 $101,335 40.68%
Erp Erp Corp 143 $110,575 40.40%
Zendesk Inc 143 $122,189 40.86%
Confluent Inc 143 $155,910 41.69%
Affirm Inc 138 $119,490 40.71%
First Republic Bank 137 $138,865 41.39%
Tiktok Inc 134 $138,876 40.61%

Top Industries in California (All Years)

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.

State Avg Wage