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"

Illinois Foreign Labor Visa Stats (All Years)

Total Visas % of all Visas Average Wage Visa Type
328,359 91.53% $77,136 H-1B
25,222 7.03% $170,962 PERM
3,529 0.98% $97,739 E-3 Australian
1,637 0.46% $32,808 H-2A

As of May 2023, Illinois has seen a total of 358,747 visa workers across all visa types. The most common visa class in Illinois is the H-1B visa with 328,359 H-1B visas on record over all years accounting for 91.53% of Illinois's total visas. The second most prevalent visa is the PERM visa with 25,222 PERM visas on record over all years accounting for 7.03% of Illinois's total visas.

Top Occupations in Illinois (All Years)

Occupation # of Jobs Avg Wage Approval %
Software Quality Assurance Engineers and Testers 1,919 $76,395 83.22%
Medical Scientists, Except Epidemiologists 1,816 $51,864 88.67%
Civil Engineers 1,532 $70,707 87.05%
Web Developers 1,463 $59,980 91.61%
Information Technology Project Managers 1,417 $91,428 94.47%
Information Security Analysts 1,198 $86,536 80.03%
Business Intelligence Analysts 1,168 $85,060 89.78%
Biochemists and Biophysicists 1,164 $47,131 92.45%
Electronics Engineers, Except Computer 1,050 $80,134 87.87%
Engineers, All Other 1,046 $66,366 87.60%
Occupation # of Jobs Avg Wage Approval %
Occupation # of Jobs Avg Wage Approval %
Physicians and Surgeons, All Other 132 $153,589 78.57%
Civil Engineers 129 $1,175,895 77.25%
Computer Programmers 125 $69,590 76.22%
Market Research Analysts and Marketing Specialists 124 $50,166 80.52%
Business Teachers, Postsecondary 116 $48,375 76.32%
Sales Engineers 111 $95,550 78.72%
Financial Managers 108 $116,225 81.20%
Architectural and Engineering Managers 104 $104,111 80.00%
Landscaping and Groundskeeping Workers 102 $24,444 82.26%
Information Security Analysts 99 $107,116 82.50%
Illinois Employees Over Time
Illinois has been in the H1B Visa program since 2011 where 14,981 employees were hired. Illinois peaked in 2016 with 29,364 employees, and has since been on a decline with the most recent number of employees being 3,790 in 2025.

Top Countries with Workers in Illinois From PERM Program (All Years)

Country # of Jobs Avg Wage Approval %
India 9,745 $242,007 46.63%
China 1,311 $75,213 49.51%
Poland 521 $175,933 47.11%
South Korea 427 $55,341 43.09%
Canada 361 $90,633 37.37%
Philippines 356 $493,600 40.27%
Mexico 333 $65,272 43.42%
Brazil 188 $79,878 47.47%
Ukraine 174 $62,423 47.80%
Pakistan 164 $88,269 47.95%

Top Hiring Companies in Illinois (All Years)

Company # of Jobs Avg Wage Approval %
Pearson Education Inc 8 $76,999 88.89%
Primera Engineers Ltd 8 $67,031 88.89%
Aar Corp 8 $68,476 88.89%
Arisglobal Llc 8 $93,803 88.89%
Readerlink Distribution Services Llc 8 $99,926 88.89%
Powerreviews Inc 8 $66,906 88.89%
Groove Health Inc 8 $76,609 88.89%
Cohnreznick Llp 8 $95,521 88.89%
Dexter Dental Llc 8 $79,271 88.89%
Captevo Inc 8 $55,245 88.89%
Company # of Jobs Avg Wage Approval %
Company # of Jobs Avg Wage Approval %

Top Industries in Illinois (All Years)

Industry # of Jobs Avg Wage Approval %
Apple Orchards 34 $32,012 100.00%
Mayonnaise Dressing And Other Prepared Sauce Manufacturing 28 $32,527 100.00%
Crop Production 27 $33,218 100.00%
Beef Cattle Ranching And Farming 23 $32,453 100.00%
Corn Farming 20 $32,925 100.00%
Nursery And Floriculture Production 20 $33,574 100.00%
Miscellaneous Nondurable Goods Merchant Wholesalers 18 $33,182 100.00%
Soybean Farming 17 $33,618 100.00%
Other Grain Farming 15 $32,987 100.00%
Soil Preparation Planting And Cultivating 15 $29,572 100.00%

Illinois Wage Comparison to Other States (All Years)

The chart below compares The average wage in Illinois to that of the top 9 states with the highest overall average H1-B wage. The average wage in Illinois over all years is $77,136. The state with the highest average wage of H1-B workers for all states is CA with an average wage of $104,510.

State Avg Wage