H1B Report
State comparison

California vs Washington

H-1B filing geography compared side-by-side. Volume, national share, top sponsoring employers and most-filed occupations. Built from the same DOL LCA data that drives every page on H1B Report.

State A
California
CARank #1
State B
Washington
WARank #6

Key metrics

National share is each state’s portion of total US H-1B filings.

MetricCaliforniaWashington
Total filings1,684,275▲407,237
National share %18.05%▲4.36%
Rank nationally#1▲#6
Top sponsorINFOSYS LIMITEDMicrosoft Corporation
Top sponsor share3.2%20.6%
Top occupationSoftware DevelopersSoftware Developers

Filings by fiscal year

Year-over-year H-1B demand in each state.

California
Time series: 17 points from FY2010 to FY2026
Time series
PeriodValue
FY201063,120
FY201165,699
FY201276,412
FY201383,865
FY201498,525
FY2015115,758
FY2016119,754
FY2017119,409
FY2018128,477
FY201916,784
FY2020116,018
FY2021177,848
FY2022123,097
FY2023123,478
FY2024102,108
FY2025110,926
FY202642,997
Washington
Time series: 17 points from FY2010 to FY2026
Time series
PeriodValue
FY201011,235
FY201111,359
FY201213,218
FY201315,493
FY201417,921
FY201521,665
FY201623,151
FY201725,476
FY201826,842
FY20194,453
FY202032,427
FY202144,510
FY202238,067
FY202337,614
FY202434,089
FY202536,307
FY202613,410

Top 5 sponsors — California

Top 5 sponsors — Washington

Top 5 occupations — California

Top 5 occupations — Washington

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California vs Washington — H-1B State Comparison · H1B Report