H-1B Visas in San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara
H-1B sponsorship in the San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara metro. U.S. Department of Labor disclosure data shows 137,834 Labor Condition Applications filed by 7,292 distinct employers across the San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara metropolitan area. DOL certified those petitions at a 93.5% rate, confirming that prevailing-wage and working-conditions attestations passed the Labor Department’s preliminary review before USCIS handled final H-1B adjudication. That volume places San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara on the map as a measurable node in the national H-1B program, with its own distinct employer mix and occupation concentration.
Pay and occupation mix. The average offered wage on LCAs filed in the metro is $391,067. Because each LCA must meet or exceed the DOL prevailing wage for the specific occupation and worksite, that figure represents real pay commitments rather than voluntary market reporting. The most frequently sponsored role in the metro is Software Developers, which signals where employer demand for specialty-occupation talent is concentrated locally. Salary levels in a metro reflect the balance of wage levels (DOL Level I through IV) and the seniority tier of the roles employers are filling through the H-1B channel, so metro averages are a useful read on the sophistication of the local tech, healthcare, engineering, or finance workforce.
Who is sponsoring. The top H-1B sponsor in the San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara metro is Google LLC, anchoring a pool of 7,292 employers active in the area. Petition volume moved from 46,114 in FY2023 to 45,611 in FY2025, a decreased trajectory that typically reflects shifts in local hiring, company growth, or program caps. Because DOL releases LCA disclosures as open public records, every figure here traces back to individual petitions filed with the Department of Labor, giving this metro snapshot the same auditability as a government-released dataset.
About San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara
The San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara metro area has 137,834 H-1B LCA petitions filed by 7,292 employers, with a 93.5% certification rate and an average salary of $391,067. The top H-1B sponsor is Google LLC. The most common occupation is Software Developers.
Petition Volume by Year
H-1B LCA filings in San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara from FY2023 to FY2025
FY2026 is partial data (through Q1). Chart shows completed fiscal years only.
Annual Breakdown
| Year | Petitions | Certified | Cert Rate | Avg Salary |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2023 | 46,114 | 42,670 | 92.5% | $223,944 |
| FY2024 | 39,293 | 36,588 | 93.1% | $532,860 |
| FY2025 | 45,611 | 43,535 | 95.4% | $411,440 |
| FY2026(partial) | 6,816 | 6,142 | 90.1% | $570,021 |
H-1B Guides
Learn more about the H-1B visa process and sponsorship
Step-by-step guide from LCA filing to work authorization
Highest-paying H-1B employers ranked by compensation
Understanding prevailing wage levels I through IV
Compare salaries by occupation, state, and wage level
Similar Metros
Metro areas with comparable H-1B petition volume to San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara
Frequently Asked Questions
How many H-1B petitions have been filed in San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara?
The San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara metro area has 137,834 H-1B LCA petitions from 7,292 employers, with a 93.5% certification rate and an average salary of $391,067.
What is the average H-1B salary in San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara?
The average H-1B salary in San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara is $391,067. This reflects prevailing wages that employers must meet or exceed when filing H-1B petitions for workers in this metro area.
Which company sponsors the most H-1B visas in San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara?
Google LLC is the top H-1B sponsor in the San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara metro area. The area has 7,292 total employers sponsoring H-1B workers.
What is the most common H-1B occupation in San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara?
Software Developers is the most frequently sponsored H-1B occupation in San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara. This reflects the demand for specialized workers in the metro area.
Are H-1B petitions growing in San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara?
H-1B petition volume in San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara has decreased from 46,114 in FY2023 to 45,611 in FY2025. Average salary moved from $223,944 to $411,440 over the same period.
How does San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara's H-1B market compare to other metros?
San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara has 137,834 H-1B petitions across 7,292 employers. View all metro areas on the PlainVisa metros page to compare petition volumes and salaries.
Data Sources
H-1B visa petition data is sourced from the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) Labor Condition Application (LCA) disclosure files. Data covers fiscal years 2023 through 2026. Salary figures reflect amounts listed on LCA petitions, not actual compensation paid.
Source: DOL Foreign Labor Performance Data
Source: U.S. Office of Management and Budget, Core Based Statistical Area (CBSA) definitions
Read our methodology , how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.
Every figure on PlainVisa is rendered directly from federal source data, no number is typed in by an editor. This page draws directly on federal source data, no figure is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error.