Updated
PERM jobs in San Diego, CA
- Decisions
- 9,504
- Approved
- 97.7%
- Median certified wage
- $107,328
- Years
- FY2016 to FY2026
Year by year
- certified
- denied
- withdrawn
Fiscal years run October to September. More
Fiscal years run October to September. FY2016 to FY2023 come from DOL's closed-year files, and FY2024 on from its current ones. The newest year is partial until DOL publishes its fourth quarter.
Every year as a table
| Fiscal year | Certified | Denied | Withdrawn |
|---|---|---|---|
| FY2016 | 781 | 19 | 28 |
| FY2017 | 1,083 | 21 | 19 |
| FY2018 | 1,090 | 22 | 24 |
| FY2019 | 681 | 28 | 23 |
| FY2020 | 864 | 9 | 35 |
| FY2021 | 915 | 16 | 20 |
| FY2022 | 843 | 21 | 38 |
| FY2023 | 798 | 23 | 38 |
| FY2024 | 621 | 19 | 39 |
| FY2025 | 752 | 14 | 32 |
| FY2026 | 543 | 20 | 25 |
Top sponsors
- Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. 2,194
- Intuit Inc. 365
- ILLUMINA 346
- ServiceNow, Inc. 220
- Qualcomm Innovation Center, Inc. 198
- ASML US, LP 163
- PFS, LLC 147
- VAStek Inc. 146
- Qualcomm Incorporated 140
- Intel Corporation 139
Top occupations
- Software Developers, Systems Software 1,832
- Electronics Engineers, Except Computer 1,466
- Software Developers, Applications 1,139
- Software Developers 454
- Computer Systems Analysts 330
- Computer Occupations, All Other 277
- Industrial Engineers 205
- Combined Food Preparation and Serving Workers, Including Fast Food 147
- Mechanical Engineers 145
- Cooks, Restaurant 144
Industries
- Radio and Television Broadcasting and Wireless Communications Equipment Manufacturing 2,568
- Custom Computer Programming Services 816
- Computer Systems Design Services 627
- Medical Equipment and Supplies Manufacturing 383
- Semiconductor and Other Electronic Component Manufacturing 263
- Semiconductor and Related Device Manufacturing 232
- Engineering Services 195
- Full-Service Restaurants 179
- Limited-Service Restaurants 179
- Electronic Computer Manufacturing 145
Countries of citizenship
- India 4,459
- China 841
- South Korea 358
- Canada 317
- Mexico 288
- Taiwan 173
- Brazil 128
- Philippines 99
- Japan 86
- Thailand 84
Worker's education
- Master's 4,592
- Bachelor's 2,149
- None 476
- Doctorate 468
- Other 149
- High School 121
- Associate's 34
Visa held when filed
- H-1B 5,766
- L-1 610
- F-1 451
- NOT IN USA 205
- TN 200
- E-2 135
- B-2 48
- H-4 33
- O-1 27
- J-1 23
H-1B in San Diego, CA
33,540 labor condition applications name a worksite here, FY2020 to FY2026, and DOL certified 32,220 (96%). An LCA is the employer's wage attestation before an H-1B petition, so it counts positions offered. It doesn't count people hired.
Employers, certified LCAs since FY2024
- Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. 3,211
- Apple Inc. 1,095
- Amazon.com Services LLC 472
- ServiceNow, Inc. 295
- Intuit Inc. 221
- Qualcomm Innovation Center, Inc. 209
- ASML US, LP 189
- illumina 175
- Qualcomm Incorporated 152
- Midland Credit Management, Inc 104
Jobs, certified LCAs since FY2024
- Software Developers 4,268
- Electronics Engineers, Except Computer 2,178
- Data Scientists 565
- Computer Systems Engineers/Architects 524
- Software Quality Assurance Analysts and Testers 461
- Electrical Engineers 252
- Computer and Information Systems Managers 250
- Computer Systems Analysts 222
- Manufacturing Engineers 214
- Mechanical Engineers 206
Where San Diego, CA sits
- County
- San Diego County
- Census places San Diego city in it
- Metro area
- San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA
- Metropolitan statistical area
- DOL wage area
- San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA
- The area DOL sets prevailing wages for, wage year 2026-27
111.9 is BEA's price level for the San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA metro area in 2024, against 100 for the country as a whole; for housing rents it's 179.3. A salary here buys about 89% of what the same salary buys at the national price level.
- Electronics Engineers, Except Computer1,466 PERM decisions
- Software Developers454 PERM decisions
- Industrial Engineers205 PERM decisions
- Mechanical Engineers145 PERM decisions
- Cooks, Restaurant144 PERM decisions
Each row has its own scale, marked at its ends: these jobs pay too differently to share one. The table compares them.
- middle half of pay (BLS)
- median
- 10th to 90th percentile
- DOL's Levels I to IV, left to right
| Job | BLS median | Level I | Level II | Level III | Level IV |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Electronics Engineers, Except Computer | $156,480 | $107,765 | $131,622 | $155,501 | $179,358 |
| Software Developers | $163,270 | $105,664 | $134,347 | $163,010 | $191,693 |
| Industrial Engineers | $119,050 | $81,765 | $100,922 | $120,058 | $139,214 |
| Mechanical Engineers | $121,750 | $86,154 | $105,186 | $124,238 | $143,270 |
| Cooks, Restaurant | $46,440 | $39,250 | $42,494 | $45,739 | $48,984 |
Any job in any area, and every wage year since 2021-22, in the wage-level tool.
The worksite city on each application, from DOL's decided cases since FY2016. Spellings of one city are pooled, and a city counts as one place per state.
Case data through Jun 30, 2026 · LCA disclosures through Jun 30, 2026 · Census places and metros through Jan 1, 2026 · BLS market pay through May 31, 2025 · DOL wage tables through Jul 1, 2026. How these figures are counted. Spotted an error? Tell us; every fix is dated in the corrections log.
The sources in full
Case data: DOL quarterly disclosure files (flag.dol.gov) · data through Jun 30, 2026 · quarterly
LCA disclosures: DOL quarterly LCA disclosure files (www.dol.gov) · data through Jun 30, 2026 · quarterly
Census places and metros: Census Bureau Gazetteer and metro delineation files (census.gov) · data through Jan 1, 2026 · yearly
BLS market pay: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (bls.gov) · data through May 31, 2025 · yearly, each spring
DOL wage tables: DOL OFLC wage data downloads (flag.dol.gov) · data through Jul 1, 2026 · yearly, each july
What each source includes
Case data: Decided PERM cases only. A case still waiting isn't in here, so counts and durations describe finished cases.
LCA disclosures: Certified and denied H-1B labor condition applications only, with the wage offered.
Census places and metros: Where each worksite city sits: its county, metro area and DOL wage area, matched to Census's place and county files. A city Census lists in no single place is left unmatched. This site doesn't guess it.
BLS market pay: Pay employers report for everyone in each job, from BLS's yearly survey (May of the year named). It's shown nationally, by state and by metro. It covers citizens and immigrants alike, and it isn't drawn from PERM offers.
DOL wage tables: The four prevailing wage levels DOL publishes for every job in every area, each wage year from 2021-22, as DOL's own tables print them. They're the floors an offer is held to. They don't show what anyone was paid.
Cite this page
Waiting on a PERM case?
- When it'll likely be decided
- An email when DOL moves it
Don't have the number?