Florida, California, and Georgia accounted for one-third of H-2A jobs in FY 2022

In 2022, 35 percent of the total jobs available through the H-2A visa program for temporary foreign agricultural workers were in three States. The U.S. Department of Labor certified around 370,000 temporary jobs in fiscal year (FY) 2022 under the H-2A program. This program enables U.S. agricultural employers anticipating a shortage of domestic workers to fill seasonal farm jobs with temporary foreign workers. The top 3 States were Florida, with 14 percent of total H-2A jobs certified, California, with 12 percent, and Georgia, with around 9 percent. Other States in the top 10 included Washington with around 9 percent; North Carolina with 7 percent; Michigan, Louisiana, and Arizona each with 4 percent; and Texas and New York with 3 percent each. Increases in employment were particularly large in California, which gained over 11,000 H-2A jobs, a 35-percent increase from 2021. H-2A certifications increased in all U.S. States except Georgia (which declined by less than 1 percent), Delaware (20 percent decline), and Alaska (no change), compared with 2021. Not all certifications lead to the issuance of H-2A visas. In 2021, 258,000 H-2A visas were issued, whereas, in 2022, this number increased to 298,000. This chart updates information in the USDA, Economic Research Service report The H-2A Temporary Agricultural Worker Program in 2020, published in August 2022.

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