Which State Has the Most International Students? October 2026 SEVIS by State and the Job Markets Behind It

California still has the most international students, but Massachusetts lost more SEVIS records than California, and New Jersey has more H-1B sponsors on file than New York with a fifth of the students.

Part of our guide to your SEVIS record.

California has the most international students in the US. The October 2026 SEVIS data from the Department of Homeland Security shows 149,476 active F-1 and M-1 student records in California, ahead of New York (139,915), Texas (91,883) and Massachusetts (76,735). All four fell from October 2025, and so did the national total: 1,192,572 active records, down 7.1 percent (our sums of the DHS state tables). These are active SEVIS records, not enrollment, and on their own they say nothing about where the OPT and H-1B jobs are. That second map looks different, and it is the one your job search runs on.

Status line, as of 2026-11-01:

• Published: the October 2026 SEVIS Data Mapping Tool tables. Compare them only with October 2025.
• Not published: Open Doors 2026 (academic year 2025/26; IIE has set no date, and about November 16 is likely but unconfirmed) and the IIE Fall 2026 Snapshot.
• For OPT job seekers: the OPT unemployment limits (90 days, 150 on STEM OPT) are in effect and unchanged. The OPT fee rule is only proposed. Under it the school, not the student, would pay, though it could pass the cost on. Comments close 2026-11-09 (check the Federal Register notice for any change after that date; a closed comment period does not make a rule final). The Duration of Status rule has been blocked by a federal court since 2026-09-14; summary judgment is briefed and DHS's appeal is pending, and USCIS says it "will proceed under the previous regulatory provisions."

Which state has the most international students? The October 2026 ranking

California has the most international students, with 149,476 active F-1 and M-1 SEVIS records in October 2026, 5.4 percent fewer than a year earlier. New York (139,915), Texas (91,883), Massachusetts (76,735) and Florida (66,521) complete the top five. Together the top four states hold about 38 percent of the 1,192,572 active records nationwide.

Active F-1 and M-1 SEVIS records by state, October 2026 vs October 2025 (as of 2026-11; our sums of the DHS tables)

How we built the ranking

DHS publishes each month's table by country of citizenship, with one column per state. We summed every state column in the October 2026 table and the October 2025 table. The sums reproduce the national totals exactly (1,192,572 and 1,283,240). The SEVIS Data Mapping Tool page describes "nonimmigrant students studying in the United States" and says "The map is updated with information from SEVIS every month." It does not say how a record is assigned to a state or whether students on OPT are included. Our reading is that a record counts toward the state of the student's school, so treat each figure as records tied to that state, not a census of where students live or work.

The map is concentrated: the top ten states hold 736,635 records, 61.8 percent of the national total (our arithmetic).

Which states lost the most international students?

In raw numbers, New York lost the most active SEVIS records between October 2025 and October 2026 (12,164), then Massachusetts (9,375), California (8,571), Texas (7,095) and Illinois (6,302). The four biggest states (California, New York, Texas and Massachusetts) account for about 41 percent of the national drop of 90,668 records (our arithmetic). Massachusetts losing more records than California, at half California's size, is the standout.

In percentage terms, among the 20 states with the most records:

• Fastest declines: Connecticut -14.4%, Ohio -13.3%, Washington -12.3%, Arizona -11.0%, Massachusetts -10.9%, New Jersey -10.8%, Michigan -10.1%.
• Smallest changes: Virginia -0.3%, Florida -1.5%, Indiana -2.6%. Kentucky rose 5.1 percent (21,807 records).

One caution: Mississippi shows 9,841 records against 5,461 a year earlier. We could not find an explanation for a jump that size, so we leave it out of any trend reading until DHS or the schools explain it.

Why some states fell faster: the India share

The national drop is concentrated by country. India fell 13.5 percent to 316,893 records and accounts for 54.4 percent of the net decline, and Indian master's records alone (down 58,895, or 20.1 percent) equal about 65 percent of it. Because the DHS table lists every country's records state by state, the India rows show where that weighed most.

India's share of each state's records, and the change, October 2026 vs October 2025 (as of 2026-11; our sums of the DHS tables)

A big Indian share alone does not predict a big drop. What matters is how far a state's Indian records fell. In Arizona, New Jersey, Michigan and Ohio, India is a third or more of records and Indian records fell 17 to 21 percent, and each state fell more than 10 percent overall. In Kentucky, Missouri and Indiana, India is an even larger share (44 to 57 percent), but Indian records rose 5.0 percent, fell 9.8 percent and fell 2.1 percent. Kentucky and Indiana held up far better than the national 7.1 percent drop, and Missouri roughly matched it. Texas sits in between: a 35 percent Indian share and a 16.8 percent Indian decline, but only a 7.2 percent overall drop, so its other records held up. Of the five largest states, Florida (India about a seventh of records) and California (where Chinese records, 46,675, outnumber Indian ones) fell least. The DHS table cannot show degree level by state, and it does not explain why Indian records fell less in some states, so treat the master's link as likely, not proven. Our breakdown of the September 2026 SEVIS decline by degree and country covers the national picture.

Campus and system reports point the same way, using different counts. Illinois public universities reported international enrollment down 14.2 percent (3,147 students) this fall, in a release from Gov. Pritzker's office dated 2026-10-23, while SEVIS shows Illinois down 9.1 percent. Ohio State reported a 12.7 percent drop to 5,234 international students (Higher Ed Dive), and SEVIS shows Ohio down 13.3 percent. Same direction, different measures: never subtract one from the other.

Is SEVIS the same as enrollment?

No. SEVIS counts active F-1 and M-1 records on one date, which is a stock that includes students who started years ago. It is not a count of new students, and it is not what a school reports as its fall census. Each source below answers a different question.

Which international-student number are you looking at? (as of 2026-11)

Common misconception: "SEVIS shows 90,000 fewer international students enrolled this fall." Correction: SEVIS shows 90,668 fewer active records in October 2026 than in October 2025. That is a year-over-year change in a stock, not a fall enrollment count. Some reporting has also said public SEVIS reports undercounted roughly 200,000 students from August 2024; DHS does not address that on the mapping tool page, so lean on same-month comparisons rather than absolute levels.

Do states with more international students have more OPT jobs?

Not necessarily. The student map shows where schools are; the sponsor map shows where employers file H-1B petitions. An OPT job itself needs no H-1B petition, but if you hope to stay after OPT, the employers that matter are the ones that file. New Jersey makes the gap obvious: about a fifth of New York's active SEVIS records, yet more H-1B employers and more petitions in the data F1Jobs uses.

Students vs sponsors in three Northeast states (as of 2026-11)

The employer columns come from F1Jobs's sponsor directory, built from a July 2026 extract of the USCIS H-1B Employer Data Hub. Read them with four caveats:

• What counts as an employer. An employer is counted if it had at least 25 petition decisions (initial and continuing, approvals and denials) across FY2024 to FY2026. The same firm can appear under two spellings of its legal name.
• FY2026 is partial. The Hub now says it covers "fiscal year 2009 through fiscal year 2026 (quarter 4)", but the extract was pulled before that update.
• The state is the employer's mailing address, not your worksite. USCIS's Hub explainer says the state field "is not necessarily the beneficiary(ies) work location." In the extract, Infosys and Cognizant sit under Texas and Tata Consultancy Services under Maryland, though IT services firms staff client projects in many states.
• Past volume is not future hiring. The Congressional Research Service reported on 2026-10-14 that Cognizant, Infosys and Tata submitted 100, 91 and 95 percent fewer FY2027 registrations (CRS Insight IN12747). A hub listing shows who filed, not who is hiring now.

The industry mix differs too. New Jersey's biggest filers in the extract are mostly IT services, staffing and consulting firms (LTIMindtree, Wipro, Compunnel, Ernst & Young, Tech Mahindra). New York's are led by banks, alongside IT services firms, media and consultancies (Citibank, Mphasis, Goldman Sachs, Bloomberg, McKinsey). Massachusetts mixes finance, IT services, consulting, software, semiconductors, life-science tools and universities (Fidelity, Virtusa, Boston Consulting Group, MathWorks, Analog Devices, Thermo Fisher, Harvard University). For a ranking of every state by petitions, see our H-1B sponsors by state ranking; for the largest market city by city, see the California H-1B jobs guide.

State policy can close a door the student count hides

Texas (third in SEVIS) and Florida (fifth) restrict new H-1B hiring at public universities, a route many graduates count on because universities are cap-exempt. Texas froze new H-1B petitions at state agencies and public universities from 2026-01-27 to 2027-05-31 unless the Texas Workforce Commission permits one; K-12 and private employers are not covered, and the governor's K-12 ban is only a proposal for the 2027 Legislature (Texas Tribune). Florida's Board of Governors paused new H-1B hires at 12 public universities from 2026-03-02 until at least 2027-01-05, with renewals unaffected (Central Florida Public Media). Both are in effect. Our explainer on the Texas and Florida H-1B hiring freezes and the Texas H-1B jobs guide cover the private-sector side.

Best states for international students in the USA, if the goal is a sponsored job

There is no single best state. For an OPT-to-H-1B path, the best state is the one where employers in your field file petitions, inside a metro you can actually work in, without a state policy blocking the employer type you are targeting. Student count is a weak proxy for any of that.

Here is how to check a state's job market for your situation:

1. Open the DHS SEVIS Data Mapping Tool, choose the October 2026 table, and compare your state's column with October 2025, never with September.
2. Check the state's sponsor hub on F1Jobs and the USCIS H-1B Employer Data Hub for employers in your field, and note how much of their volume is initial approvals (petitions marked new employment, the closest proxy for new hires) versus continuing approvals.
3. Download the latest LCA disclosure file (FY2026 Q3, through 2026-06-30) from the DOL Office of Foreign Labor Certification and filter by worksite city and your occupation to see where the jobs actually sit.
4. Confirm state policy if you are counting on a public university or state agency in Texas or Florida.
5. Ask your DSO how your unemployment days are counted before you set a relocation radius; the SEVIS Help Hub unemployment page sets 90 days on post-completion OPT and 150 in aggregate on STEM OPT.
6. Take cap versus cap-exempt timing and FY2028 registration questions to the employer's immigration counsel or your own licensed immigration attorney.

A worked example: a May 2027 graduate in Massachusetts

Say you finish a STEM master's in Boston in May 2027.

• November 2026: Massachusetts records are down 10.9 percent year over year. The Massachusetts hub shows 239 employers and 30,084 petitions; New York (391 and 48,771) and New Jersey (499 and 59,986) sit within a train ride.
• Before registration season: FY2028 H-1B registration is not announced. USCIS must give at least 30 days' notice, and March 2027 is only an expectation, so watch the USCIS registration page.
• After graduation: once post-completion OPT starts, your 90-day unemployment limit runs, so the employer list matters before May, not after.
• The decision: keep Massachusetts for finance, life-science tools and university research (Harvard appears among the state's top filers), and widen your industry search to the New York and New Jersey corridor, which together show 890 employers in the extract against Massachusetts's 239 (our arithmetic). Many New Jersey filers are IT services firms that place staff at client sites, so check the LCA worksite before you assume the job is in New Jersey.

When will Open Doors 2026 be released?

As of 2026-11-01, IIE has not set a date. The 2025 report came out on Monday, 2025-11-17, during International Education Week; IEW 2026 runs November 16 to 20, so about 2026-11-16 is likely but unconfirmed (check the Open Doors press page after 2026-11-16). It measures the 2025/26 academic year, not fall 2026, so it will not settle this year's state numbers. Our guide to what Open Doors 2026 will and will not measure explains how to read it. When it lands, we will add a dated update to this page rather than rewrite it.

Common mistakes

• Calling SEVIS records "enrollment" or "new students." They are active records on one date.
• Selling a September-to-October move as a trend. That month-to-month change was +8,058 in 2023, -621 in 2024, -17,251 in 2025 and -7,659 in 2026. Compare the same month a year apart.
• Reading a state's student count as its job market. New Jersey has a fifth of New York's records and more sponsors on file.
• Treating an employer's recorded state as the worksite. Use LCA worksite data for that.
• Treating past petition volume as a current opening. Three of the largest IT services filers cut FY2027 registrations by 91 to 100 percent, per CRS.
• Assuming the Texas and Florida freezes cover everyone. They reach public universities (and, in Texas, state agencies), not private employers.
• Citing SEVIS doctorate growth. DHS's doctorate line changed in a way that looks like a reclassification, so leave it out.

Frequently asked questions

Which US state has the most international students in 2026?

California, with 149,476 active F-1 and M-1 records in the October 2026 SEVIS data, down 5.4 percent from October 2025. New York is second with 139,915, Texas third with 91,883 and Massachusetts fourth with 76,735. These are active SEVIS records summed from DHS tables, not enrollment counts.

Which states lost the most international students?

Comparing October 2026 with October 2025, New York lost the most active SEVIS records (12,164), followed by Massachusetts (9,375), California (8,571) and Texas (7,095), by our sums of DHS tables. In percentage terms, Connecticut (-14.4 percent) and Ohio (-13.3 percent) fell fastest among the 20 largest states, while Florida (-1.5 percent) and Virginia (-0.3 percent) barely moved.

Is SEVIS the same as enrollment?

No. SEVIS counts active F-1 and M-1 records at one point in time, which is a stock, not a count of students who enrolled this fall. Open Doors, the National Student Clearinghouse and campus census reports each measure something different, so compare SEVIS only with SEVIS for the same month a year earlier.

Do states with more international students have more OPT jobs?

Not necessarily. An OPT job needs no H-1B petition, but the employers that matter for staying after OPT are the ones that file. New Jersey has about a fifth of New York's active SEVIS records (28,342 vs 139,915 in October 2026) but more employers in the USCIS H-1B Employer Data Hub extract F1Jobs uses (499 vs 391 employers with 25 or more decisions, FY2024 through a partial FY2026, by mailing-address state). Where students study and where sponsors file are different maps, so search by metro and industry, not by student count.

When will Open Doors 2026 be released?

As of November 1, 2026, IIE has not set a date. The 2025 report came out on November 17, 2025, during International Education Week, and IEW 2026 runs November 16 to 20, so a release around November 16 is likely but unconfirmed. Open Doors 2026 covers the 2025/26 academic year, not fall 2026.

Sources

• DHS Study in the States, October 2026 SEVIS Data Mapping Tool data and October 2025 data
• DHS Study in the States, SEVIS Data Mapping Tool and SEVIS Help Hub, unemployment counter
• USCIS, H-1B Employer Data Hub, Understanding Our H-1B Employer Data Hub and H-1B electronic registration process
• U.S. Department of Labor, OFLC performance data and disclosure files
• Federal Register, Optional Practical Training Fees (proposed rule, 2026-10-08)
• Congressional Research Service, Insight IN12747
• IIE, Open Doors press page
• USCIS, Form I-539 page (Duration of Status court order notice)
• Office of the Governor of Illinois, public university enrollment release (2026-10-23)
• Higher Ed Dive, major public universities report hits to international enrollment
• Texas Tribune, Abbott's proposal to bar H-1B visas in public schools (2026-08-18)
• Central Florida Public Media, Board of Governors approves H-1B hiring freeze (2026-03-02)

How we checked this: on 2026-11-01 we summed the state columns of the DHS October 2026 and October 2025 SEVIS Data Mapping Tool tables (the sums match DHS's national totals) and the India rows state by state, took employer figures from F1Jobs's July 2026 extract of the USCIS H-1B Employer Data Hub, and checked every policy status against the official pages above as of that date.

This is general information, not legal or tax advice; your own I-20, I-94 and notices, and your DSO or a licensed immigration attorney, govern your situation.

If you are deciding where to aim your OPT search, F1Jobs helps international candidates focus on employers with a sponsorship track record in the metros that fit their field.