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From January 1, 2023 through December 31, 2023, California state minimum wage is $15.50 per hour for all employers, regardless of size.
The California cities and counties below have local ordinances setting higher rates than the state. West Hollywood has the highest minimum rate, $19.08/hour. Employers must review and comply with the rules for any locality in which their employees work. Many of those cities change on January 1 of each year, others on July 1 as noted below. The UC Berkeley Center for Labor Research and Education publishes regular updates.
City or CountyMinimum Wage RateAlameda (effective from July 1, 2023)$16.52Belmont$16.75Berkeley (effective from July 1, 2023)$18.07Burlingame (indexed to Consumer Price Index [CPI])$16.47Cupertino (indexed to CPI)$17.20Daly City (indexed to CPI)$16.07El Cerrito (indexed to CPI)$17.35Emeryville (indexed to CPI) (effective from July 1, 2023)$18.67Half Moon Bay (indexed to CPI)$16.45Foster City$16.50Hayward (indexed to CPI)$15.50 (25 or fewer employees) and$16.34 (26 or more employees)Fremont (effective from July 1, 2023) (indexed to CPI)$16.80Los Altos (indexed to CPI)$17.20Menlo Park (indexed to CPI)$16.20Los Angeles City (from July 1, 2023)$16.78Los Angeles County (Unincorporated Areas) (from July 1, 2023)$16.90Malibu (effective from July 1, 2023) (indexed to CPI)$16.90Milpitas (effective from July 1, 2023) (indexed to CPI)$17.20Mountain View $18.15Novato (indexed to CPI)$15.53 (25 or fewer employees)$16.07 (26+ employees)$16.32 (100+ employees)Oakland (indexed to CPI)$15.97Palo Alto (indexed to CPI)$17.25Pasadena (effective from July 1, 2023)$16.93Petaluma (indexed to CPI)$17.06Redwood City (indexed to CPI)$17.00Richmond (indexed to CPI)$16.17San Carlos (indexed to CPI)$16.32San Diego$16.30San Francisco City and County (indexed to CPI) (effective from July 1, 2023)$18.07San Jose (indexed to CPI)$17.00San Mateo (indexed to CPI)$16.75Santa Clara (indexed to CPI)$17.20Santa Monica (effective from July 1, 2023)$16.90Santa Rosa (indexed to CPI)$17.06Sonoma$16.00 (25 or fewer employees) and$17.00 (26+ employees)South San Francisco (indexed to CPI)$16.70Sunnyvale (indexed to CPI)$17.95West Hollywood (effective from July 1, 2023) (indexed to CPI)$19.08
Covered employers must also conspicuously post an updated wage notice/bulletin for each applicable jurisdiction. The above city/county link(s) provide respective current notices.
Businesses with remote employees or employees in more than one location may need to apply different minimum wage rates in each. Some companies solve this complexity by paying the highest applicable rate across the boards.
Some jurisdictions direct higher minimum rates for hotel workers.
See also:
Helena Kobrin
Daniska Coronado
June 9, 2023
If you are an employer facing possible litigation, or have an employee issue on which you need immediate guidance, call us to set up a consultation, or submit your message.
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