On January 1, 2025, the minimum wage in California increases to $16.50 per hour for all employers.
Local Differences
However, several cities and counties in California have a higher local minimum wage, and some of those increase as of January 1, 2025 including:
- Menlo Park – $17.10 per hour
- Mountain View – $19.20 per hour
- Palo Alto – $18.20
- San Diego – $17.25 per hour
- San Jose – $17.95 per hour
- Santa Clara – $18.20 per hour
- Sunnyvale – $19.00 per hour
- West Hollywood – $19.65 per hour
Other cities and counties also get minimum wage increases throughout 2025 in yet-to-be-determined rates, including the City of Los Angeles (currently $17.28 per hour), unincorporated areas in Los Angeles County outside the City of Los Angeles (currently $17.27 per hour) and San Francisco (currently $18.67).
Additionally, the minimum wage for fast food restaurant employees, those individuals working at a restaurant that is part of a national chain with 60 or more restaurants nationwide where customers order and pay for their items hey before consuming them either on or off the premises, is currently $20.00 per hour, but this too will be adjusted for inflation on January 1, 2025, and every January after that through January 1, 2029.
The California Equal Pay Act prohibits an employer from paying its employees less than employees of the opposite sex for equal work.
It’s always illegal for an employer to pay any of its employees wage rates that are less than what it pays employees of the opposite sex, or of another race, or of another ethnicity for substantially similar work, when viewed as a composite of skill, effort, and responsibility, and performed in basically similar conditions.
Illegal to retaliate against an employee for complaining about their wages or discrimination. Contact our office for a free consultation.