What is the minimum wage in California 2022?

California and Massachusetts have enacted legislation to increase their minimum wage to $15 an hour by 1 January 2023.

At $14.25 an hour, Massachusetts has the highest minimum wage in the United States.

California ranks second with a minimum wage of $14 an hour for employers with more than twenty-six workers. For those with less than twenty-five workers, a $13 an hour wage can be offered through the end of this year. 

At $13 an hour, a worker can make around $525 a week, and $27,040 a year. California has the highest cost of living in the country and when looking at the totality of its economy ranks seventh in the world.

2022 Minimum Wage in California

The 2017 piece of legislation mandated an increase in the minimum wage divided organizations and companies into two groups: those with more than twenty-six employees, and those with fewer than twenty-five. The pace at which these companies are expected to increase the wages of their workers depends on their size.

For example, this year, larger companies were required to pay $14 an hour, and next year will have to offer workers $15 an hour. Meanwhile smaller organizations will have to pay at least $14 an hour starting in 2022 and currently are only legally obligated to pay employees $13 an hour.

What is the minimum wage for minors?

Any company that hires a minor is allowed to pay them a minimum wage of “$4.25 for the first ninety days of employment.” However, after this period has ended, the employer will be required to provide minors with the standard minimum wage which depends on the size of the business.


Additionally, students can be paid eighty-five percent of the minimum wage for the first 160 hours they work.

Are restaurants and other workers who receive tips entitled to the same wage?

Which states have the same minimum wage for tipped and non-tipped workers?

Unlike other states where tipped workers are paid lower wages, California requires the same pay across industries and sectors.

Is $15 an hour enough to live on in California?

Many labor rights advocates have argued that governments at all levels should move away from a minimum wage and establish a living wage based on the average cost of living within their jurisdiction. According to the MIT Living Wage Calculator, a single person with no children would need a wage of around $19 an hour to keep up with the costs of living in the state. When adding children, the wage quickly increases to $40 (1 child) and $50 (2 children.)