These California cities raise minimum wage on July 1
Workers who earn the minimum wage in several cities across California will see a pay bump starting 1 July. Here are the cities and the new amounts.
California started off the New Year by raising the statewide minimum wage to $16 per hour on 1 January. That is more than double the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour which has been in place since July 2009.
The Golden State was one of 22 states to bump up the base pay for its workers at the beginning of the year, three more and the District of Columbia will get increases this summer. California is also one of a dozen states that adjusts the minimum wage annually based on inflation over the previous year.
However, across California there are cities and counties which set even higher minimum wages that the $16 per hour now mandated by the state. Some of those took effect on 1 January and others will be mandatory on 1 July.
These are the cities and counties in California that increased the minimum wage on January 1, 2024, as well as the new amounts:
- Belmont: $16.75 to $17.35 per hour
- Burlingame: from $16.47 to $17.03
- Cupertino: from $17.20 to $17.75
- Daly City: from $16.07 to $16.62
- East Palo Alto: $16.50 to $17
- El Cerrito: from $17.35 to $17.92
- Foster City: $16.50 to $17
- Half Moon Bay: from $16.45 to $17.01
- Hayward: $16.34 to $16.90 for large businesses and $15.50 to $16 for small businesses
- Los Altos: from $17.20 to $17.75
- Menlo Park: from $16.20 to $16.70
- Mountain View: from $18.15 to $18.75
- Newbie: $16.32 to $16.86 for businesses with more than 100 employees, $16.07 to $16.60 for businesses with 26 to 99 employees, and $15.53 to $16.04 for businesses with 1-25 employees
- Oakland: $15.97 to $16.50
- Palo Alto: from $17.25 to $17.80
- Petaluma: from $17.06 to $17.45
- Redwood City: $17.00 to $17.70
- Richmond: from $16.17 to $17.20
- San Carlos: $16.32 to $16.87
- San Diego: $16.30 to $16.85
- San Jose: $17.00 to $17.55
- San Mateo: $16.75 to $17.35
- San Mateo County: $17.06
- Santa Clara: from $17.20 to $17.75
- Santa Rosa: from $17.06 to $17.45
- Sonoma: $17.00 to $17.60 for businesses with more than 26 employees and $16.00 to $16.56 for businesses with 25 or fewer employees
- South San Francisco: $16.70 to $17.25
- Sunnyvale: from $17.95 to $18.55
California cities that will increase the minimum wage
On the other hand, the following cities and counties in California are expected to raise their minimum wage starting July 1, 2024, also exceeding the state level. Because there are still a couple of months to go, some amounts have not yet been confirmed.
Here by how much minimum wages will increase in these cities:
- Alameda: $17.00
- Berkeley: $18.67
- Emeryville: $19.36
- Fremont: $17.30
- Los Angeles: $17.28
- Los Angeles County: $17.17
- Milpitas: $17.70
- Pasadena: $17.50
- San Francisco: $18.67
- Santa Monica: $17.27
- West Hollywood: $20.86
The 5 cities in California with the highest salaries
Taking into account the increases on January 1 and the next ones on July 1, the following will be the five cities in the state of California with the highest minimum wages.
The city of West Hollywood will officially have the highest minimum wage in the state and one of the highest in the country. This after the salary increases in July to $20.86. The second city with the highest minimum wage in California will be Emeryville, with a minimum wage of $19.36.
Thanks to the January increase, the minimum wage in this city rose from $18.15 to $18.75, making it the second city in the state where people earn more per hour.
With the upcoming increases, Berkeley and San Francisco will have the fourth highest wages in the state, each with an hourly wage of $18.67. Due to the January 1 increase, Sunnyvale is the fifth highest minimum wage in California, rising from $17.95 to $18.55 per hour.