California’s Low-Wage Workers and Minimum Wage

California’s Minimum Wage

Overall Statewide Minimum Wage $16 Per Hour. Over the last decade, two statutes—Chapter 351 of 2013 (AB 10, Alejo) and Chapter 4 of 2016 (SB 3, Leno)—gradually have increased California’s statewide minimum wage from $8 per hour to $16 per hour. Under SB 3, the statewide minimum wage will continue to increase by up to 3.5 percent each year, depending on inflation.

New Minimum Wages for Certain Types of Employers. In 2023, the Legislature passed and the Governor signed two industry-specific minimum wages: one for fast-food chains (Chapter 262 [AB 1228, Holden]), and another for health care facilities (Chapter 890 [SB 525, Durazo]). Businesses covered by the fast-food law must pay their employees at least $20 per hour starting April 1, 2024. As originally enacted, the health care facility law would impose various pay requirements starting June 1, 2024. When we published this post, the Governor had announced his intention to propose changes to the health care facility law, but the details of that proposal were not yet available.

Many Cities Have Higher Minimum Wages. Many California cities—and the unincorporated areas of Los Angeles County and San Mateo County—set minimum wages that exceed the $16-per-hour statewide minimum. We list some of these policies in Figure 1 below.

Posts on Low-Wage Workers and Minimum Wage. To help inform the Legislature’s future decisions about minimum wages—and policies related to low-wage work more generally—our office has published a series of posts:

• Who Are California’s Low-Wage Workers?
• How Long Do People Stay in Low-Wage Work?
• Is California’s Minimum Wage High, Low, or Somewhere in Between?
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