California’s prevailing wage calculator is the Department of Industrial Relations lookup at dir.ca.gov that returns the exact hourly rate a contractor must pay a specific worker on a public works project. To pull the right number you need three inputs: the craft or classification, the county where the work is performed, and the bid advertisement date. Under Labor Code 1771, prevailing wages apply to every public works project valued above $1,000 and cover the basic hourly rate plus overtime, holiday pay, and fringe benefits.1California Legislative Information. California Labor Code 1771 Pulling the wrong determination can trigger penalties of up to $200 per worker per day, so using the tool correctly matters as much as finding it.
What the DIR Lookup Actually Is
There is no single calculator field where you type in a job and get a dollar figure back. The DIR publishes wage determinations — documents listing rates by craft — and organizes them so you can locate the one that applies to your worker, on your project, at your bid date. New determinations are issued twice a year, on February 22 and August 22, and each is labeled with a year and sequence number such as 2026-1 for the first half of 2026.2California Department of Industrial Relations. Frequently Asked Questions – Prevailing Wage
Rates are set based on the type of work and the project’s location, drawn primarily from local collective bargaining agreements.3California Department of Industrial Relations. Prevailing Wage Requirements Prevailing wage kicks in once any portion of the project’s funding comes from a government source, and it covers the entire scope of construction, alteration, demolition, installation, or repair work performed under contract, including related preconstruction and post-construction activities.4Department of Industrial Relations. Public Works
Three Inputs You Need Before You Search
Get any one of these wrong and you land on the wrong determination.
Craft or classification. This is the specific type of work being performed: Electrician, Plumber, Laborer Group 1, Operating Engineer Group 3, and so on. DIR classifications are granular, and each carries its own rate. Choosing the wrong classification is one of the most common compliance failures.
County. Prevailing wage rates vary by geography. A carpenter in Los Angeles County and one in Humboldt County earn different rates for identical work. Use the county where the project site sits, not where the contractor is based.
Bid advertisement date. The bid date locks in which determination applies for the life of the project. If the bid date falls before the current period, the determination you need is filed under “Superseded prevailing wage determinations.”
How to Walk the Lookup
The DIR posts wage determinations at dir.ca.gov under “General Prevailing Wage Determinations.” Open the determination that matches your bid date, then work through the six-step path the DIR lays out to find your craft.5Department of Industrial Relations. General Prevailing Wage Determinations: 2025-2 Journeyman Determinations
- Check the statewide trades that apply to most counties.
- If your craft isn’t listed statewide, check Northern California or Southern California basic trades, depending on where the project sits.
- For projects in San Diego County, check the San Diego area after the Southern California listings.
- If the craft still hasn’t appeared, select the specific county to find subtrade determinations.
- Check whether the classification has a shift differential pay determination for the project county.
- Review the “Important Notices” for any corrections, interim changes, or modifications.
Step six is the one people skip and the one that catches them. Corrections and interim modifications can change a rate after the original determination was published. Always check the notices before relying on a number.
Confirm the Scope of Work
Each classification carries an advisory Scope of Work description defining what tasks fall under that rate. Read it. A job that sounds like general laborer work may actually fall under a more specialized classification with a higher rate. Broad classifications such as Laborer and Operating Engineer are further split into numbered groups tied to specific tasks or equipment: a laborer doing landscape work and one doing hazardous material removal sit in different groups with different pay.
Reading the Rate You Pulled
The determination lists a total hourly rate broken into two parts: the basic hourly rate and the employer payments. Compliance requires paying the full total.
Basic Hourly Rate
The minimum cash wage paid directly to the worker for each hour of straight time. A contractor can always pay more, never less.
Employer Payments (Fringe Benefits)
Under Labor Code 1773.1, employer payments cover health and welfare, pension, vacation, travel, subsistence, and apprenticeship training fund contributions.6California Legislative Information. California Labor Code 1773.1 These are part of the prevailing wage, not optional add-ons. A contractor can satisfy the fringe portion by contributing to qualified benefit plans, by paying the full fringe amount to the worker as additional cash wages, or by combining the two. What matters is that basic rate plus fringes meets or exceeds the determination.
Overtime and Holiday Rates
The determination also lists overtime and holiday rates, which vary by craft. Some trades pay time-and-a-half for the first two daily overtime hours and double time after that; others use different thresholds for Saturday, Sunday, and holiday work. Each determination uses footnote codes — letters like D, E, G, H — to spell out the overtime structure for that classification. Read the footnotes rather than assuming every craft follows the same pattern.
Recognized holidays follow the applicable collective bargaining agreement on file with the DIR. If the prevailing rate isn’t based on a collectively bargained rate, holidays default to those listed in Government Code 6700.
The Asterisk System for Predetermined Increases
The bid date locks in your determination, but that doesn’t mean the rate stays flat for the whole project. A single asterisk after the expiration date means the rate stays in effect for the life of the project with no changes. Double asterisks mean predetermined increases — scheduled in the underlying collective bargaining agreement at the time of the bid — take effect on the listed date and must be paid for all work performed after that date.7California Department of Industrial Relations. Section 16204 – Effective Dates of Determination and of Rates Within Determinations
If you see double asterisks, contact the DIR’s Prevailing Wage Unit or the awarding body to get the predetermined rates and build them into your contract pricing. A scheduled increase you didn’t plan for still has to be paid.
When Federal Rates Apply Too
If a project receives federal funding, the federal Davis-Bacon Act may apply alongside California’s law. Under 40 U.S.C. 3142, federal prevailing wage requirements cover construction, alteration, or repair contracts above $2,000 to which the federal government is a party.8Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 40 USC 3142 Federal rates are set by the U.S. Department of Labor and can differ from California’s rates for the same trade and location. On dual-funded projects, contractors typically compare the two rate sets and pay whichever is higher for each classification to satisfy both laws at once. Federal projects also require weekly certified payroll submissions, which can be filed on Form WH-347.9U.S. Department of Labor. Instructions For Completing Davis-Bacon and Related Acts Weekly Certified Payroll Form, WH-347
What Getting the Number Wrong Costs
Under Labor Code 1775, a contractor that pays less than the prevailing wage forfeits up to $200 per worker per day for each day the underpayment occurs.10California Legislative Information. California Labor Code 1775 The per-day amount depends on the circumstances:
- Good-faith mistake, promptly corrected: the penalty floor can drop below $40 per day.
- Standard violation: at least $40 per worker per day.
- Repeat offender with prior penalties within three years: at least $80 per worker per day.
- Willful violation: at least $120 per worker per day.
The contractor also owes each worker the full difference between what was paid and what the prevailing wage required. On a multi-month project with several underpaid workers, even a modest hourly shortfall adds up fast. That is where pulling the wrong classification, misreading a fringe, or missing a predetermined increase becomes genuinely expensive — and why the ten minutes spent walking the DIR determination the right way is worth taking.