The California minimum wage is $16.90 per hour as of January 1, 2026, and it applies to every employer in the state regardless of size.1Department of Industrial Relations. California’s Minimum Wage Set to Increase to $16.90 Per Hour That number is the floor. Many cities set higher rates, and fast food and healthcare workers operate under separate schedules that can reach $25 per hour.
The Statewide Rate for 2026
Every covered worker in California must earn at least $16.90 per hour, up from $16.50 in 2025.2Department of Industrial Relations. Minimum Wage The rate is uniform. California dropped its separate threshold for smaller employers years ago, so a five-person shop and a 5,000-employee corporation owe the same hourly floor.
Each year the Director of Finance recalculates the wage using the U.S. Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers. The increase equals the lesser of 3.5 percent or the actual year-over-year change in that index, rounded to the nearest ten cents. If inflation turns negative, the wage stays flat rather than dropping.3California Legislative Information. California Code LAB 1182.12 – Minimum Wage The new rate is announced by August 1 and takes effect the following January 1.
Cities That Pay More
Many California cities and counties have set their own minimum wages above the state floor, and your employer must pay whichever rate is higher. Local ordinances are especially common in the Bay Area and Southern California.
Some of the highest local rates in early 2026 are West Hollywood at $20.25 per hour, Mountain View at $19.70, and Sunnyvale at $19.50. San Jose, San Mateo, Palo Alto, and Santa Clara cluster in the $18 to $19 range. Mid-size cities such as Oakland, San Diego, and Santa Rosa also sit above the statewide rate. Some jurisdictions charge smaller businesses a slightly lower local rate or let them default to the state minimum.
Most local increases take effect July 1, not January 1, so two calendar dates matter each year. The rate is based on where the employee physically works, not where the company is headquartered. If you split your hours between a city with a $19 local rate and one that uses the $16.90 state floor, your employer owes you the higher rate for the hours worked in the higher-wage city.
Fast Food Workers: $20 Per Hour
Assembly Bill 1228 created a separate minimum wage for fast food workers. Since April 1, 2024, covered fast food employees have been entitled to at least $20.00 per hour regardless of the statewide or local rate.4Department of Industrial Relations. Fast Food Council The rate remains $20.00 in mid-2026.2Department of Industrial Relations. Minimum Wage
A restaurant qualifies only if it meets all three of these tests:5California Legislative Information. California Labor Code 1474
- Customers order and pay before eating, with little or no table service.
- The brand has more than 60 locations nationwide, counting each restaurant as one establishment (off-site warehouses and prep kitchens don’t count).
- The business is primarily selling food and beverages for immediate consumption.
Several categories are carved out. Restaurants inside grocery stores where the grocery store employs the workers, bakeries that produce and sell bread as a standalone menu item, and restaurants connected to airports, hotels, theme parks, or large event centers are all excluded.5California Legislative Information. California Labor Code 1474
Healthcare Workers Under SB 525
Senate Bill 525 set a separate, gradually rising minimum wage for covered healthcare workers, on a path toward $25.00 per hour across all facility types.6California Legislative Information. California Senate Bill 525 – Minimum Wages: Health Care Workers The rate depends on the type and size of the facility, and 2026 has two schedules because the rates step up on July 1.
Through June 30, 2026:7Department of Industrial Relations. Health Care Worker Minimum Wage Frequently Asked Questions
- Large hospitals and integrated health systems with 10,000+ employees, dialysis clinics, and large-county facilities: $24.00 per hour.
- Community clinics, rural health clinics, and related urgent care clinics: $21.00 per hour.
- All other covered facilities that are not county-run: $21.00 per hour.
- Medium-county facilities: $21.00 per hour.
- Safety net hospitals and small-county facilities: $18.63 per hour.
Starting July 1, 2026:7Department of Industrial Relations. Health Care Worker Minimum Wage Frequently Asked Questions
- Large hospitals, dialysis clinics, and large-county facilities: $25.00 per hour.
- Community and rural clinics: $22.00 per hour.
- All other covered facilities and medium-county facilities: $23.00 per hour.
- Safety net hospitals and small-county facilities: $19.28 per hour.
A healthcare worker’s floor in 2026 could sit anywhere between $18.63 and $25.00 depending on who runs the facility and when you check. If you work in healthcare, your employer’s specific SB 525 classification tells you which schedule applies.
Tips Don’t Count Toward the Wage
California does not allow a tip credit. Your employer cannot count tips toward the minimum wage obligation.8Department of Industrial Relations. Tips and Gratuities Federal law in many states lets employers pay tipped workers as little as $2.13 per hour and rely on tips for the rest. That practice is barred here. Servers, bartenders, and other tipped workers are entitled to the full $16.90 per hour (or the applicable local or industry rate) on top of what they earn in tips.
Overtime When You’re Near the Floor
California’s overtime rules are more protective than federal law, and the difference matters most for workers earning close to the minimum wage. Federal overtime kicks in only after 40 hours in a week. California adds a daily trigger: any work beyond eight hours in a single day earns time-and-a-half, and any work beyond twelve hours in a day earns double time.9California Legislative Information. California Code LAB 510 – Overtime
For a worker at $16.90 per hour, that means $25.35 after eight hours and $33.80 after twelve. The seventh consecutive day worked in a workweek also triggers overtime: the first eight hours at time-and-a-half, anything beyond that at double time.10Department of Industrial Relations. Overtime Your regular rate for overtime purposes can never fall below the applicable minimum wage.
Who Is Exempt
Not every worker is covered. California exempts executive, administrative, and professional employees who pass a two-part test. Both parts must be met. Fail either one and the worker is non-exempt, with full minimum wage and overtime rights.
The duties test requires the employee to spend more than half their working time on exempt-level work: managing a department, making decisions that affect business operations, or applying advanced knowledge in a professional field. California looks at what the employee actually does, not what the job description says.
The salary test requires a fixed monthly salary of at least twice the state minimum wage for full-time work. At $16.90 per hour, that comes to $70,304 per year in 2026.1Department of Industrial Relations. California’s Minimum Wage Set to Increase to $16.90 Per Hour The threshold rises automatically each time the minimum wage does. The federal salary threshold is much lower, so someone earning $60,000 might be exempt federally but still fully covered by California minimum wage and overtime rules.11Legal Information Institute. California Code of Regulations Title 8 Section 11150 – Order Regulating Wages, Hours, and Working Conditions in Household Occupations
What You Can Recover If You’ve Been Underpaid
An employer who pays below the minimum wage owes more than just the shortfall. You can recover all unpaid wages plus an equal amount in liquidated damages. If your employer shorted you $2,000, you can recover that $2,000 plus another $2,000 in liquidated damages, plus interest.12California Legislative Information. California Code LAB 1194.2 – Liquidated Damages The employer avoids liquidated damages only by proving the violation was in good faith and based on a reasonable belief that the pay was lawful. That’s a high bar.
The state also imposes civil penalties on top of the employee’s recovery: $100 per underpaid employee per pay period for a first intentional violation, and $250 per employee per pay period for subsequent offenses.13California Legislative Information. California Code LAB 1197.1 – Civil Penalties for Minimum Wage Violations If the underpayment ties into a failure to pay final wages on time after firing or quitting, waiting-time penalties can add up to 30 days of wages on top of everything else.
Filing a Wage Claim
If you’re being paid less than the minimum wage, you can file a wage claim with the California Labor Commissioner’s Office by email, mail, or in person.14Department of Industrial Relations. File a Wage Claim There is no filing fee. After you submit the claim, the office typically schedules a settlement conference to try to resolve the dispute. If that fails, the case goes to a hearing.
The hearing is informal but legally binding. You and your employer testify under oath before a hearing officer and present evidence. Bring pay stubs, time records, and any other documentation showing the hours you worked and what you were paid. If your employer doesn’t show, the hearing officer decides based on your testimony and evidence. If you don’t show, the case is dismissed.
Act promptly. Wage claims are subject to statutes of limitations, and waiting too long can forfeit your right to recover older unpaid wages.