California’s minimum wage is $16.90 an hour as of January 1, 2026. Dozens of cities and counties set a higher local rate, and where they do, the higher rate is the one that must be paid. Pick where you actually work.
How this tool was built: methodology and sources
Two figures decide the answer, and they come from different places.
- The statewide floor — $16.90 an hour effective January 1, 2026 — is published by the California Division of Labor Standards Enforcement. The DLSE also states the governing rule: where a local entity has adopted a higher minimum wage, employees must be paid the local wage, and employers must follow the standard most beneficial to the employee. Source: DLSE Minimum Wage FAQ.
- The local rates come from the Inventory of US City and County Minimum Wage Ordinances maintained by the UC Berkeley Labor Center — the list the DLSE itself directs employees to. Source: UC Berkeley Labor Center inventory.
What this tool deliberately does not do
It does not tell you which rate applies if you work in more than one city. Local ordinances generally follow where the work is performed, and several apply after only a small number of hours worked in the city per week — thresholds that differ ordinance by ordinance. Read the ordinance for your city rather than assuming.
It also does not cover industry-specific minimum wages, which sit above the general state figure for some California workers. Where an industry rate, a local rate and the state rate all touch the same job, the highest applicable one governs.
Dates matter more than usual here
Local rates change on 1 January or 1 July depending on the ordinance, so a local rate can rise mid-year while the state rate does not. Each result shows the effective date of the figure it is quoting. Rates verified against the sources above on 25 August 2026.
This is not legal advice. If you are being paid below the applicable rate, that is a wage claim — the California Labor Commissioner’s Office accepts them, and many cities with their own ordinance run a local enforcement office too.