The California minimum wage for 2026 is $16.90 per hour for most workers, up from $16.50 in 2025.1California Department of Industrial Relations. California’s Minimum Wage Set to Increase to $16.90 per Hour on January 1, 2026 Fast food workers earn at least $20.00 per hour under a separate industry law, healthcare workers earn between $18.63 and $25.00 depending on the type of facility, and roughly 40 cities and counties set local rates above the state floor. Whichever applicable rate is highest is the one you’re owed.
The 2026 Statewide Rate
Every employer in California must pay at least $16.90 per hour starting January 1, 2026, regardless of company size.1California Department of Industrial Relations. California’s Minimum Wage Set to Increase to $16.90 per Hour on January 1, 2026 The 2025 rate was $16.50, and 2024 was $16.00.2Department of Industrial Relations. Minimum Wage This figure is a floor. If a city ordinance or an industry-specific law sets a higher rate for your job, that higher rate is what your employer owes you.
Fast Food Workers: $20.00 Per Hour
Since April 1, 2024, covered fast food employees have earned a minimum of $20.00 per hour under Assembly Bill 1228.3Department of Industrial Relations. Fast Food Council That rate still applies in 2026 and overrides any lower state or local minimum.
The law reaches employees at limited-service restaurants, meaning places where you order and pay before eating, that belong to chains with at least 60 locations nationwide. Off-site offices and warehouses don’t count toward the 60-location threshold.4Department of Industrial Relations. Fast Food Minimum Wage Frequently Asked Questions Sit-down restaurants, bakeries, and cafés with full table service fall outside the law. Future increases are set by a Fast Food Council within the Department of Industrial Relations and are capped at 3.5 percent or the change in the consumer price index, whichever is smaller.
Healthcare Workers: $18.63 to $25.00 Per Hour
Senate Bill 525 created a phased minimum wage for healthcare workers that took effect October 16, 2024. Where you land in 2026 depends on the type and size of the facility you work for.5Department of Industrial Relations. Health Care Worker Minimum Wage Frequently Asked Questions
- Large health systems and dialysis clinics with 10,000 or more full-time equivalent employees: $24.00 per hour through June 30, 2026, then $25.00 starting July 1, 2026.
- Facilities in counties with more than five million residents: same schedule, reaching $25.00 on July 1, 2026.
- Community clinics, rural health clinics, and similar outpatient facilities: $21.00 through June 30, 2026, then $22.00 starting July 1, 2026.
- Most other covered healthcare employers: $21.00 through June 30, 2026, then $23.00 starting July 1, 2026.
- Safety-net hospitals and rural facilities (high government-payor mix or in small counties): $18.63 through June 30, 2026, then $19.28 starting July 1, 2026, on the slowest path that doesn’t reach $25.00 until 2033.
Covered workers include employees at hospitals, clinics, skilled nursing facilities, home health agencies, and dialysis centers, among others.5Department of Industrial Relations. Health Care Worker Minimum Wage Frequently Asked Questions
City and County Rates Above the State Floor
About 40 California cities and counties enforce their own minimum wage ordinances higher than $16.90. Emeryville’s rate exceeds $19.00 per hour, and West Hollywood’s surpasses $20.00. San Francisco, San Jose, Los Angeles, and San Diego all sit above $17.00. When an employee is covered by more than one rate, the highest one wins.
Local ordinances usually adjust on January 1 or July 1 using a local or regional price index rather than the national one used for the state rate. An employer with locations in multiple cities may owe a different minimum at each site, so the address of the worksite matters as much as the state figure.
Why the Rate Rises Each Year
California’s minimum wage is no longer set by one-off legislation. Once scheduled increases in the Labor Code reached $15.00 per hour, the rate began adjusting automatically each year based on the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W). By August 1 of each year, the Director of Finance compares the most recent 12-month CPI-W average against the prior year’s average and calculates the new rate. The annual increase is capped at 3.5 percent and rounded to the nearest ten cents.6California Legislative Information. California Labor Code LAB 1182.12
If inflation turns negative, the wage stays flat rather than dropping.7Department of Industrial Relations. Minimum Wage Frequently Asked Questions The Governor no longer has authority to pause a scheduled increase. Proposition 32, a 2024 ballot measure that would have accelerated the general rate to $18.00 per hour, was rejected by voters, so the automatic formula remains the only path forward for the general rate.8Legislative Analyst’s Office. Proposition 32 – Raises Minimum Wage
The Salary Threshold for Exempt Employees
If you’re paid a salary and classified as exempt from overtime, the minimum wage matters to you too. To qualify as exempt under California’s white-collar rules, an employee must earn at least twice the minimum wage for a full-time schedule. For 2026, that comes to $16.90 × 2 × 2,080 hours, or $70,304 per year.1California Department of Industrial Relations. California’s Minimum Wage Set to Increase to $16.90 per Hour on January 1, 2026
A salaried employee earning below $70,304 in 2026 cannot lawfully be treated as exempt on salary grounds alone. The employer must either raise the salary or reclassify the worker as non-exempt and pay overtime for hours beyond eight in a day or 40 in a week. Because the threshold moves every January with the minimum wage, employers who classify workers as exempt need to check the math each year.
Penalties for Paying Less Than the Minimum Wage
An employer who intentionally underpays owes a civil penalty of $100 per underpaid employee per pay period for a first violation, on top of the unpaid wages. A second violation of the same type carries a $250 penalty per employee per pay period, whether or not the underpayment was intentional.9California Legislative Information. California Labor Code LAB 1197.1
Employees can also recover liquidated damages equal to the full amount of the unpaid wages, which effectively doubles the shortfall. An employer avoids liquidated damages only by proving to a court or the Labor Commissioner that it acted in good faith and honestly believed the pay was correct. These remedies sit alongside any federal claim under the Fair Labor Standards Act, which carries a two-year statute of limitations for standard violations and three years for willful ones.10Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 29 U.S. Code 255 – Statute of Limitations
What About the Federal Minimum Wage
The federal minimum wage has been $7.25 per hour since 2009, well below every California rate discussed here. When state and federal minimums both apply, the worker is entitled to the higher one.11U.S. Department of Labor. Wages and the Fair Labor Standards Act For anyone working in California, the federal figure is not the number to look at; state and local law drive the actual paycheck.