In 1981, the California minimum wage was $3.35/hour. 40 years later, it will soon be at least $14.00/hour and, in some Los Angeles County locations, even higher. Today, it would take $10.07 to purchase what could be purchased with the minimum pay for an hour 40 years ago, according to a Bureau of Labor Statistics inflation calculator. This means that current minimum wage rates in Los Angeles County are beginning to push past inflation in value. However, before we begin celebrating, it should be noted that, even with a $15/hour full-time job, current fair market rent for a one-bedroom in Los Angeles County would consume about 90 percent of your pre-tax income.

In May 2022, supporters of a California ballot iniative to increase the statewide minimum wage to $18/hour submitted enough voter signatures to place the initiative on the November 2022 ballot. If voters pass the iniative - and the chances are good that will happen - it would increase the minimum wage in California to $16/hour, beginning on January 1, 2023. The minimum wage would subsequently increase by $1 in the following years, until reaching $18/hour on January 1, 2028. Each California incorporated city may, by local ordinance, set higher minimums.

In November 2022, a ballot measure will be before voters in Inglewood and Duarte that proposes to raise the minimum wage for healthcare workers in the city to $25 per hour.

State of California

The following table applies to everywhere in Los Angeles County except the cities of Los Angeles, Long Beach, Malibu, Pasadena, Santa Monica, West Hollywood, and unincorporated areas of the county. The State of California mimimum wage applies to all locations that have not enacted a mimimum wage ordinance of their own. Although the state minumum wage also applies to most workers in Downey and Monterey Park, these cities are in the process of implementing new minimum wage ordinances (along with Los Angeles and Long Beach) specifically for healthcare workers in their cities.

Minimum wage rates are per hour.

Effective Date	Employers with 25 Employees or Less	Employers with 26+ Employees
Jan. 1, 2018	$10.50	$11.00
Jan. 1, 2019	$11.00	$12.00
Jan. 1, 2020	$12.00	$13.00
Jan. 1, 2021	$13.00	$14.00
Jan. 1, 2022	$14.00	$15.00
Jan. 1, 2023 (Projected)	$15.50	$15.50

Source: State of California Dept. of Industrial Relations

Unincorporated Areas in Los Angeles County

Minimum wage rates are per hour.

Effective Date	Employers with 25 Employees or Less	Employers with 26+ Employees
July 1, 2018	$12.00	$13.25
July 1, 2019	$13.25	$14.25
July 1, 2020	$14.25	$15.00
July 1, 2021	$15.00	$15.00
July 1, 2022	$15.96	$15.96

Source: County of Los Angeles

City of Downey (Healthcare Workers to be Defined by City Ordinance)

Minimum wage rates are per hour.

Effective Date	Healthcare Workers
-In 2022, Pending Final Action by City-	$25.00

City of Long Beach (Except Hotel & Concessionaire Workers)

Minimum wage rates are per hour.

Effective Date	Employers with 25 Employees or Less	Employers with 26+ Employees
Jan. 1, 2018	$10.50	$11.00
Jan. 1, 2019	$11.00	$12.00
Jan. 1, 2020	$12.00	$13.00
Jan. 1, 2021	$13.00	$14.00
Jan. 1, 2022	$14.00	$15.00
Jan. 1, 2023	$15.00	$15.00

City of Long Beach (Hotel Workers Only)

Minimum wage rates are per hour.

Effective Date	Hotel Employers
July 1, 2018	$14.64
July 1, 2019	$14.97
July 1, 2020	$15.47
July 1, 2021	$15.69
July 1, 2022	$16.73

City of Long Beach (Concessionaire Workers Only)

Minimum wage rates are per hour.

Effective Date	Concession Employers
July 1, 2018	$14.37
July 1, 2019	$14.72
July 1, 2020	$15.30
July 1, 2021	$15.32
July 1, 2022	$16.55

City of Long Beach (Healthcare Workers as Defined by City Ordinance)

Minimum wage rates are per hour.

Effective Date	Healthcare Workers
-In 2022, Pending Final Action by City-	$25.00

Source: City of Long Beach

City of Los Angeles (Except LAX & Specified Hotel Workers)

Minimum wage rates are per hour.

Effective Date	Employers with 25 Employees or Less (or Non-profits with 26+ Employees & Approval to Pay a Deferred Rate)	Employers with 26+ Employees
July 1, 2018	$12.00	$13.35
July 1, 2019	$13.35	$14.25
July 1, 2020	$14.25	$15.00
July 1, 2021	$15.00	$15.00
July 1, 2022	$16.04	$16.04

City of Los Angeles (Los Angeles International Airport Workers Only)

Minimum wage rates are per hour. If no health benefit is paid, health benefit is added to wage.

Effective Date	Wage	Health Benefit
July 1, 2018	$13.75	$5.24
July 1, 2019	$15.25	$5.34
July 1, 2020	$16.50	$5.55
July 1, 2021	$17.00	$5.67
July 1, 2022	$18.04	$5.77

City of Los Angeles (Workers at Hotels with 150+ Rooms Only)

Minimum wage rates are per hour.

Effective Date	Hotel Employers with 150+ Rooms
July 1, 2018	$16.10
July 1, 2019	$16.63
July 1, 2020	$17.13
July 1, 2021	$17.64
July 1, 2022	$18.17

City of Los Angeles (Healthcare Workers as Defined by City Ordinance)

Minimum wage rates are per hour.

Effective Date	Healthcare Workers
August 13, 2022	$25.00

Source: City of Los Angeles and Los Angeles World Airports

City of Malibu

Minimum wage rates are per hour.

Effective Date	Employers with 25 Employees or Less	Employers with 26+ Employees
July 1, 2018	$12.00	$13.25
July 1, 2019	$13.35	$14.25
July 1, 2020	$14.25	$15.00
July 1, 2021	$15.00	$15.00
July 1, 2022	$15.96	$15.96

Source: City of Malibu

City of Monterey Park (Healthcare Workers to be Defined by City Ordinance)

Minimum wage rates are per hour.

Effective Date	Healthcare Workers
-In 2022, Pending Final Action by City-	$25.00

City of Pasadena

Minimum wage rates are per hour.

Effective Date	Employers with 25 Employees or Less	Employers with 26+ Employees
July 1, 2018	$12.00	$13.35
July 1, 2019	$13.35	$14.25
July 1, 2020	$14.25	$15.00
July 1, 2021	$15.00	$15.00
July 1, 2022	$16.11	$16.11

Source: City of Pasadena

City of Santa Monica

Minimum wage rates are per hour.

Effective Date	Employers with 25 Employees or Less	Employers with 26+ Employees
July 1, 2018	$12.00	$13.25
July 1, 2019	$13.25	$14.25
July 1, 2020	$14.25	$15.00
July 1, 2021	$15.00	$15.00
July 1, 2022	$15.96	$15.96

Source: City of Santa Monica

City of West Hollywood

West Hollywood followed State of California minimum wage guidelines through 2021.
Minimum wage rates are per hour.

Effective Date	Hotel Employerss	Employers with 49 Employees or Less	Employers with 50+ Employees
December 31, 2021	$14.00	$13.00	$14.00
January 1, 2022	$17.64	$15.00	$15.50
July 1, 2022	$18.35	$16.00	$16.50
January 1, 2023	$18.35	$17.00	$17.50
July 1, 2023	$18.86*	$18.86*	$18.86*

* Estimated minimum wage; actual wage determined by cost of living adjustment for that year.

Source: City of West Hollywood