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Timeline of minimum wage increases in California

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Location (Year enacted) Step Minimum Date
State of California (announced)Before increase:$10.00 
1st10.50 Jan. 1, 2017
2nd11.00 Jan. 1, 2018
3rd12.00 Jan. 1, 2019
4th13.00 Jan. 1, 2020
5th14.00 Jan. 1, 2021
6th15.00 Jan. 1, 2022
Berkeley (2014)1Before increase:$9.00 
1st10.00 Oct. 1, 2014
2nd11.00 Oct. 1, 2015
3rd12.53 Oct. 1, 2016
El Cerrito (2015)Before increase:$10.00 
1st11.60 July 1, 2016
2nd12.25 Jan. 1, 2017
3rd13.60 Jan. 1, 2018
4th15.00 Jan. 1, 2019
Emeryville (2015)
(more than 55 employees)
Before increase:$9.00 
1st14.44 July 1, 2015
Emeryville (2015)
(55 or fewer employees)
Before increase:$9.00 
1st12.25 July 1, 2015
2nd13.00 July 1, 2016
3rd14.00 July 1, 2017
4th15.00 July 1, 2018
5thSame rate as large businessesJuly 1, 2019
Los Angeles City/County (2015)
(more than 25 employees)2
Before increase:$10.00 
1st10.50 July 1, 2016
2nd12.00 July 1, 2017
3rd13.25 July 1, 2018
4th14.25 July 1, 2019
5th15.00 July 1, 2020
Los Angeles City/County (2015)
(25 or fewer employees)
Before increase:$10.00 
1st10.50 July 1, 2017
2nd12.00 July 1, 2018
3rd13.25 July 1, 2019
4th14.25 July 1, 2020
5th15.00 July 1, 2021
Mountain View (2015)Before increase:$10.30 
1st11.00 Jan. 1, 2016
2nd13.00 Jan. 1, 2017
3rd15.00 Jan. 1, 2018
Oakland (2014)Before increase:$9.00 
1st12.25 March 1, 2015
Palo Alto (2015)Before increase:$9.00 
1st11.00 Jan. 1, 2016
Richmond (2014)3Before increase:$9.00 
1st9.60 Jan. 1, 2015
2nd11.52 Jan. 1, 2016
3rd12.30 Jan. 1, 2017
4th13.00 Jan. 1, 2018
Sacramento (2015)Before increase:$9.00 
1st10.50 Jan. 1, 2017
2nd11.00 Jan. 1, 2018
3rd11.75 Jan. 1, 2019
4th12.50 Jan. 1, 2020
San Diego (2014)4Before increase:$9.00 
1st9.75 Jan. 1, 2015
2nd10.50 Jan. 1, 2016
3rd11.50 Jan. 1, 2017
San Francisco (2014)Before increase:$11.05 
1st12.25 May 1, 2015
2nd13.00 July 1, 2016
3rd14.00 July 1, 2017
4th15.00 July 1, 2018
San Jose (2012)Before increase:$8.00 
1st10.00 March 11, 2013
Santa Clara (2015)Before increase:$10.00 
1st11.00 Jan. 1, 2016
Santa Monica (2016)
(26 or more employees)5
Before increase:$10.00 
1st10.50 July 1, 2016
2nd12.00 July 1, 2017
3rd13.25 July 1, 2018
4th14.25 July 1, 2019
5th15.00 July 1, 2020
Santa Monica (2016)
(25 or fewer employees)
Before increase:$10.00 
1st10.50 July 1, 2017
2nd12.00 July 1, 2018
3rd13.25 July 1, 2019
4th14.25 July 1, 2020
5th15.00 July 1, 2021
Sunnyvale (2014)Before increase:$9.00 
1st10.30 Jan. 1, 2015

1 Berkeley's minimum wage law exempts nonprofit organizations for the first year.

2 City of Los Angeles' minimum wage law allows nonprofit organizations with more than 25 employees to apply for coverage under the small business schedule.

3 Richmond's minimum wage law allows employers that derive more than 50% of their income from transactions where goods and services produced in Richmond are shipped outside the city to pay an "intermediate" minimum wage that is the midpoint between the state and the city minimum wages. In addition, it exempts businesses that pay for less than 800 hours of employee labor during any two-week period.

4 San Diego's minimum wage law is on hold pending the results of a referendum in 2016. Indexing for San Diego does not begin until 2019.

5 Santa Monica's minimum wage law allows nonprofit organizations with more than 25 employees to apply for coverage under the small business schedule.

Source: UC Berkeley Center for Labor Research and Education

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