2026 California Minimum Wage

Who it applies to

Employers and employees in California covered by the state minimum wage law. The entry attaches no employer-size condition to the rate. It is one of the longer entries in the table: besides the rate it sets out daily, weekly and seventh-day overtime thresholds, states that an annual adjustment follows a set formula, and points to California Labor Code section 510 for exceptions, including an employee working pursuant to an alternative workweek and time spent commuting. The table does not display subminimum rates for minors, students or trainees, or any higher rate set by a local government.

What changed this year, and why

The U.S. Department of Labor's table of state minimum wage laws, updated July 1, 2026, lists California's basic minimum rate as $16.90 per hour, and states in the same entry that the minimum wage will be adjusted annually based upon a set formula. The entry records no dated step inside the year, and no earlier year of this record is published on this site, so this page states no year-over-year change.

Common questions

What is the minimum wage in California in 2026?

$16.90 per hour. That is the basic minimum rate the U.S. Department of Labor lists for California in its State Minimum Wage Laws table, in the version updated July 1, 2026. California's entry is one of the longer ones in that table: alongside the rate it sets out the state's overtime thresholds and states that the minimum wage will be adjusted annually.

How is the California minimum wage adjusted each year?

The entry states that the minimum wage will be adjusted annually based upon a set formula. It does not print the formula, name the index behind it, or give the date a recalculated rate takes effect, so this page does not either. Most entries in the same table carry no adjustment statement at all; California's is one of the few that does.

Does California have daily overtime as well as weekly overtime?

Yes. The entry states that work beyond a daily threshold, beyond a weekly threshold, or in the first hours worked on the seventh day of a workweek is paid at one and one-half times the regular rate of pay, and that work beyond a longer daily threshold, or beyond a set span of hours on that seventh day, is paid at no less than twice the regular rate. This page reports the structure without repeating the hour counts.

What is the seventh day rule for California overtime?

The entry treats the seventh day of work in a workweek separately from ordinary days. Work in the first hours of that day is paid at one and one-half times the regular rate of pay, and work beyond that span on the same day is paid at no less than twice the regular rate. The entry gives the hour counts; this page states the rule without them.

Are there exceptions to California's overtime rules?

The entry names two and refers the reader onward for the rest. It excepts an employee working pursuant to an alternative workweek adopted under applicable Labor Code sections, and time spent commuting, and it cites California Labor Code section 510 for exceptions. The Department of Labor's table does not reproduce those exceptions, so this page names them and goes no further.

Is there a separate tipped minimum wage for California?

The Department of Labor's state table lists one basic minimum rate per hour for California and no separate cash wage for tipped employees, so this page does not publish one. The same table states that differential provisions are not displayed in it, naming subminimum rates for minors and students and training wages for new hires as examples of what it leaves out.

Do city or county minimum wages in California override the state rate?

The Department of Labor's table does not answer that. It notes that some local governments set minimum wage rates higher than their respective state minimum wage, and that such differential provisions are not displayed in the table. The rate on this page is the state-level basic rate the California entry gives, so a local ordinance sits outside what this source records.

Where does the $16.90 figure on this page come from?

From the Wage and Hour Division's State Minimum Wage Laws table at dol.gov, in the snapshot captured for this record, where the California entry gives the basic minimum rate per hour as $16.90. The division notes on the same page that it tries to keep the information accurate and that individuals should consult the relevant state labor office for official information.

Every amount on this page is a published figure rather than yours. The Minimum wage pay calculator takes the number you enter and works it out against them, showing which published figure it used.