Many San Diegans could see more money in their paychecks as the city’s minimum wage goes up. Effective Jan. 1, 2025, employees who perform at least two hours of work in one or more calendar weeks of the year within the geographic boundaries of the city will receive a minimum wage increase from $16.85 to $17.25 an hour.
The change is from the City’s Earned Sick Leave and Minimum Wage Ordinance, approved in 2016. “This milestone reflects years of hard work and advocacy to put more money directly into the pockets of hardworking San Diegans,” said Mayor Todd Gloria. “By raising the minimum wage, we are helping working families deal with the rising cost of living and better make ends meet.”
San Diego has seen its poverty rate gradually decrease over the past decade as these wage increases went into effect. Data from the most recent American Community Survey (ACS) found San Diego’s poverty rate declined from 10.6% in 2022 to 10.1% in 2023. The poverty rate was above 12% when the ordinance was passed in 2016. San Diego’s poverty rate is also below California’s.
The minimum wage in San Diego has gone up annually since 2019 by an amount corresponding to the prior year’s increase in the cost of living as determined by the Consumer Price Index. The Minimum Wage Ordinance applies to all industries and businesses and there are no exceptions. Tips and gratuities do not count toward the payment of minimum wage.
Under the ordinance, employees will also continue to earn sick leave, either by the accrual or “front load” method. The earned sick leave can be used for all of the reasons described in the ordinance, including but not limited to, time for their own medical care or for the medical care of a family member. Employers may limit an employee’s use of earned sick leave to forty hours in a benefit year.
The city’s minimum wage is higher than California’s minimum wage, which increases to $16.50 on Jan. 1, 2025. This was due to an increase passed by then-Governor Jerry Brown in 2016 gradually raising the minimum wage to $15 with increases based on inflation, which has boosted the wage by an additional $1.50.
Some industries do have higher minimum wages, such as fast food workers who began making $20 per hour in April. California healthcare workers also have a higher minimum wage, of either $18, $21, or $23 depending on the type of facility where they work.
These industry-specific increases were approved in 2023. An effort to increase the minimum wage to $18 for everyone in California failed in the 2024 general election. According to Politico, it was the first time in almost 30 years a ballot measure to raise the minimum wage lost. Despite the narrow loss, Prop 32 advocates pledged to continue fighting for minimum wage increases. “This isn’t the end—it’s the beginning of a renewed and energized movement for fair wages in California,” Joe Sanberg said. “We will continue working to raise the wage by any means necessary because every Californian deserves the dignity of a living wage and the opportunity to thrive.”
Some saw the patchwork wage increases by location and industry as making the state-wide minimum wage increase unnecessary while others feared it would contribute to the rising cost of living. The next election may signal whether organized labor and anti-poverty advocates continue to focus on specific victories or advocate for more across-the-board measures to improve the lives of low-wage workers.
For now, low-wage San Diegans can thank an ordinance passed nine years ago for their 40-cent wage increase.
