San Diego minimum wage

San Diego minimum wage 2026 and 2027

The City adjusts its rate each January 1 for the prior year's rise in the Consumer Price Index and announced the 2027 rate on September 30, 2026. The California Department of Finance certified the state's 2027 rate on July 31, 2026.

Who is covered, required notices and complaints

An employee who works at least two hours in a calendar week inside city limits earns the city rate for those hours, even if the employer is in Santee. Adults and minors both qualify, and employers may not count tips toward the city rate.

Employers post the City's yearly minimum wage and earned sick leave notices at each job site. At hire, each employee gets a written notice of the employer's legal name, fictitious business names (the DBAs it trades under), address, phone number and sick leave method.

The Office of Labor Standards and Enforcement, part of the City Attorney's Office since September 30, 2026, takes complaints at SDMinWage@sandiego.gov or 619-235-5912.

San Diego hotel and event center minimum wage

Under the City's Hospitality Workers Minimum Wage Ordinance, employers at three kinds of site inside city limits pay a higher rate:

• Hotels with 150 or more guest rooms, including restaurants, bars and banquet halls on hotel grounds
• Amusement parks of at least 75 contiguous acres with permanent rides, run under a City agreement
• Event centers: Petco Park, Pechanga Arena, the Civic Theatre and the San Diego Convention Center

Contractors and tenants on covered property, such as housekeeping, security and parking firms, pay the same rates if they operate there 30 or more days a calendar year.

From July 1, 2031, the City adjusts both rates each year in line with the Consumer Price Index.

San Diego living wage for City contracts

Businesses with covered City of San Diego service contracts or financial assistance agreements pay the San Diego living wage to the workers who do that work. So do businesses that lease, use or manage a City facility such as Petco Park.

The City set these hourly rates for fiscal year 2027, July 1, 2026 to June 30, 2027:

Covered employers also give at least 80 hours a year of paid leave for vacation, illness or personal need.

Full-time minimum wage pay in 2026 and 2027

A full-time employee working 40 hours a week for 52 weeks, with no overtime, earns this before taxes at the city and state minimum wage:

San Diego sick leave rules

Employees accrue one hour of San Diego sick leave for every 30 hours worked. The employer may cap use at 40 hours a benefit year and the accrued balance at 80 hours.

An employer who grants at least 40 hours at the start of each benefit year meets the accrual and carry-over rules. Other employers carry unused hours over to the next benefit year.