San Diego minimum wage 2026: $17.75 an hour

$17.75 an hour, in force since January 1, 2026, set by the voter-approved Earned Sick Leave and Minimum Wage Ordinance, indexed to CPI. That is $0.85 an hour above the California state minimum of $16.90 and $10.50 above the federal $7.25, which has not moved since July 24, 2009. Over a full-time year the gap over the state rate is worth $1,768 in gross pay. Anyone performing at least two hours of work in one or more calendar weeks of the year inside the city boundaries.

At $17.75 and 40 hours a week, gross pay is $710 a week, $3,077 a month and $36,920 a year. A single filer with no other deductions takes home about $591 a week, $1,182 every two weeks, $2,561 a month or $30,728 a year, an effective rate of 16.8% across federal income tax, California income tax, Social Security and Medicare.

Whichever is higher, and for work performed in San Diego that is the San Diego rate of $17.75. A local wage floor can rise above the state and federal figures but never fall below them, so the three rates are a floor stack rather than alternatives. What decides it is where the work is physically done, not where your employer is headquartered or where you live. Anyone performing at least two hours of work in one or more calendar weeks of the year inside the city boundaries.

There isn't one. San Diego pays tipped staff the full $17.75 in direct cash wages, and tips are on top rather than counted towards the floor. That means a tipped worker here is guaranteed $17.75 an hour before a single tip is added. Tips remain taxable wages reported through payroll, and for 2026 up to $25,000 of qualified tips is deductible on your federal return.

Before. $17.75 is a floor on gross pay, the figure your employer must pay for each hour worked with nothing withheld yet. Social Security takes 6.2% and Medicare 1.45% from the first dollar, and California income tax applies on top. On a full 40-hour week that turns $710 gross into about $591 net, a difference of $119.

Check the stub first: multiply hours worked by $17.75 and compare against gross pay for the period, before deductions, because the test is gross. Underpayment is a wage claim, and a local ordinance usually gives you a city enforcement office as well as the state labor office and the U.S. Department of Labor. Deductions for uniforms, tools or till shortages that push effective pay below the floor are generally not permitted.