HOURLY WAGE INDEX

Let’s talk wages in Los Angeles

Back to home
Back to California
scale-img
$16.78

What is the minimum wage in Los Angeles?

The minimum wage in Los Angeles is currently $16.78 per hour. This is the highest minimum wage in the state of California, and it is set to increase annually based on the Consumer Price Index. The minimum wage is important for ensuring that all workers in Los Angeles can earn a living wage. However, there are some challenges associated with the minimum wage, such as the potential for job losses and price increases.

History of the Minimum Wage in Los Angeles

The minimum wage in Los Angeles has been increasing steadily over the past few years. In 2016, the minimum wage was $10.50 per hour. In 2017, it increased to $12.00 per hour. In 2018, it increased to $13.25 per hour. In 2019, it increased to $14.25 per hour. And in 2020, it increased to $15.00 per hour.

Los Angeles has a separate minimum wage ordinance that applies to businesses with 25 or more employees. This ordinance sets the minimum wage at $16.78 per hour. The ordinance also requires businesses to provide paid sick leave and paid family leave.

Benefits of the Minimum Wage

The Los Angeles minimum wage has several benefits for workers. First, it helps to ensure that all workers earn a living wage. This means that they can afford basic necessities such as food, housing, and transportation. Second, the minimum wage can help to reduce poverty. Third, the minimum wage can help to boost the economy by increasing consumer spending.

Challenges of the Minimum Wage

There are also some challenges associated with the Los Angeles minimum wage. First, it can lead to job losses. When the minimum wage increases, some businesses may be forced to lay off workers in order to cut costs. Second, the minimum wage can lead to price increases. When businesses have to pay their workers more, they may pass those costs on to consumers in the form of higher prices.

statistics-img
$32.38

What is the average wage in Los Angeles?

The average wage in Los Angeles is significantly higher than the minimum wage. In 2022, the average wage in Los Angeles was $67,280 per year. This means that the average worker in Los Angeles earns about $32.38 per hour.

The minimum wage and average wage in Los Angeles are both significantly higher than the national average. This is due to the high cost of living in Los Angeles. The minimum wage helps to ensure that all workers in Los Angeles can earn a living wage, but it can also lead to job losses and price increases. The average wage in Los Angeles is significantly higher than the minimum wage, but it is still lower than the cost of living in the city.

In addition to the city's minimum wage, there are also a number of other laws in Los Angeles that impact wages. For example, the city has a law that requires employers to provide paid sick leave to all employees. The city also has a law that prohibits employers from asking about an employee's salary history.

The minimum wage and other wage laws in Los Angeles are designed to help ensure that all workers in the city have a fair chance to succeed. These laws help to ensure that workers are paid a living wage, that they have access to paid sick leave, and that they are not discriminated against based on their salary history.

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between gross wages and net wages?

It's important to remember that the Hourly Wage Index data above reflects gross wages, or the amount of money an employee earns before accounting for payroll deductions like taxes, benefits, or wage garnishments. Due to variability in tax rates across locations, slightly lower gross wages in a certain location might result in higher take home pay, or vice versa.

What is a good hourly wage?

This question is a difficult one to answer, as a "good hourly wage" is highly subjective according to experience, work responsibilities, cost of living, and other factors. We recommend using Hourly Wage Index data as a starting point. Once you have established a baseline for certain positions, do further research into similar businesses in your area. Lastly, consider surveying your employees. They're the best resource to help you know what is a good hourly wage, what competitive pay looks like in your location, and how competitive wages change in your industry over time.

Offering competitive pay is one of my top priorities—what other resources do you have that might help?

We know that getting applicants to pay attention to your business can be extremely challenging, and that offering competitive pay is a huge part of that. Wages aren’t everything, however! Applicant experience is another important factor that can help set you apart from your competition. A few examples include:


  • Short, easy to understand job descriptions
  • Mobile-friendliness
  • Quick communication
  • Streamlined interview stages
Resources

Become a hiring and onboarding expert.

blog_3
GUIDE

Checking the box on hiring and retention

Download the packet
blog_2
BLOG

5 Steps to build your convenience store brand

Read now
blog_1
BLOG

Social media recruiting: Why your employees should help

Read now

We're here to help!

A Workstream hiring specialist can help you identify high impact ways to improve your applicant experience, and even help you determine what is a good hourly wage for your location and business.

Sign up for a free 30 minute chat with a hiring specialist now

Personal Information and Sensitive Personal Information

Before we discuss the right to limit and the right to opt-out, we must first define personal information and how it relates to sensitive personal information.

Personal information is any data that identifies, relates to, or could reasonably be linked to you or your household. A few examples of personal information include:

  • Name or nickname
  • Email address
  • Purchase history
  • Browsing history
  • Location data
  • Employment data
  • IP address
  • Profiles businesses create about you, including pseudonymous profiles (“user1234”)
  • Sensitive personal information

Sensitive personal information or “SPI” is a subset of personal information, defined as:

  • Identifying information (e.g. social security number, driver’s license)
  • Financial data (e.g. debit or credit card numbers)
  • Precise geolocation (within a radius of 1,850 feet)
  • Demographic or protected-class information (e.g. race/ethnicity, religion, union membership)
  • Biometric and genetic data (e.g. fingerprints, palm scans, facial recognition)
  • Communications and content (e.g. mail, email, text messages)
  • Health and sexual orientation (e.g. vaccine records, health history)

Right to Opt-Out

Californians have the right to opt-out of the sale and sharing of their personal information. That means you have the right to opt-out of the sale of your personal information to third parties (e.g. data brokers, advertisers). You also have the right to opt-out of the sharing of your personal information to prevent the targeting of ads across different businesses, websites, apps, or services.

CCPA-covered businesses must provide a link to allow you to exercise this right. It is usually found at the bottom of a webpage and will say “do not sell or share my personal information” or “your privacy choices.” Sometimes businesses offer privacy choices through a pop-up window or form

To opt-out of the sale and sharing of your personal information, click on the link or use the toggle provided by the business and follow the directions. Doing this on every website you visit can feel burdensome, but to ease the burden you can automatically select your privacy preferences for every website by using an opt-out preference signal, or OOPS for short.

An OOPS is a user-friendly and straightforward way for consumers to automatically exercise their right to opt-out of the sale and sharing of their personal information with the businesses they interact with online. An OOPS, such as the Global Privacy Control. It can either be a setting on your internet browser or a browser extension. With an OOPS, consumers do not have to submit individual requests to opt-out of sale or sharing with each business.

Right to Limit

Californians also have the right to direct businesses to limit the use and disclosure of their sensitive personal information.

Businesses covered under the CCPA must provide a link on their website that allows you to request the limiting of your SPI, if they plan on using it in certain ways. That link will also typically be at the bottom of a webpage and will say: “limit the use of my sensitive personal information” or “your privacy choices.” Once you send this request, the business must stop using your SPI for anything other than to:

  • Provide requested goods or services
  • Ensure security and integrity
  • Prevent fraud
  • Maintain system functionality
  • Comply with legal obligations

Bringing it Together

In summary, the CCPA gives you the right to opt-out of the sale and sharing of your personal information and gives you additional rights to further limit the use and disclosure of your sensitive personal information.

When you exercise these rights together, you exert greater control in protecting your personal data which is important for your identity, safety, and financial health.

If you are on a business’s website and you can’t find the links to exercise your rights, remember to check their privacy policy. The privacy policy should tell you how you can exercise your rights under the law.

If you find your rights being violated, you can submit a complaint to CalPrivacy.

Next in the LOCKED series, we will explore the right to correct and right to know. Follow us on social media to get live updates or check back in one week for the next post.

Essential

Required to enable basic website functionality. You may not disable essential cookies.

Targeted Advertising

Used to deliver advertising that is more relevant to you and your interests. May also be used to limit the number of times you see an advertisement and measure the effectiveness of advertising campaigns. Advertising networks usually place them with the website operator’s permission.

Personalization

Allow the website to remember choices you make (such as your username, language, or the region you are in) and provide enhanced, more personal features. For example, a website may provide you with local weather reports or traffic news by storing data about your general location.

Analytics

Help the website operator understand how its website performs, how visitors interact with the site, and whether there may be technical issues.

Right to Limit Use of Sensitive Personal Information

You also have the right to limit how we use sensitive personal information (such as precise geolocation, financial data, etc.).

Your preference has been saved. We will not sell or share your personal information.