El Cerrito minimum wage 2026
The minimum wage in El Cerrito is $18.82 an hour in 2026, $1.92 above the California rate of $16.90. It rises to $19.36 on January 1, 2027. El Cerrito adopted its ordinance in November 2015, phased in to $15.00 by 2019, and since 2020 has adjusted the rate each January 1 by Bay Area inflation for wage earners, with no cap. The City Manager's Office runs a dedicated compliance program.
Contents10 sections
At a glance
| Minimum wage now | $18.82 an hour, since January 1, 202621 |
|---|---|
| Next change | $19.36 on January 1, 2027 (announced)16 |
| Tipped employees | $18.82, the full minimum wage before tips24 |
| Full-time pay | $753 a week, $39,146 a year at 40 hours a week before taxes · calculate for your hours |
| Enforced by | City of El Cerrito, Office of the City Manager, Minimum Wage Compliance Program, 510-215-4302 |
What to know about the El Cerrito minimum wage
El Cerrito's City Council adopted Ordinance No. 2015-09 (Municipal Code Chapter 6.95) on November 17, 2015. The first city rate, $11.60, took effect July 1, 2016, and steps on January 1 of 2017 and 2018 brought the wage to $15.00 on January 1, 2019.43
Since 2020 the wage has followed the August-to-August change in the San Francisco-area CPI-W. The ordinance spells out the arithmetic: the percentage is cut off at two decimal places and the new rate is rounded down to the cent, which is why El Cerrito's rates end in uneven cents, such as $18.34 from January 1, 2025 and $18.82 from January 1, 2026.41 There is no annual cap.
The city rate also feeds into state pay formulas. Learners, apprentices and others whose pay California sets as a share of the minimum wage are paid that share of the El Cerrito rate.4 Lawfully paid commissions may count toward the minimum, but tips may not.
The Minimum Wage Compliance Program in the City Manager's Office, 10890 San Pablo Avenue, takes complaints at [email protected] and can order reinstatement, back wages and penalties. Employers must post the yearly notice, which the city issues in five language versions.2
Compared with California
When a local minimum wage, the state minimum wage and the federal minimum wage differ, the employer must pay the highest one that applies to the work. For most covered work in El Cerrito, that is the local rate, but some jobs have a higher statewide minimum (see below the table).
| Minimum wage | Next change | Per hour now |
|---|---|---|
| El Cerrito | $19.36 on January 1, 2027 | $18.82 |
| California (state) | $17.40 on January 1, 2027 | $16.90 |
| Federal | None scheduled | $7.25 |
California also sets higher statewide minimums for some jobs, which apply in El Cerrito when they exceed the local rate: Fast food restaurant employees ($20.00); Health care: large systems, dialysis clinics and large-county facilities ($25.00); Health care: community, rural and intermittent clinics ($22.00); Health care: other covered facilities ($23.00); Health care: safety net hospitals and small-county facilities ($19.28). See the California page for the rules.
Tipped employees
| Tip credit | Not allowed: tips are on top of the full minimum wage |
|---|---|
| Minimum cash wage | $18.82 an hour24 |
Tips cannot be credited toward the El Cerrito minimum, so tipped workers get the full city rate before tips; commissions paid lawfully may count.
How the rate changes
Each January 1 the rate rises by the August-to-August change in the San Francisco-area CPI-W (Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers); the percentage is cut to two decimals and the result rounded down to the cent. There is no cap, a fall in prices does not lower the wage, and the city must publish the next rate by November 1.
Based on the CPI-W from August 2025 to August 2026, published in the city's 2027 wage bulletin.
Rate history
Who is covered
Anyone who works at least two hours in a week inside El Cerrito and is entitled to the California minimum wage is covered, full- or part-time, for any employer that does business or has a facility in the city, whatever its size. Only hours worked in the city count, and the ordinance can be waived only in a union contract that says so explicitly.
- The phase-in ran $11.60 on July 1, 2016, $12.25 on January 1, 2017, $13.60 on January 1, 2018 and $15.00 on January 1, 2019.
- State pay formulas tied to the minimum wage, such as those for learners and apprentices, use the city rate.
- Employers must post the annual notice (English, Spanish, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese and Japanese), give written notice at hire and keep records for three years.
- Complaints go to [email protected]; the city can order reinstatement, back wages and penalties, and employees may also sue.
Other local rates in California
- Emeryville$20.34
- West Hollywood$20.25
- Mountain View$19.70
- Berkeley$19.61
- San Francisco$19.61
- Sunnyvale$19.50
- Richmond$19.18
- Belmont$18.95
- Cupertino$18.70
- Los Altos$18.70
- Palo Alto$18.70
- Santa Clara$18.70
- Redwood City$18.65
- San Mateo$18.60
- Pasadena$18.57
- Milpitas$18.50
- Los Angeles County (unincorporated areas)$18.47
- Santa Monica$18.47
- Sonoma$18.47
- San Jose$18.45
- Los Angeles$18.42
- Petaluma$18.31
- Santa Rosa$18.21
- South San Francisco$18.15
- Fremont$18.05
- San Mateo County (unincorporated areas)$17.95
- Half Moon Bay$17.91
- Malibu$17.91
- East Palo Alto$17.90
- Burlingame$17.86
- Foster City$17.85
- Hayward$17.79
- Alameda$17.76
- San Carlos$17.75
- San Diego$17.75
- Novato$17.73
- Menlo Park$17.55
- Daly City$17.50
- Oakland$17.34
Everywhere else in California, the state rate applies.
Get help or file a claim
If you are paid less than the minimum wage that applies to your job, you can file a wage claim with the agency below. Federal law prohibits firing or otherwise retaliating against a worker for complaining about federal minimum wage rights.
| Agency | City of El Cerrito, Office of the City Manager, Minimum Wage Compliance Program |
|---|---|
| Phone | 510-215-4302 |
| The law | El Cerrito Municipal Code Chapter 6.95 (City Minimum Wage Standards), Ordinance No. 2015-09, adopted November 17, 2015 |
| Federal | U.S. Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division, 1-866-487-9243 |
Sources
- 1 City of El Cerrito, Minimum Wage Checked Oct 9, 2026 · Back to text ↑
- 2
- 3 City of El Cerrito, Scheduled Increases for El Cerrito Minimum Wage Standards Checked Oct 9, 2026 · Back to text ↑
- 4
- 5 City of El Cerrito, Minimum Wage FAQs Checked Oct 9, 2026 · Back to text ↑
- 6 City of El Cerrito, 2027 El Cerrito Minimum Wage Bulletin (English) Checked Oct 28, 2026 · Back to text ↑
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