Los Altos minimum wage 2026

What to know about the Los Altos minimum wage

Los Altos adopted Ordinance No. 2016-424 on September 27, 2016, adding Chapter 3.50 to the Municipal Code.⁠⁶ It was part of the Cities Association of Santa Clara County plan, which set a common path to $15 by 2019 followed by inflation increases; the Los Altos rate started at $12.00 in 2017.⁠¹

Since 2020 the rate has followed the August-to-August CPI-W for San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose, with two limits written into the ordinance: an increase cannot exceed 5%, and it is rounded to the nearest five cents.⁠⁶ The increase on January 1, 2026 was $0.50, to $18.70.⁠¹ The ordinance also gives the City Council a brake. If economic conditions described in the ordinance are met, the Council can suspend the next increase, but it must decide by October 1, the same date by which the new rate is due.

Two provisions deal with how pay is counted and proved. Commissions and guaranteed gratuities count toward the minimum if they are earned and paid in the pay period, although discretionary tips do not. And when an employer has not kept the required payroll records, the employee's account of what they were paid is presumed accurate.⁠⁶ The City Manager's Office administers the wage, and workers can also sue in civil court.

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 Los Altos, that is the local rate, but some jobs have a higher statewide minimum (see below the table).

California also sets higher statewide minimums for some jobs, which apply in Los Altos 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

Discretionary tips do not count toward the Los Altos minimum. Commissions and guaranteed gratuities may count if they are earned and paid in the same pay period.

How the rate changes

Each January 1 the rate rises by the August-to-August change in the San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose CPI-W (Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers), capped at 5% and rounded to the nearest five cents; it never falls. The new rate is due by October 1, with the bulletin and notice by November 1.

The city set the January 1, 2027 rate under Ordinance 2016-424 and the Bay Area Consumer Price Index.

Rate history

Who is covered

Anyone entitled to the California minimum wage who works at least two hours in a calendar week in Los Altos is covered, adults and minors alike, if the employer needs a city business license or has a facility in Los Altos. Government agencies are exempt for their governmental work, and a union contract can waive the ordinance only explicitly.

• The rate was $12.00 in 2017, the first year of the ordinance.
• Employers must post the city notice in the three languages most spoken in Los Altos, give new hires the employer's contact details in writing and keep payroll records for four years.
• If an employer has not kept the required records, the worker's account of their pay is presumed accurate.
• Questions and complaints go to the City Manager's Office at (650) 947-2700; workers can also sue in civil court.

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
• El Cerrito$18.82
• Cupertino$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.

Sources

1. 1
   City of Los Altos, Minimum Wage page, archived September 28, 2026 ($18.70 as of January 1, 2026) Checked Oct 9, 2026 · Back to text ↑
2. 2
   City of Los Altos, Minimum Wage page, archived June 23, 2025 Checked Oct 9, 2026 · Back to text ↑
3. 3
   City of Los Altos, Minimum Wage page, archived August 9, 2024 Checked Oct 9, 2026 · Back to text ↑
4. 4
   City of Los Altos, Minimum Wage page, archived May 10, 2023 Checked Oct 9, 2026 · Back to text ↑
5. 5
   City of Los Altos, Minimum Wage page, archived May 12, 2022 Checked Oct 9, 2026 · Back to text ↑
6. 6
   City of Los Altos, Ordinance No. 2016-424 adding Chapter 3.50 Minimum Wage (archived copy) Checked Oct 9, 2026 · Back to text ↑
7. 7
   City of Los Altos, Minimum Wage Checked Oct 28, 2026 · Back to text ↑

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