Mountain View minimum wage 2026
The minimum wage in Mountain View is $19.70 an hour in 2026, $2.80 above the California rate of $16.90. Mountain View ties its wage to San Francisco-area inflation with no annual cap, so the size of each January 1 increase depends entirely on regional prices.
Contents10 sections
At a glance
| Minimum wage now | $19.70 an hour, since January 1, 202621 |
|---|---|
| Next change | The next rate has not been announced yet. |
| Tipped employees | $19.70, the full minimum wage before tips24 |
| Full-time pay | $788 a week, $40,976 a year at 40 hours a week before taxes · calculate for your hours |
| Enforced by | City of Mountain View, City Manager's Office, 650-903-6301 |
What to know about the Mountain View minimum wage
Mountain View's ordinance puts no ceiling on yearly increases, and the rate history shows it. When San Francisco-area CPI-W rose 6.0%, the wage climbed from $17.10 to $18.15 on January 1, 2023; in calmer years the increases were 2.4% on January 1, 2025 and 2.6% on January 1, 2026, which brought the rate to $19.70.2 The adjustment uses the August-to-August change and is rounded to the nearest five cents.3
The framework dates from November 10, 2015, when the City Council amended City Code Section 42.14 to reach $15.00 on January 1, 2018, with inflation indexing from January 1, 2019.3 Coverage depends on a business connection to the city: an employer with a facility in Mountain View, or one subject to its business license tax, must pay the rate to anyone working at least two hours a week there, non-residents included.
The City Manager's Office administers the ordinance and takes complaints at [email protected], by phone at 650-903-6301 or by mail to 500 Castro Street.1 Employers must post the official notice in English, Spanish and Chinese, keep records of hours for four years and give new hires the employer's contact details in writing.
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 Mountain View, that is the local rate, but some jobs have a higher statewide minimum (see below the table).
| Minimum wage | Next change | Per hour now |
|---|---|---|
| Mountain View | Due January 1, 2027, amount not announced | $19.70 |
| 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 Mountain View 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). 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 | $19.70 an hour24 |
Tips and fringe benefits cannot be credited toward the Mountain View minimum, so tipped workers get the full city rate before tips.
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). The city posted the 2026 figure on October 23, 2025.
Rate history
Who is covered
Employers that have a facility in Mountain View or pay its business license tax must pay the city rate to adults and minors, full- or part-time, who work at least two hours a week in the city, including non-residents and regardless of immigration status.
- Yearly increases: 4.9% in 2022, 6.0% in 2023, 3.3% in 2024, 2.4% in 2025 and 2.6% in 2026.
Other local rates in California
- Emeryville$20.34
- West Hollywood$20.25
- Berkeley$19.61
- San Francisco$19.61
- Sunnyvale$19.50
- Richmond$19.18
- Belmont$18.95
- El Cerrito$18.82
- 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 Mountain View, City Manager's Office |
|---|---|
| Phone | 650-903-6301 |
| The law | Mountain View City Code Sec. 42.14 (minimum wage), as amended 2015-11-10 |
| Federal | U.S. Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division, 1-866-487-9243 |
Sources
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Is a rate wrong or out of date? Report an error