Los Angeles County Announces Minimum Wage Increase

What is Los Angeles County’s Minimum Wage in 2025?

Effective July 1, 2025, Los Angeles County’s minimum wage rate is now $17.81.

For minimum wage rates in the City of Los Angeles, click here.

A Brief Background of LA County’s Minimum Wage Rates

Back in 2015, Los Angeles County’s Board of Supervisors adopted a minimum wage ordinance (Ord. 2024-0039), which gradually increased the minimum wage in the unincorporated areas of the county each year until it reached $15.00 on July 1, 2020, for large employers and July 1, 2021, for small employers. Beginning on July 1, 2022, and continuing each year thereafter, the minimum wage adjusts for cost-of-living increases based on the consumer price index for the Los Angeles metropolitan area.

At the start of each year, the Chief Executive Office of LA County announces the upcoming adjusted rates that take effect the following July 1. Accordingly, the Chief Executive Office announced that the minimum wage in unincorporated LA County would increase to $17.81 per hour on July 1, 2025.

Minimum Wage Requirements in LA County

Most notably, the LA County minimum wage only applies to employees who perform at least two hours of work per week within the unincorporated areas of LA County. The LA County minimum wage does not apply to the 88 incorporated cities in the county.

Incorporated cities without their own minimum wage ordinances will continue to follow the State of California minimum wage while the following incorporated cities have their own minimum wage requirements:

• City of Los Angeles
• Malibu
• Pasadena
• Santa Monica
• West Hollywood

Each of the incorporated cities listed above will update this July as well. In addition to the standard minimum wage rates, several cities in LA County passed their own hotel worker minimum wage ordinances updating on July 1, specifically the City of Los Angeles, Glendale, Long Beach, Santa Monica, and West Hollywood.

Employers should further note that they are prohibited from taking tip credits under California’s minimum wage law. Therefore, both regular and tipped employees in unincorporated LA County should receive at least $17.81, effective July 1, 2025.

Minimum Wage Management. Simplified.

Posting Requirements for LA County

After the new minimum wage rate is announced, the LA County Department of Consumer and Business Affairs (DCBA) is required to publish an updated Minimum Wage Workplace Posting and Official Notice, which every employer must post in a conspicuous area of any workplace or jobsite location within unincorporated LA County. According to the DCBA, the poster must be 8 ½ inches by 14 inches in size and written in 10-point font at a minimum.   At this time, the updated minimum wage posters have not been released, but the GovDocs Labor Law Poster Program actively monitors and researches poster updates to send out updated LA County posters to customer locations before the July 1 update.

Managing Minimum Wage Rates in LA County 

Employers with locations in LA County should be aware of the multiple rates that may apply, whether at the state, county, or city level. Applying the incorrect minimum wage rate creates significant wage and hour compliance risks for employers, so location-specific minimum wage rate management is a great solution for tracking and adjusting wage rates in complex areas like LA County.

This Employment Law News blog is intended for market awareness only, it is not to be used for legal advice or counsel.