How much do California fast food workers make? Let’s break it down by area
The minimum wage for fast food workers in California could rise almost $5 an hour above the state’s current floor. What do workers across the state make now?
California’s fast food workers could make a minimum of $20 an hour next year. That’s because of a deal between the industry and labor unions that hinges on fast food companies withdrawing a referendum against a fast food council.
The $20 minimum would be a raise for fast food and counter workers across the state, who made an hourly median wage of $16.31 in 2022, according to the most recent data available from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
California’s minimum wage is $15.50 as of this year, second only to Washington state, which has a minimum of $15.74. On Jan. 1, 2024, California’s minimum wage will rise to $16.
In some California cities and counties, the minimum wage is higher.
If you work a 40-hour week, the $15.50 minimum comes out to roughly $31,200, which is lower than what MIT Living Wage Calculator estimates an individual would need to meet basic needs, such as child care, housing and food. The MIT calculator estimates a living wage for one adult without children in California would be $21.24.
In Sacramento County, the low income limit is around $60,000. That qualifies individuals for income-driven programs, according to the California Department of Housing and Community Development Division.
In Sacramento in 2022, the median hourly wage for fast food and counter workers was $16.46. The highest in the state was in the San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara metro area at $18.80. The lowest was Chico at $15.39, according to the BLS. That data was collected over a three-period period starting in November 2019 when California’s minimum wage was $11 for employers with 25 or fewer workers and $12 for employers with 26 or more workers.
In 2022, the statewide minimum wage was $14 an hour for companies with 25 or fewer employees and $15 an hour for companies with at least 26 employees.
Here’s what the median hourly wage was for fast food and counter workers in California’s major areas in May 2022:
Bakersfield — $14.99
Chico — $14.81
Eastern Sierra-Mother Lode Region of California nonmetropolitan area — $16.11
El Centro — $15.31
Fresno — $14.90
Hanford-Corcoran — $16.30
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim — $16.30
Madera — $14.86
Merced — $14.85
Modesto — $16.00
Napa, CA — $17.03
North Coast Region nonmetropolitan area — $15.89
North Valley-Northern Mountains Region nonmetropolitan area — $15.81
Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura — $16.02
Redding — $14.97
Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario — $15.63
Sacramento-Roseville-Arden-Arcade — $16.46
Salinas — $16.41
San Diego-Carlsbad — $16.27
San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward — $18.01
San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara — $17.98
San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles-Arroyo Grande — $15.94
Santa Cruz-Watsonville — $16.48
Santa Maria-Santa Barbara — $16.13
Santa Rosa — $16.82
Stockton-Lodi — $15.87
Vallejo-Fairfield — $16.62
Visalia-Porterville — $14.84
Yuba City — $15.96
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