Graph and download economic data for State Minimum Wage Rate for California (STTMINWGCA) from 1968 to 2025 about minimum wage, wages, CA, rate, and USA.

In 2023, the average annual wage in California was ****** U.S. dollars, an increase from the year prior, when the average wage in the U.S. state was ******. The average annual wages are expected to rise in California, with the annual wage in 2027 estimated to reach over ******* U.S. dollars.

Graph and download economic data for Total Wages and Salaries in California (CAWTOT) from Q1 1998 to Q2 2025 about salaries, wages, CA, and USA.

State Minimum Wage Rate for California was 16.50000 $ per Hour in January of 2025, according to the United States Federal Reserve. Historically, State Minimum Wage Rate for California reached a record high of 16.50000 in January of 2025 and a record low of 1.65000 in January of 1969. Trading Economics provides the current actual value, an historical data chart and related indicators for State Minimum Wage Rate for California - last updated from the United States Federal Reserve on November of 2025.

This table contains data on the living wage and the percent of families with incomes below the living wage for California, its counties, regions and cities/towns. Living wage is the wage needed to cover basic family expenses (basic needs budget) plus all relevant taxes; it does not include publicly provided income or housing assistance. The percent of families below the living wage was calculated using data from the Living Wage Calculator and the U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey. The table is part of a series of indicators in the Healthy Communities Data and Indicators Project of the Office of Health Equity. The living wage is the wage or annual income that covers the cost of the bare necessities of life for a worker and his/her family. These necessities include housing, transportation, food, childcare, health care, and payment of taxes. Low income populations and non-white race/ethnic have disproportionately lower wages, poorer housing, and higher levels of food insecurity. More information about the data table and a data dictionary can be found in the About/Attachments section.

In 2023, the average annual pay of employees in California totaled to ****** U.S. dollars. While this is a decrease from the previous year, it is a significant increase from 2001, when the average annual pay of employees was ****** U.S. dollars.

Graph and download economic data for Average Hourly Earnings of All Employees: Total Private in California (SMU06000000500000003) from Jan 2007 to Aug 2025 about earnings, hours, CA, private, employment, and USA.

California Minimum Wage - Historical chart and current data through 2025.

In March 2025, inflation amounted to 2.4 percent, while wages grew by 4.3 percent. The inflation rate has not exceeded the rate of wage growth since January 2023. Inflation in 2022 The high rates of inflation in 2022 meant that the real terms value of American wages took a hit. Many Americans report feelings of concern over the economy and a worsening of their financial situation. The inflation situation in the United States is one that was experienced globally in 2022, mainly due to COVID-19 related supply chain constraints and disruption due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The monthly inflation rate for the U.S. reached a 40-year high in June 2022 at 9.1 percent, and annual inflation for 2022 reached eight percent. Without appropriate wage increases, Americans will continue to see a decline in their purchasing power. Wages in the U.S. Despite the level of wage growth reaching 6.7 percent in the summer of 2022, it has not been enough to curb the impact of even higher inflation rates. The federally mandated minimum wage in the United States has not increased since 2009, meaning that individuals working minimum wage jobs have taken a real terms pay cut for the last twelve years. There are discrepancies between states - the minimum wage in California can be as high as 15.50 U.S. dollars per hour, while a business in Oklahoma may be as low as two U.S. dollars per hour. However, even the higher wage rates in states like California and Washington may be lacking - one analysis found that if minimum wage had kept up with productivity, the minimum hourly wage in the U.S. should have been 22.88 dollars per hour in 2021. Additionally, the impact of decreased purchasing power due to inflation will impact different parts of society in different ways with stark contrast in average wages due to both gender and race.

Graph and download economic data for Average Weekly Earnings of All Employees: Information in California (SMU06000005000000011) from Jan 2007 to Aug 2025 about information, earnings, CA, employment, and USA.

This table contains data on the living wage and the percent of families with incomes below the living wage for California, its counties, regions and cities/towns. Living wage is the wage needed to cover basic family expenses (basic needs budget) plus all relevant taxes; it does not include publicly provided income or housing assistance. The percent of families below the living wage was calculated using data from the Living Wage Calculator and the U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey. The table is part of a series of indicators in the Healthy Communities Data and Indicators Project of the Office of Health Equity. The living wage is the wage or annual income that covers the cost of the bare necessities of life for a worker and his/her family. These necessities include housing, transportation, food, childcare, health care, and payment of taxes. Low income populations and non-white race/ethnic have disproportionately lower wages, poorer housing, and higher levels of food insecurity. More information about the data table and a data dictionary can be found in the About/Attachments section.

During the time shown, the average monthly wage in the Mexican state of Baja California has experienced a general positive trend, with the highest value recorded in the first quarter of 2024 with ***** Mexican pesos.

VITAL SIGNS INDICATOR Jobs by Wage Level (EQ1)

FULL MEASURE NAME Distribution of jobs by low-, middle-, and high-wage occupations

LAST UPDATED January 2019

DESCRIPTION Jobs by wage level refers to the distribution of jobs by low-, middle- and high-wage occupations. In the San Francisco Bay Area, low-wage occupations have a median hourly wage of less than 80% of the regional median wage; median wages for middle-wage occupations range from 80% to 120% of the regional median wage, and high-wage occupations have a median hourly wage above 120% of the regional median wage.

DATA SOURCE California Employment Development Department OES (2001-2017) http://www.labormarketinfo.edd.ca.gov/data/oes-employment-and-wages.html

American Community Survey (2001-2017) http://api.census.gov

CONTACT INFORMATION vitalsigns.info@bayareametro.gov

METHODOLOGY NOTES (across all datasets for this indicator) Jobs are determined to be low-, middle-, or high-wage based on the median hourly wage of their occupational classification in the most recent year. Low-wage jobs are those that pay below 80% of the regional median wage. Middle-wage jobs are those that pay between 80% and 120% of the regional median wage. High-wage jobs are those that pay above 120% of the regional median wage. Regional median hourly wages are estimated from the American Community Survey and are published on the Vital Signs Income indicator page. For the national context analysis, occupation wage classifications are unique to each metro area. A low-wage job in New York, for instance, may be a middle-wage job in Miami. For the Bay Area in 2017, the median hourly wage for low-wage occupations was less than $20.86 per hour. For middle-wage jobs, the median ranged from $20.86 to $31.30 per hour; and for high-wage jobs, the median wage was above $31.30 per hour.

Occupational employment and wage information comes from the Occupational Employment Statistics (OES) program. Regional and subregional data is published by the California Employment Development Department. Metro data is published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The OES program collects data on wage and salary workers in nonfarm establishments to produce employment and wage estimates for some 800 occupations. Data from non-incorporated self-employed persons are not collected, and are not included in these estimates. Wage estimates represent a three-year rolling average.

Due to changes in reporting during the analysis period, subregion data from the EDD OES have been aggregated to produce geographies that can be compared over time. West Bay is San Mateo, San Francisco, and Marin counties. North Bay is Sonoma, Solano and Napa counties. East Bay is Alameda and Contra Costa counties. South Bay is Santa Clara County from 2001-2004 and Santa Clara and San Benito counties from 2005-2017.

Due to changes in occupation classifications during the analysis period, all occupations have been reassigned to 2010 SOC codes. For pre-2009 reporting years, all employment in occupations that were split into two or more 2010 SOC occupations are assigned to the first 2010 SOC occupation listed in the crosswalk table provided by the Census Bureau. This method assumes these occupations always fall in the same wage category, and sensitivity analysis of this reassignment method shows this is true in most cases.

In order to use OES data for time series analysis, several steps were taken to handle missing wage or employment data. For some occupations, such as airline pilots and flight attendants, no wage information was provided and these were removed from the analysis. Other occupations did not record a median hourly wage (mostly due to irregular work hours) but did record an annual average wage. Nearly all these occupations were in education (i.e. teachers). In this case, a 2080 hour-work year was assumed and [annual average wage/2080] was used as a proxy for median income. Most of these occupations were classified as high-wage, thus dispelling concern of underestimating a median wage for a teaching occupation that requires less than 2080 hours of work a year (equivalent to 12 months fulltime). Finally, the OES has missing employment data for occupations across the time series. To make the employment data comparable between years, gaps in employment data for occupations are ‘filled-in’ using linear interpolation if there are at least two years of employment data found in OES. Occupations with less than two years of employment data were dropped from the analysis. Over 80% of interpolated cells represent missing employment data for just one year in the time series. While this interpolating technique may impact year-over-year comparisons, the long-term trends represented in the analysis generally are accurate.

Graph and download economic data for Average Hourly Earnings of Production Employees: Manufacturing in California (SMU06000003000000008) from Jan 2001 to Aug 2025 about hours, CA, production, manufacturing, employment, and USA.

The minimum wage per day guaranteed by law in Mexico was decreed to increase by approximately 12 percent between 2024 and 2025, reaching 278.8 Mexican pesos in 2025. The Northern Free Zone located near the northern border was the exception, where the minimum daily wage increased to 419.88 Mexican pesos. Education and income disparity The income distribution is entirely a new story than minimum wages, in fact, there are many factors that influence the level of salaries for Mexican workers. One of the main differences is by the number of schooling years, someone with more than 18 years of study earns on average double than employees with seven to nine years. Moreover, the area of study, while statistics and finance mean salaries, the highest wages by degree, are above 30,000 Mexican pesos per month, others such as performing arts and theology rank as the lowest paying degrees in Mexico.
Poverty still among the main problems
Despite one of the main reasons for minimum wage increases being moving people out from poverty conditions, poverty continues to be one of the main problems Mexican society faces. The number of people living under poverty conditions has decreased by 8.54 million inhabitants from 2014 to 2022, nonetheless, the figure is still higher than 46.5 million. The poverty rate varies among states, with Chiapas leading the ranking with 67.4 percent of the population under such conditions, while both Baja California and Baja California Sur recorded less than 14 percent.

About this dataset

Context

The dataset presents median income data over a decade or more for males and females categorized by Total, Full-Time Year-Round (FT), and Part-Time (PT) employment in California. It showcases annual income, providing insights into gender-specific income distributions and the disparities between full-time and part-time work. The dataset can be utilized to gain insights into gender-based pay disparity trends and explore the variations in income for male and female individuals.

Key observations: Insights from 2023

Based on our analysis ACS 2019-2023 5-Year Estimates, we present the following observations: - All workers, aged 15 years and older: In California, the median income for all workers aged 15 years and older, regardless of work hours, was $49,513 for males and $35,108 for females.

These income figures indicate a substantial gender-based pay disparity, showcasing a gap of approximately 29% between the median incomes of males and females in California. With women, regardless of work hours, earning 71 cents to each dollar earned by men, this income disparity reveals a concerning trend toward wage inequality that demands attention in thestate of California.

- Full-time workers, aged 15 years and older: In California, among full-time, year-round workers aged 15 years and older, males earned a median income of $72,629, while females earned $63,384, resulting in a 13% gender pay gap among full-time workers. This illustrates that women earn 87 cents for each dollar earned by men in full-time positions. While this gap shows a trend where women are inching closer to wage parity with men, it also exhibits a noticeable income difference for women working full-time in the state of California.

Interestingly, when analyzing income across all roles, including non-full-time employment, the gender pay gap percentage was higher for women compared to men. It appears that full-time employment presents a more favorable income scenario for women compared to other employment patterns in California.

Content

When available, the data consists of estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey (ACS) 2019-2023 5-Year Estimates. All incomes have been adjusting for inflation and are presented in 2023-inflation-adjusted dollars.

Gender classifications include:

• Male
• Female

Employment type classifications include:

• Full-time, year-round: A full-time, year-round worker is a person who worked full time (35 or more hours per week) and 50 or more weeks during the previous calendar year.
• Part-time: A part-time worker is a person who worked less than 35 hours per week during the previous calendar year.

Variables / Data Columns

• Year: This column presents the data year. Expected values are 2010 to 2023
• Male Total Income: Annual median income, for males regardless of work hours
• Male FT Income: Annual median income, for males working full time, year-round
• Male PT Income: Annual median income, for males working part time
• Female Total Income: Annual median income, for females regardless of work hours
• Female FT Income: Annual median income, for females working full time, year-round
• Female PT Income: Annual median income, for females working part time

Good to know

Margin of Error

Data in the dataset are based on the estimates and are subject to sampling variability and thus a margin of error. Neilsberg Research recommends using caution when presening these estimates in your research.

Custom data

If you do need custom data for any of your research project, report or presentation, you can contact our research staff at research@neilsberg.com for a feasibility of a custom tabulation on a fee-for-service basis.

Inspiration

Neilsberg Research Team curates, analyze and publishes demographics and economic data from a variety of public and proprietary sources, each of which often includes multiple surveys and programs. The large majority of Neilsberg Research aggregated datasets and insights is made available for free download at https://www.neilsberg.com/research/.

Recommended for further research

This dataset is a part of the main dataset for California median household income by race. You can refer the same here

Graph and download economic data for Construction Wages and Salaries in California (CAWCON) from Q1 1998 to Q2 2025 about salaries, construction, wages, CA, and USA.

This dataset contains annual average CES data for California statewide and areas from 1990 to 2024.

The Current Employment Statistics (CES) program is a Federal-State cooperative effort in which monthly surveys are conducted to provide estimates of employment, hours, and earnings based on payroll records of business establishments. The CES survey is based on approximately 119,000 businesses and government agencies representing approximately 629,000 individual worksites throughout the United States.

CES data reflect the number of nonfarm, payroll jobs. It includes the total number of persons on establishment payrolls, employed full- or part-time, who received pay (whether they worked or not) for any part of the pay period that includes the 12th day of the month. Temporary and intermittent employees are included, as are any employees who are on paid sick leave or on paid holiday. Persons on the payroll of more than one establishment are counted in each establishment. CES data excludes proprietors, self-employed, unpaid family or volunteer workers, farm workers, and household workers. Government employment covers only civilian employees; it excludes uniformed members of the armed services.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) of the U.S. Department of Labor is responsible for the concepts, definitions, technical procedures, validation, and publication of the estimates that State workforce agencies prepare under agreement with BLS.

View monthly updates and historical trends for California Average Hourly Earnings of Production Employees: Manufacturing. Source: Bureau of Labor Statisti…

View monthly updates and historical trends for California Average Hourly Earnings of All Employees: Information. Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics. Track…