Los Angeles Minimum Wage: Which Rate Covers Your Work, and Where to Complain

In the Los Angeles area, the minimum wage turns on where you do the work, not where you live or where your employer is based. Since July 1, 2026, the City of Los Angeles rate is $18.42 an hour and the rate in unincorporated Los Angeles County is $18.47. Elsewhere, the general state rate is $16.90, with higher rates for covered industries or work in a city with a higher local minimum. Each rate has its own enforcement office.

Three rates, set by where you work

• City of Los Angeles: $18.42 an hour since July 1, 2026, according to the city’s Office of Wage Standards. The rate changes every July 1, tied to a consumer price index for the Los Angeles area. Hotel workers covered by the city’s hotel ordinance have separate rates.
• Unincorporated Los Angeles County: $18.47 an hour since July 1, 2026, according to the county’s Department of Consumer and Business Affairs. Unincorporated areas are the communities that are not part of any city.
• California: $16.90 an hour since January 1, 2026, according to the state Labor Commissioner, with higher state rates for covered fast-food and health-care workers.

The county puts the rule plainly: “Your employment status, where you live, or where your employer is headquartered does not determine the minimum wage that applies.” Work done outside unincorporated areas must be paid at the state rate or at the minimum wage of the city where you worked. A Los Angeles mailing address therefore settles nothing. The question is where the hours were worked.

Who the local rates cover

Both local laws reach workers who are often left out. The city’s fact sheet says an employee who performs at least two hours of work in a particular week within the city is entitled to the city minimum wage and sick time. The county applies its rate to everyone who works two hours or more per week at a business or nonprofit in an unincorporated area, regardless of immigration status and no matter the size of the business. The city office says it will not ask a worker’s immigration status or request supporting documents.

Two hours a week is a low bar. A delivery driver or home-repair worker who works at least two hours a week inside the city can be covered for those hours even if the employer is based elsewhere. Keep a record of where each shift was worked.

Paid sick leave in the City of Los Angeles

City law also sets its own sick-leave floor. Under the city fact sheet, an employer may either award 48 hours of paid sick leave each year or let workers earn one hour for every 30 hours worked. The city fact sheet sets a minimum carryover cap of 72 hours. For workers covered by state paid sick leave law, an accrual cap must be at least 80 hours or ten days, whichever is more. Employers must provide the more generous state or local benefit.

Where to complain

Each law has its own office, and the right one depends on the law that was broken.

• City of Los Angeles work: The Office of Wage Standards takes complaints about the city minimum wage, paid sick leave, the Fair Work Week and Fair Chance ordinances, and retaliation, in person, by mail, online or through the MyLA 311 app. Its number is 1-844-WAGESLA (924-3752).
• Unincorporated county work: The county’s Office of Labor Equity takes complaints, may review records and conduct interviews, and can issue a citation requiring the employer to pay the right wage, after giving the employer a chance to respond. It answers questions at (800) 593-8222 and wagehelp@dcba.lacounty.gov.
• State-law claims anywhere: Unpaid overtime, final pay and other state wage claims can be filed with the state Labor Commissioner through its wage-claim process. Its Los Angeles-area offices include 320 W. Fourth Street, Suite 450, downtown; 6150 Van Nuys Blvd., Room 206, in Van Nuys; and 1500 Hughes Way, Suite C-202, in Long Beach.

One pay problem can raise both kinds of claim. A worker paid $17 an hour in the city, and denied overtime, has a city minimum-wage issue and a state overtime issue. Each office handles only its own law, so the two issues may need to be filed in different places.

What to gather first

Bring pay stubs, a list of the addresses where you worked and the dates, any schedule or text messages showing hours, and the employer’s legal name. If you were fired, cut back or threatened after complaining about pay, write down what happened and when; the city and county offices both take retaliation complaints. Discrimination and other disputes outside these wage offices go to other agencies, listed in our Los Angeles agency guide.