Minimum-wage workers across Santa Monica are getting a raise. The city's general minimum wage climbed to $18.47 per hour on Wednesday, July 1, while hotel and hospitality workers saw their pay floor jump to $25.00 per hour, a $2.50 increase from the previous $22.50 rate.

The new general rate, up $0.66 from $17.81, affects employees at restaurants, retail shops, and businesses along the Third Street Promenade, Main Street, Montana Avenue, and throughout the city. The hotel rate covers workers at beachfront properties and any business that contracts, leases, or sublets space on hotel grounds.

Councilmember Dan Hall detailed the changes in his weekly newsletter, noting that the general wage adjusts annually by the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers for the Los Angeles metro area. The hotel rate is set under Santa Monica Municipal Code Section 4.63.015(b)(2), which pegs it to the City of Los Angeles hotel worker wage.

Both rates remain in effect through June 30, 2027, according to an official city notice published June 9.

How Santa Monica compares

The $18.47 general rate sits $1.57 above California's statewide minimum of $16.90. But it falls well short of what a single adult actually needs to get by in Los Angeles County, according to the MIT Living Wage Calculator. Updated February 15, 2026, that tool pegs the figure at $28.92 per hour, or roughly $60,161 a year before taxes. Santa Monica's general minimum lands $10.45 below that threshold.

On the hotel side, the Los Angeles City Council voted 9-6 in May 2026 to delay its planned increase to $30 per hour from 2028 to 2030. Under LA's revised schedule, its hotel wage rises to $25 in 2027, $27.50 in 2028, and $30 in 2030. Santa Monica's $25 rate, as confirmed on the city's official minimum wage page, takes effect a year ahead of LA's planned move to the same level.

No health benefit mandate

One key distinction for hotel operators: Los Angeles introduced a health benefit requirement for hotel workers effective July 1, 2026. Santa Monica does not impose any health benefit mandate under its Hotel Worker Living Wage Ordinance, according to the city's minimum wage page.

A limited exemption applies to employees covered by a collective bargaining agreement that explicitly waives the ordinance's protections. The hotel living wage also does not apply to hostels.

Enforcement and what's next

The city's minimum wage ordinance, first passed in 2016, is enforced through the Los Angeles County Department of Consumer and Business Affairs. Workers who believe they are being underpaid can file complaints at [email protected] or call 800-593-8222. Employers must post the new rates in English, Spanish, and any other language spoken by at least 5% of their workforce.

The next annual adjustment takes effect July 1, 2027. The specific rate has not yet been announced.