Health & Fitness
4 North Bay Cities Increasing Minimum Wage In 2021
Thirty-four cities statewide will be making the move to bump up wages. See which four in the North Bay made the list.
NORTH BAY, CA — After a historically hard year for businesses and families, California and a number of its cities are raising their hourly minimum wage rates, including four in the North Bay.
Novato, Petaluma, Santa Rosa and Sonoma will all hike their minimum wages.
Of those cities, Petaluma and Santa Rosa have the highest minimum wage pay at $15.20, while Novato and Sonoma businesses must offer at least $15.
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With the exception of Santa Rosa, each of those cities allow small businesses to pay a slightly lower wage to workers.
The minimum wage in California was $13 per hour, but will increase to $14 in 2021 for companies counting more than 26 employees (for businesses with fewer than 26 employees, the wage is rising from $12 to $13.)
Find out what's happening in Napa Valleyfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
Many municipalities already have minimum wages well above that, and several will increase next year. However, minimum wage rules are a complicated patchwork of county and municipal regulations that often vary based on the type of company. Some cities or counties, as shown below, tie their minimum wage rates to the Consumer Price Index (CPI), a method of measuring inflation based of the average change in prices paid by consumers for a fixed market basket of goods and services.
A number of cities' minimum wages automatically go up in either January or July when the CPI is updated.
Here's a handy chart of all the California counties and cities reporting any type of minimum wage increase for the coming year.
| City or County | 2020 Minimum Wage | 2021 Minimum Wage | 2020 Minimum Wage for Small Businesses | 2021 Minimum Wage for Small Businesses |
| California | $13 | $14 | $12 | $13 |
| Belmont | $15 | $15.90 | _ | _ |
| Berkeley | $16.07 | $16.07 + CPI (on 7/1) | _ | _ |
| Cupertino | $15.35 | $15.65 | _ | _ |
| Daly City | $13.75 | $15 | _ | _ |
| El Cerrito | $15.37 | $15.61 | _ | _ |
| Emeryville | $16.84 | $16.84 + CPI (on 7/1) | _ | _ |
| Fremont | $13 | $15 + CPI (on 7/1) | $13.50 | $15 (on 7/1) |
| Hayward | $13 | $15 | $12 | $14 |
| Los Altos | $15.40 | $15.65 | _ | _ |
| Los Angeles | $15 | $15 | $14.25 | $15 (on 7/1) |
| Los Angeles County | $15 | $15 | $14.25 | $15 (on 7/1) |
| Malibu | $15 | $15 | $14.25 | $15 (on 7/1) |
| Menlo Park | $15 | $15.25 | _ | _ |
| Milpitas | $15.40 | $15.40 + CPI (on 7/1) | _ | _ |
| Mountain View | $16.05 | $16.30 | _ | _ |
| Novato | $14 | $15 | $13 | $14 |
| Oakland | $14.14 | $14.36 | _ | _ |
| Palo Alto | $15.40 | $15.65 | _ | _ |
| Pasadena | $15 | $15 | $14.25 | $15 |
| Petaluma | $15 | $15.20 | $14 | $15 |
| Redwood City | $15.38 | $15.62 | _ | _ |
| Richmond | $15 | $15.21 | _ | _ |
| San Carlos | $15 | $15.24 | _ | _ |
| San Diego | $13 | $14 | _ | _ |
| San Francisco | $16.07 | $16.07 + CPI (on 7/1) | _ | _ |
| San Jose | $15.25 | $15.45 | _ | _ |
| San Mateo | $15.38 | $15.62 | _ | _ |
| Santa Clara | $15.40 | $15.65 | _ | _ |
| Santa Monica | $15 | $15 | $14.25 | $15 (on 7/1) |
| Santa Rosa | $15 | $15.20 | $14 | $15.20 |
| Sonoma | $13.50 | $15 | $12.50 | $14 |
| South San Francisco | $15 | $15.24 | _ | _ |
| Sunnyvale | $16.05 | $16.30 | _ | _ |
— Patch editor Michael Wittner wrote this report, with additional reporting by editor Courtney Teague
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