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Patrons enjoy the outdoor seating at the Go Get em Tiger cafe in West Hollywood, California. Cafe workers will soon be able to take advantage of the increase in minimum wage in West Hollywood.
Patrons sit at a cafe in West Hollywood. Cafe workers will soon benefit from the increase in the city’s minimum wage. Photograph: Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times/Rex/Shutterstock
Patrons sit at a cafe in West Hollywood. Cafe workers will soon benefit from the increase in the city’s minimum wage. Photograph: Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times/Rex/Shutterstock

West Hollywood votes to set highest minimum wage in US

This article is more than 2 years old

The minimum hourly rate will rise to $17.64 by July 2023 after unanimous vote by California city’s council

West Hollywood will provide the highest minimum wage in the US after the city council voted to raise pay in the city to $17.64 an hour.

The wage hike will start taking affect in January for some workers and will gradually increase every six months until July 2023, eventually surpassing California’s minimum wage, which is set to reach $15 by 2022 for workplaces with more than 25 employees. California has the highest minimum wage of any state.

Relatively few of the 20,000 jobs in West Hollywood provide a wage high enough that workers can afford living there, city councilmember John D’Amico said.

“Fewer than 10% of our jobs pay enough to live in the city,” D’Amico said. “I believe we are now righting the founding wrong of this city. Keeping West Hollywood workers in a position where they cannot be our neighbors and worse, they have to learn how to live without a reliable income, this has to finally no longer be acceptable.”

Some local business owners spoke against the increase, arguing that businesses were still struggling to recover from the pandemic and that the pay raise would push companies out of the city, while restaurant owners said their workers were already highly compensated.

“If we raise the minimum wage now it’s going to be counterproductive,” said Lisa Vanderpump, a former star of the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills who owns three restaurants in the city. “You’re going to see so many people who are going to find it unsustainable.”

The council voted unanimously to approve the increase. The ordinance allows employers that can show the rise would shut down their business to request a one-year waiver. City leaders said they recognized the challenges that businesses face, but that a pay rise was crucial for workers and the city.

“[The] cost of living is rising everywhere – it’s getting more & more expensive to live, work and raise a family. Our minimum wage should reflect that reality,” councilmember Lindsey P Horvath said.

The ordinance also expands paid vacation, sick and personal time for workers.

Hotel workers will see a minimum wage of $17.64 starting 1 January, and all other employees will begin seeing a rise in July 2022. The new rate surpasses that of Emeryville, which currently has the highest minimum wage in the country at $17.13 an hour.

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