West Hollywood will soon have the highest minimum wage in America.
The WeHo City Council voted Wednesday evening to raise the rate to $17.64 per hour, effective January 1 for hotel workers and July 1 for everyone else.
“[I]t’s getting more and more expensive to live, work and raise a family,” Council member Lindsey P. Horvath said in a statement. “Our minimum wage should reflect that reality.”
The current minimum wage in Santa Monica and West Hollywood is between $13 and $14, based upon the number of employees on a business payroll.
The minimum wage in Santa Monica was raised to $15 on July 1.
Currently, the city of Emeryville, California holds the record for America’s highest minimum wage. It was raised it to $17.13 in July 2021.
The federal minimum wage is $7.25 and hasn’t been raised since 2009.
Researchers at MIT have estimated that the current “living wage” for Los Angeles is $19.35.
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