Santa Rosa Minimum Wage Increasing Jan. 1, 2022

SANTA ROSA, CA — Starting Jan. 1, 2022, the hourly minimum wage in Santa Rosa will increase to $15.85 for all employees working within city limits. The increase represents the second of its kind following City Council approval of a local minimum wage ordinance in 2020.

"The COVID-19 pandemic has amplified Sonoma County’s already high cost of living, further exacerbating persistent and unsustainable economic inequality," said Mayor Chris Rogers. "As we recover, we can’t afford to leave our low-wage workers behind."

In Sonoma County, the cities of Santa Rosa, Petaluma and Sonoma all passed ordinances expediting the state’s $15 minimum wage law.

Petaluma's minimum wage of $15.20 went into effect Jan. 1, 2021. Santa Rosa's current minimum wage is also $15.20. In the city of Sonoma, the minimum wage is $15 for businesses with 26 or more employees and $14 for businesses with 25 or fewer employees. On Jan. 1, 2022, the city of Sonoma's minimum wage will increase to $16 for businesses with 26 or more employees and $15 for businesses with 25 or fewer employees.

The state of California's minimum wage is set to increase to $15 for businesses of 26 or more employees and $14 for employers with 25 or fewer employees starting January 2022, and will rise again to $15 for all businesses regardless of size in 2023. Thereafter, annual increases to the state minimum wage will be CPI-W based.

In Santa Rosa, the city's hourly minimum wage applies to all businesses within city limits, regardless of size, and has the potential to increase annually based on the Bay Area Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W).

In keeping with the state mandate requiring businesses to post wage notices where employees may easily see them, the city mails official notices in English and Spanish to all businesses in the city and provides downloadable versions online at Srcity.org/MinimumWage.