What is the minimum wage if I work in Glendale, Los Angeles, Pasadena or unincorporated LA County in 2026?

Glendale sits beside three different minimum wage areas, and many people work in more than one of them in a single week. The rates below come from each government's own published notice. For the rest of your rights at work, see our employment law page.

How do I find the minimum wage for my job, step by step?

1. Start with where the work is done. Local minimum wages follow the location of the work, not the employer's office. The City of Los Angeles, Pasadena and unincorporated Los Angeles County each cover employees who work at least two hours in a week inside their boundaries.
2. Check whether the address is unincorporated. The county's lookup method is explained below.
3. Check your industry. The state sets higher minimums for fast food workers and certain health care workers, and Glendale and Los Angeles set hotel worker wages for larger hotels.
4. Apply the highest rate. The Labor Commissioner says that when laws conflict, the employer must follow the standard most beneficial to the employee, so a higher local rate wins over the state rate.
5. Compare with your pay stub. Each pay stub must show every hourly rate in effect and the hours worked at each rate (Labor Code section 226(a)), which helps you check the rate paid for each hour.
6. Raise it with the right agency. A local wage is enforced by the city or county office that set it; the state minimum wage by the Labor Commissioner. A lawsuit is also possible.
7. Watch the time limits. The county poster says complaints to DCBA must be filed within three years, and the Labor Commissioner lists three years for minimum wage claims.

What are the 2026 minimum wage rates in and around Glendale?

For comparison, the rates a year earlier were $16.50 statewide, $17.87 in the City of Los Angeles and $17.81 in unincorporated Los Angeles County, according to the same agencies.

What is the minimum wage in Glendale?

The City of Glendale has set a local minimum wage for hotel workers in its Hotel Worker Protection Ordinance, Glendale Municipal Code Chapter 5.120, which took effect on July 28, 2022. The ordinance requires hotel employers to pay at least the hourly rate paid to hotel workers in the City of Los Angeles, and the city notes that this applies only to hotels with 60 or more rooms. Glendale's published schedule is $25.00 from July 1, 2026, $25.50 from July 1, 2027 and $28.50 from July 1, 2028, with inflation adjustments starting July 1, 2029. The city also notes that the health benefit payment required in Los Angeles is not required in Glendale.

The same ordinance requires hotel employers to give workers a personal security device at no cost, with training, and paid time off to report a serious incident or seek counseling. It bars them from requiring or permitting a hotel worker to work more than 10 hours in a workday without the worker's written consent. The city may grant a hotel a waiver of up to one year if it documents that compliance would force it to cut its workforce by more than 20 percent or its workers' hours by more than 30 percent.

For other jobs in Glendale, the starting point is the state minimum wage of $16.90 an hour, unless a higher state rate for an industry applies. The Labor Commissioner notes separate, higher state minimum wages for fast food workers and certain health care workers. Workers in Glendale can read about the agencies and courts that handle their claims on our employment lawyer in Glendale page.

Which rate applies if I work in more than one city?

Local minimum wages follow the work, not the employer's address. The City of Los Angeles ordinance covers any employee who performs at least two hours of work in a particular week within the city, and employers must pay the city rate for hours worked inside city limits. Pasadena's notice uses the same two-hour weekly test, and so does the Los Angeles County ordinance for unincorporated areas. The Labor Commissioner explains that where a city or county rate is higher than the state rate, employees must be paid the local rate.

Not sure whether a workplace is in an unincorporated area? The county's Department of Consumer and Business Affairs suggests looking up the address on the Registrar-Recorder's district map at lavote.gov: if the result lists an "UNINCORPORATED" community, the county rate applies; if it lists "CITY OF," it does not.

When do these rates change?

• State: adjusted each year for inflation, with a cap of 3.5 percent a year, according to the Labor Commissioner. The 2026 rate took effect January 1.
• City of Los Angeles: the new rate is announced on February 1 and takes effect July 1 each year, based on the Los Angeles area consumer price index.
• Unincorporated Los Angeles County: increases every July 1; the 2026 increase from $17.81 to $18.47 was 3.7 percent.
• Glendale hotels: the scheduled steps above, then annual inflation adjustments from 2029.

Because the state rate also sets the minimum salary for most overtime exemptions, each January increase affects salaried workers too. We explain that link on our page about whether a salaried employee is exempt from overtime. For more on how yearly changes reach your paycheck, read how recent changes in California law could affect you.

Where do I complain if I am underpaid?

The Labor Commissioner offers two paths: an individual wage claim, or a Report of Labor Law Violation to its Bureau of Field Enforcement, which does not pursue individual claims but may investigate and cite the employer. Our guide to a wage claim at the Labor Commissioner's Los Angeles-area offices follows a claim from filing to hearing.

What other local rules protect workers in Los Angeles?

The City of Los Angeles ordinance includes its own paid sick leave rules, which the Office of Wage Standards says are more generous than state law: at least 48 hours a year, either front-loaded or earned at one hour for every 30 hours worked, usable from the 90th day of employment. Workers can file a complaint with the Office of Wage Standards regardless of immigration status, and the city requires employers to keep payroll records for four years. In Pasadena, the city's notice says workers may file a complaint with the Department of Planning and Community Development or bring a civil lawsuit, and that retaliation is prohibited. Our page on the employment lawyer in Los Angeles covers the city's hotel worker wage and where city workers file complaints. For county-wide agencies and courts, see our page on the employment lawyer in Los Angeles County.

What if I am paid less than the minimum wage?

The minimum wage cannot be waived by agreement, and an employer cannot count your tips toward it, according to the Labor Commissioner. An employee paid less than the legal minimum can recover the unpaid balance, interest, reasonable attorney's fees and costs (Labor Code section 1194), plus liquidated damages equal to the unpaid wages and interest (Labor Code section 1194.2), which a court or the Labor Commissioner may reduce if the employer shows it acted in good faith with reasonable grounds. Our page on penalties for wage violations in California lists what else may be owed.

What changes the answer?

Where each hour was worked

Because of the two-hour weekly test, a worker who splits time between Glendale and the City of Los Angeles may be owed two different rates in the same week.

Your industry and employer size

Higher state minimums apply to fast food and certain health care workers. Hotel wages depend on size: 60 or more rooms in Glendale, and in the City of Los Angeles 60 or more rooms, or 50 or more in the airport hospitality zone, according to the Office of Wage Standards.

Whether an exception applies

The Labor Commissioner lists a few groups exempt from the state minimum wage, including outside salespersons, the employer's parent, spouse or child, and registered apprentices. Learners with no similar experience may be paid not less than 85 percent of the minimum wage during their first 160 hours. Minors are owed the same minimum wage as adults.

Whether you are an employee

Minimum wage laws protect employees. The Office of Wage Standards says the city ordinance covers employees whether full-time, part-time or temporary. A worker paid as a contractor may still be an employee; our page on whether you are an employee or an independent contractor explains California's test.

A worked example

For example, imagine a hypothetical restaurant server whose employer runs two locations, one in Glendale and one inside the City of Los Angeles. She works 24 hours a week in Glendale and 16 hours a week at the Los Angeles location, and she is paid $17.00 an hour for every hour, plus tips.

For the Glendale hours, assuming no higher industry rate applies, $17.00 is above the state minimum of $16.90. For the 16 hours inside the City of Los Angeles, the city rate of $18.42 applies because she works at least two hours a week there, which leaves a gap of $1.42 an hour, or $22.72 a week. Her tips cannot be used to make up the difference.

She keeps her schedules and pay stubs. Whether money is owed, and for how long, depends on those records, so the arithmetic is a starting point rather than a result.

Common mistakes about the local minimum wage

• Going by the employer's address. The rate follows where the work is done, so a Glendale company can owe the Los Angeles rate for hours worked in Los Angeles.
• Counting tips toward the minimum. California does not allow a tip credit.
• Assuming the Glendale hotel wage covers every Glendale job. It applies to hotel workers at hotels with 60 or more rooms.
• Missing the July 1 change. The local rates rise each July 1, so a raise in January may not be enough by summer.
• Staying silent because of immigration status. The city and county both say their protections apply regardless of immigration status.

What to do this week

1. List every address where you worked in each week and the hours at each one.
2. Look up any address you are unsure about on the lavote.gov district map.
3. Compare your hourly rate on each pay stub with the rate for that location.
4. Keep your schedules, pay stubs and any written notice of pay rate you received at hire.
5. Check the time limits in our table of employment claim deadlines in California.
6. Decide whether to start with a local agency, the Labor Commissioner or a lawsuit; our page on a Labor Commissioner wage claim or a lawsuit compares the state routes.

Frequently asked questions

Can my employer pay me less while I am training?

Only within a narrow state rule. The Labor Commissioner says learners with no previous similar or related experience may be paid at least 85 percent of the state minimum wage, rounded to the nearest nickel, during their first 160 hours of employment.

Does the Los Angeles hotel health benefit apply in Glendale?

No. The City of Glendale says the health benefit payment required by the City of Los Angeles is not required in Glendale. Glendale hotel workers at covered hotels receive the hourly wage only.

Can my employer punish me for asking about the minimum wage?

The Los Angeles, county and Pasadena laws each prohibit retaliation, and the county poster says retaliation is presumed if the employer cannot show cause for discipline. The Labor Commissioner also takes retaliation complaints; our page on wrongful termination in violation of public policy explains firings for asserting legal rights.

Is paid sick leave different in the City of Los Angeles?

Yes. The city's ordinance provides at least 48 hours a year and lets unused hours carry over, with a cap that may be set no lower than 72 hours. Our page on paid sick leave in California covers the state rules.

Does a higher hourly rate change how overtime is figured?

The regular rate of pay used for overtime can never be lower than the applicable minimum wage, according to the Labor Commissioner. Our page on how overtime is calculated in California explains the regular rate.

How can Glendale Law help?

We review pay stubs, schedules and work locations to work out which minimum wage applied to each hour and what may be owed. Call (818) 244-9000 or request a consultation.