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Wednesday, Nov. 26, 2025

Fact Brief: Do Santa Clara County workers earn a minimum wage of $20 an hour?

Jennifer Morrow, San Jose Spotlight
no

Santa Clara County has 15 municipalities. None of them have a minimum wage of $20 an hour as of 2025. 

Mountain View has the highest minimum wage at $19.20, followed by Sunnyvale at $19 and Cupertino at $18.20. Some municipalities, like Campbell and Los Gatos, do not set their own minimum wage. They adhere to California’s statewide minimum wage, which is $16.50 for 2025.

There are two exceptions. In Santa Clara County, fast food workers are paid a $20 minimum wage under AB 1228, a state law that became effective in 2024. The law only applies to fast food restaurants in California with a chain of 60 or more locations nationwide, such as McDonald’s, Subway and Panera Bread. Additionally, some California health care workers must also be paid above minimum wage, with eligibility and rates varying based on facility type and job function.

This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.

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Fact briefs are bite-sized, well-sourced explanations that offer clear "yes" or "no" answers to questions, confusions, and unsupported claims circulating online. They rely on publicly available data and documents, often from the original source. Fact briefs are written and published by newsrooms in the Gigafact network.

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