The San Jose, CA 2015 minimum wage is $10.15, up from $10 per hour. Like San Francisco, San Jose provides annual cost of living increases to the city’s minimum wage. This wage rate applies to workers inside the city limits, even when the business is based elsewhere in the state or nation. This increase is expected to impact about 54,000 workers in the city.
The San Jose minimum wage increase was first proposed by sociology students in the classes of Professor Scott Myers-Lipton at San Jose State University. They were approved by a majority of the voters, receiving 60% approval in the election.
The San Jose minimum wage increased to $10 per hour in March 2014, based on a ballot measure approved by voters. The rate is well above the California state minimum wage of $9.00 per hour, but significantly below the minimum wage in the city of San Francisco, which is $11.05 per hour. At the state level, the highest minimum wages are $9.47 in the state of Washington and $9.25 in the state of Oregon. The city of Washington, D.C. has a $9.50 minimum wage while the federal minimum wage remains at $7.25 per hour.
A number of other municipalities have minimum wages above the state rate, including Richmond and Sunnyvale in California and Las Cruces, New Mexico.
