California’s minimum is high enough to ensure that full-time workers earn more than the federal poverty threshold. 

The state’s expensive cost of living, however, means a minimum wage income might not be enough to make ends meet. 

About 8% of California workers — 1.3 million people — were living in poverty in 2023, according to a poverty measure by the Public Policy Institute of California that takes into account the state’s housing costs and safety-net benefits.

While there is no official living wage measure, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s living wage calculator puts the 2025 living wage in California at $27.84 for a working couple with one child, and $28.72 for a single adult with no children.