Santa Rosa’s minimum wage will increase by nearly 2% in 2026 as part of an annual rate adjustment under the city’s wage ordinance.

Employers large and small must pay employees a minimum of $18.21 per hour starting Jan. 1.

That’s up from $17.87 this year and about $1.30 more than the statewide minimum wage, which will increase to $16.90 per hour in the new year.

The Santa Rosa City Council in 2019 unanimously approved a local wage ordinance that called for the citywide minimum wage to increase to $15 for large companies by July 2020 and small companies by 2021, accelerating the state’s move to establish minimum wage at $15 for companies of all sizes by 2023. City officials have noted most employers already pay more than the minimum wage to attract workers in a high-cost area. The phased wage increases, according to officials, are meant to help address inequity among the lowest earners and help them keep up with rising costs of goods, from gas to groceries.

The rate is adjusted annually based on the consumer price index, or CPI, which measures the average prices paid by consumers over time.

It applies to any employee who works at least two hours per week within city limits.

With the latest increase, wages have gone up more than 21% since the ordinance took effect.

While the increase is meant to help close the gap between the minimum wage and a living wage — or what people must earn to support themselves — it’s still far below what some estimates show is needed to live in Sonoma County. A living wage for an individual without children in the Santa Rosa-Petaluma area is estimated at $27.17 per hour, according to MIT’s living wage calculator.

Petaluma and Sonoma, which also adopted wage-increase plans in 2019, will see similar wages increase in the new year.

Employers of all sizes in Petaluma will have to pay at least $18.31 per hour, while in Sonoma minimum wage at large companies will rise to $18.47 and to $17.38 at companies with 25 or fewer workers.

You can reach Staff Writer Paulina Pineda at 707-521-5268 or paulina.pineda@pressdemocrat.com. On X (Twitter) @paulinapineda22.