Menlo Park minimum wage will increase by $0.50 per hour Jan. 1, 2024

Published on October 16, 2023

Minimum wage text on papers

At the Oct. 10 meeting, City Council received and filed the annual inflation protection adjustment of $0.50 per hour for an approved local minimum wage. Effective Jan. 1, 2024, the approved local minimum wage in Menlo Park will increase from $16.20 to $16.70 per hour. For information about minimum age requirements for employees and employers visit the local minimum wage ordinance webpage

Menlo Park Municipal Code (MPMC) provides an automatic annual inflation adjustment to the approved local minimum wage and an allowance for the City Council to suspend the adjustment.

City Council has adopted this ordinance in light of the following:

  • The Bay Area in general, and Menlo Park in particular, are becoming increasingly expensive places to live and work.
  • Payment of a minimum wage advances the interests of the City as a whole by creating jobs that keep workers and their families out of poverty.
  • A minimum wage will enable a worker to meet basic needs and avoid economic hardship. 
  • The local minimum wage ordinance (Ordinance No. 1058) is intended to improve the quality of services provided in the City to the public by reducing high turnover, absenteeism and instability in the workplace.

On Sept. 24, 2019, the City Council adopted Ordinance No. 1058, codified as MPMC Chapter 5.76, establishing a local minimum wage of $15.00 for each hour worked within the City of Menlo Park, effective Jan. 1, 2020.

  • Jan. 1, 2021, local minimum wage increased by increased by 1.6% CPI-W to $15.25 change
  • Jan. 1, 2022, local minimum wage increased by 3% maximum (CPI-W change 4.9%) to $15.75
  • Jan. 1, 2023, local minimum wage increased by 3% maximum (CPI-W change 6.0%) to $16.20

For more information, visit the Oct. 10 City Council meeting agenda(PDF, 20MB)