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California security guard minimum wage 2027: pay floors by city for your guard budget
California’s minimum wage climbs to $17.40 an hour on January 1, 2027, and most Peninsula and South Bay cities raise their own, higher floor on the same day. This tracker ranks every pay floor in our service area by its 2027 rate, so you can see where each guard post starts before your security budget is locked.
2027 guard pay floors, highest first
Last checked November 5, 2026. Every rate below comes from the state’s, county’s or city’s own official page, linked in the first column. This tracker is updated after the January and July changes. A rate the city has not published yet reads NOT YET ANNOUNCED or PENDING, never a guess.
| Jurisdiction | 2026 rate | 2027 rate | 2027 change takes effect | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Belmont | $18.95 | $19.60 | Jan 1, 2027 | Announced |
| Redwood City | $18.65 | $19.30 | Jan 1, 2027 | Announced |
| Cupertino | $18.70 | $19.25 | Jan 1, 2027 | Announced |
| Los Altos | $18.70 | $19.25 | Jan 1, 2027 | Announced |
| Palo Alto | $18.70 | $19.25 | Jan 1, 2027 | Announced |
| San Mateo (city) | $18.60 | $19.25 | Jan 1, 2027 | Announced |
| San Jose | $18.45 | $19.00 | Jan 1, 2027 | Announced |
| South San Francisco | $18.15 | $18.75 | Jan 1, 2027 | Announced |
| Unincorporated San Mateo County | $17.95 | $18.58 | Jan 1, 2027 | Announced |
| Half Moon Bay | $17.91 | $18.52 | Jan 1, 2027 | Announced |
| Burlingame | $17.86 | $18.47 | Jan 1, 2027 | Announced |
| Foster City | $17.85 | $18.36 | Jan 1, 2027 | Announced |
| San Carlos | $17.75 | $18.35 | Jan 1, 2027 | Announced |
| Daly City | $17.50 | $18.10 | Jan 1, 2027 | Announced |
| California statewide | $16.90 | $17.40 | Jan 1, 2027 | Announced |
| Menlo Park | $17.55 | PENDING | Jan 1, 2027 | Pending city council approval |
| East Palo Alto | $17.90 | NOT YET ANNOUNCED | Jan 1, 2027 | Not yet announced |
| San Francisco | $19.61 (from Jul 1, 2026) | NOT YET ANNOUNCED | Jul 1, 2027 | Not yet announced; due spring 2027 |
The rule behind the table is simple: an employer pays whichever is highest of the state, city or county rate where the work happens. A guard standing a post in Redwood City is paid from the Redwood City floor, not the state one.
Posts where the state rate applies
Monterey and Santa Cruz counties have no city or county general minimum wage ordinance in the UC Berkeley Labor Center’s inventory, so guard posts in Salinas, Monterey, Watsonville and Santa Cruz follow the state rate: $16.90 today and $17.40 from January 1, 2027. Santa Clara County’s own wage chart lists Gilroy, Morgan Hill and Saratoga as based on the state minimum wage as well.
For a city that does not appear on this page, check the city’s own website before you budget. Local ordinances change, and the city page is the record that counts.
What a higher floor means for a guard post rate
The floor sets the lowest hourly pay any officer at that post can receive. In 2027 a Belmont post starts from $19.60 while a Salinas post starts from $17.40, a gap of $2.20 for every guard-hour before payroll taxes, insurance, supervision and the rest of what a contract hourly rate covers.
Market pay for guards already runs above these floors. The Bureau of Labor Statistics put the median California security guard wage at $20.79 an hour in May 2025, higher than every 2027 rate in the table. The floors still matter for entry-level posts and for comparing what the same schedule costs in two cities.
To see how hours and posts add up to a monthly figure, try the security guard cost calculator, and read the security guard rates guide for what else moves a post rate.
Hospital and clinic posts follow a separate health care scale
California’s health care worker minimum wage, Labor Code section 1182.14, covers employees doing guard work at a covered health care facility. A contract officer falls under it when the facility counts as a joint employer or when the officer spends more than half of the workweek at that facility. Facilities owned by the State of California are excluded.
The rate depends on the facility’s category in the Department of Industrial Relations FAQ. Large systems with 10,000 or more full-time staff, dialysis clinics and facilities run by a county of more than 5 million people sit at $25 an hour from July 1, 2026 through December 31, 2027, and the all-other-covered-facilities category sits at $23 from July 1, 2026 through June 30, 2028. Confirm your facility’s category with DIR’s FAQ before you budget a hospital or healthcare security post.
Budgeting across the January and July changes
Most floors in the table move on January 1. San Francisco moves on July 1, and its 2027 figure is due in spring 2027. Between January 1 and June 30, 2027, the state’s $17.40 stays below San Francisco’s current $19.61, so the city rate keeps applying through that window. A budget year that runs July to June crosses both dates, so plan it in two halves:
- Price January through June at the 2027 floor for Peninsula and South Bay posts.
- Carry San Francisco posts at $19.61 until July 1, 2027, then update the line once the city posts its new rate.
- Hold a placeholder for Menlo Park and East Palo Alto until their 2027 rates are final.
- Set Monterey Bay and Santa Cruz County posts at the state’s $17.40 from January 1.
Vantage contracts run month to month, so post hours and patrol visits can be reshaped as a budget changes mid-year. Send your post locations and hours through our quote request, and the on-site security review comes free with it.
Sources
- City and county rates: each jurisdiction’s official minimum wage page, linked in the table (read November 5, 2026)
- California Department of Industrial Relations, release 2026-66 (August 13, 2026): 2026 and 2027 state rates
- UC Berkeley Labor Center, inventory of city and county minimum wage ordinances
- County of Santa Clara minimum wage chart
- DIR Health Care Worker Minimum Wage FAQ
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025: security guards (SOC 33-9032)
A few useful answers
Common questions
What is the California minimum wage in 2027?
$17.40 an hour for every employer size, starting January 1, 2027, up from $16.90. The Department of Industrial Relations announced it after the Department of Finance certified the inflation adjustment on July 31, 2026.
Which city in our service area has the highest 2027 guard pay floor?
Among the 2027 rates already announced in this tracker, Belmont is highest at $19.60 an hour. San Francisco’s current $19.61 stays in force until July 1, 2027, when its next rate takes over.
Do security guards earn more than the minimum wage?
Half of California’s security guards earned more than $20.79 an hour in May 2025, the BLS median, and that figure sits above every 2027 floor on this page. The local floor still sets the least any guard post in that city can pay.
Does a guard post in Salinas or Santa Cruz follow a city minimum wage?
No. Monterey and Santa Cruz counties have no local general minimum wage ordinance in the UC Berkeley Labor Center’s inventory, so posts there follow the state rate of $17.40 from January 1, 2027.
When will San Francisco publish its 2027 minimum wage?
San Francisco adjusts each July 1 by inflation, and its 2027 figure is due in spring 2027. Until then the $19.61 rate set on July 1, 2026 applies, and this tracker adds the new rate once the city posts it.