Bay Area Raises Are Higher Than SoCal For First Time In Years: Report

CALIFORNIA — Wage hikes in the Bay Area for early 2024 were higher than those in Southern California, according to a report this week, a first in almost four years.

During 2024’s first quarter, Bay Area wages rose 4.7 percent year-over-year compared to a 4.5 percent annual spike in Southern California, according to Southern California News Group business columnist Jonathan Lansner. The last such occurrence was in the summer of 2020, he reported.

This year’s early wage growth numbers are a departure from even longer-term trends, as throughout the last 36 quarters (or nine years), raises in Southern California averaged 4.2 percent per year compared to 3.4 percent annually both in the Bay Area and nationally, according to Lansner.

California's two largest markets had a higher year-over-year pay increase in 2024's first quarter than the national rate of 4.3 percent, according to Lansner.

Looking ahead to the second quarter of 2024, the state’s mandatory $20 fast food minimum wage law, which took effect April 1, could lead to raises for as many as 5 million low-wage workers in fast food and adjacent industries, Bloomberg recently reported.

Read more from Lansner's report here.