San Diego Community College District Implements $30 per Hour Minimum Wage to Align with Local Living Costs”
Living in San Diego has always been expensive, particularly when it comes to essential costs such as rent, utilities, and other necessities. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Living Wage Calculator, a tool estimating the income needed to sustain a family in various U.S. cities, reveals that a family of four with two working adults must earn at least $30.58 per hour to meet basic living expenses in San Diego.
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San Diego
Starting January 1, the San Diego Community College District (SDCCD) took a significant step to align its minimum wage with the local cost of living. The minimum wage for full-time SDCCD employees rose from $22.13 to $30.58 per hour. This increase surpasses the minimum wage of any other community college district in the region by $12.
Part-time or temporary employees at SDCCD also experienced a raise in their minimum wage, increasing from $16.30 to $22.31 per hour. This adjustment corresponds to the amount a single adult with no children needs to cover living costs in San Diego, as indicated by MIT’s Living Wage Calculator. The city of San Diego’s minimum wage is currently $16.85.
This substantial wage hike at SDCCD is part of an effort to address the escalating cost of living in the city. The adjustment is particularly crucial for employees struggling to meet their basic needs, such as housing and groceries. Notably, the move aims to enhance equity and accessibility to the middle class, aligning with the district’s commitment to these values.
Chancellor Greg Smith, who has a long history of considering minimum wage and labor issues, initiated discussions about raising wages during an executive meeting. Inspired by a Target commercial advertising a starting wage of $20 per hour, City College President Ricky Shabazz expressed a desire to offer all full-time employees $22 per hour. The SDCCD quietly implemented this change last year, but with California’s impending increase of the minimum wage for food service workers to $20 per hour, Smith sought to stay competitive.
By consulting MIT’s Living Wage Calculator, which indicated a living wage of $30.85 per hour in San Diego, Smith identified an opportunity to further increase wages. The 2023-24 state budget’s 8.2 percent cost-of-living adjustment for schools and community colleges provided a unique moment to capitalize on increased base revenue. Calculations suggested that the wage increases would cost about $1.5 million in the first year, with decreasing costs in subsequent years.
To make this wage increase possible, the district collaborated with its unions. Employees already earning above the new minimum wage agreed to take a smaller raise, redirecting funds to enhance the pay of the lowest-paid workers. The overall objective is to acknowledge the high cost of living in San Diego, support employees in affording to live where they work, and set an example for other employers to consider similar wage adjustments. Chancellor Smith envisions SDCCD acting as a disruptor, encouraging positive changes in wage policies across various sectors in the region.
