San Diego County follows California's statewide workers comp rules, with two local differences: the City of San Diego sets its own minimum wage above the state's, which raises restaurant payroll inside city limits, and plumbers' typical pay here sits just under California's plumbing wage line. The cities listed run from Oceanside down to Imperial Beach, each with its ZIP codes.
San Diego contractors and restaurants answer to the same California requirements as the rest of the state. Two local facts change the answer: the city's own minimum wage, and where local trade pay falls against the wage lines in the table below.
| Trade or Role | Median Hourly Pay | Wage Line for the Classification | Where Typical Pay Sits |
|---|---|---|---|
| Electricians | $36.62 | $40.00 | Below the line |
| Plumbers and pipefitters | $34.86 | $35.00 | Below the line |
| Carpenters | $35.19 | $46.00 | Below the line |
| Drywall installers | $36.68 | $45.00 | Below the line |
| Painters | $26.91 | $36.00 | Below the line |
| Cement masons | $31.98 | $36.00 | Below the line |
| Equipment operators (excavation) | $40.23 | $45.00 | Below the line |
| Construction laborers | $27.49 | No wage split | — |
| Restaurant cooks | $22.33 | No wage split | — |
| Servers | $17.23 | No wage split | — |
| Bartenders | $17.43 | No wage split | — |
Every trade's median here falls short of its line, but not by the same distance. Plumbers sit just under the plumbing line, closer than any other trade in the table, and electricians are within reach of theirs. The drywall median is higher here than in Los Angeles or the Inland Empire, though still well below the wallboard line, while painters and carpenters sit furthest below theirs. Where a median sits just under a line, many workers in that trade are paid on either side of it, so a modest raise can move a person's payroll into the higher-wage classification. Each person's classification depends on duties, hourly records and the carrier's determination; see California dual wage classes payroll records for what to keep, and the workers comp class code lookup for how classifications work.
Inside city limits, the City of San Diego's own minimum wage, higher than the state's, reaches every worker who puts in two or more hours there in a week, and the city has announced its next increase for January. For a restaurant in the Gaslamp Quarter or Little Italy, each increase lifts the payroll that workers comp premium is figured on, even with no change in staff. Chula Vista, Oceanside and the county's other cities sit outside the city's ordinance, so a restaurant group with locations on both sides of the city line may be working with two wage floors. Server tips are not part of California workers comp payroll; meals and overtime are explained in restaurant workers comp payroll by role.
San Diego County is a single-county metro area, San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad. The City of San Diego covers dozens of ZIP codes by itself, from the beach communities to the inland neighborhoods. North County holds Oceanside, Carlsbad, Vista, San Marcos, Encinitas and Escondido, with Poway further inland; El Cajon, La Mesa and Santee make up East County; and Chula Vista, National City, Coronado and Imperial Beach lie to the south. Jobs in unincorporated communities go through the county's building division rather than a city.
Two public projects lead the local construction picture. The airport authority has opened the first phase of the new Terminal 1 at San Diego International Airport, with more gates still to be built, and the City's Pure Water program is building its North City purification facility in University City. Airport and water work typically draws concrete, electrical, plumbing and mechanical subcontractors, and a schedule that runs for years can carry one crew's payroll across several policy terms.
Downtown, the Gaslamp Quarter, with more than a hundred restaurants, pubs and clubs in its historic blocks, and Little Italy's Kettner Boulevard restaurant row are two of the area's main dining districts. We have no role in these projects or districts; they are listed to show the kind of work the area holds.
Illustrative scenario
Illustrative only. A restaurant on Kettner Boulevard has twelve kitchen and floor staff, several of them paid the city's minimum wage. When the city's next increase takes effect in January, those hourly rates rise, and so does the payroll the owner reports for workers comp, though the menu, hours and headcount stay the same. The tips servers receive stay out of that payroll. If the owner opened a second location in Chula Vista, its wage floor would follow that city's rule or the state's, so the two locations' payroll could grow at different speeds. Estimating the year's payroll with the January increase built in makes a large audit adjustment less likely.
Restaurant owners can start with California restaurant workers comp cost, and brewery owners with workers comp for breweries in California. For the trades in the table, plumbers can see what moves plumbing workers comp cost, and electricians what drives electrician workers comp cost. The other pages are California framing workers compensation, California drywall workers comp cost, California painting workers compensation, California concrete workers compensation and California excavation workers comp insurance. Mechanical subs on airport and water work can read workers comp for HVAC contractors in California, and general contractors workers comp for general contractors in California.
Rules that hold across the state, for kitchens and job sites alike, sit on California restaurant workers comp rules. Other California metro pages: Los Angeles restaurant workers comp, workers comp in Orange County, Inland Empire workers comp insurance, Sacramento restaurant workers comp, workers comp in Bay Area and Fresno restaurant workers comp. For your own crew or staff, start a restaurant workers comp quote.
Send your trade, state and payroll, and a broker reviews the request. If you would rather talk first, leave a number.
Swipe or use the arrows for every answer.
Yes, in principle: the city's wage floor reaches construction workers too, once they put in two or more hours a week within city limits. Typical trade pay in the table already sits well above it, though, so it rarely changes a contractor's payroll. Restaurants, where many staff are paid at or near the minimum, feel it far more.
Each plumber's regular hourly rate is compared with the line. Payroll for those below it typically goes to the lower-wage plumbing classification and payroll for those at or above it to the higher-wage one. A raise during the policy term can move a person's payroll for the hours after the raise date, so record that date. The carrier makes the final determination.
The city's ordinance follows where the work happens. A Chula Vista or Oceanside location follows its own city's rule if it has one, or the state's. An employee who also spends two or more hours a week working within San Diego city limits, at a catering job for example, may come under the city's rate for that time. Check with the city before you set pay.
Closer than in Los Angeles or the Inland Empire, since the local drywall median is higher, but still well below California's wallboard line. A crew paid at typical local rates would often report in the lower-wage wallboard classification, while a foreman paid over it could land on the higher-wage side, as the carrier determines.
4 official sources, every one checked
Reviewed by David Gleason, Principal, on .
Next Level Experience. Insurance Done Right.
San Diego workers comp, from the city wage floor to plumbers at the line.
Type a question or topic, like class codes or plumbers. Results appear as you type.
