A lot of Americans are getting a raise this holiday weekend.

Minimum wage hikes take effect Saturday in cities, counties and states across the country.

In San Francisco and Los Angeles, the increase is a step toward a minimum wage of $15 an hour -- the "living wage" threshold that workers' rights activists have been lobbying for since 2012.

The minimum wage goes up to $14 an hour in San Francisco on Saturday, on the way to $15 next year. In Los Angeles, it rises to between $10.50 and $12, depending on the size of the business. It will hit $15 for all businesses in 2021.

"It's a lot of help," Agadette Solis, a 21-year-old IHOP hostess in Los Angeles, told CNNMoney.

She joined the Fight for $15 movement last year, and says her wages help support her two siblings and her mother, who has another baby on the way.

"Even if it's $1 or $1.50, it's more money for me to save up or spend on my siblings," Solis said. Her pay will jump from $10.50 an hour to $12.

Other parts of the country have approved more modest bumps. Maryland will raise the minimum wage from $8.75 to $9.25 this weekend, then up to $10.10 next year.

The federal minimum wage is $7.25 an hour. Congress hasn't raised it in 10 years.

Here's where workers will get a boost on Saturday, and how much they'll start making.

Chicago: $11 an hour.

Cook County, Illinois: $10 an hour.

Emeryville, California: $15.20 an hour for businesses with more than 56 employees, and $14 an hour for businesses with 55 or fewer employees.

Flagstaff, Arizona: $10.50 an hour.

Los Angeles: $12 an hour for businesses with more than 26 employees, and $10.50 an hour for businesses with 25 or fewer employees.

Maryland: $9.25 an hour.

Milpitas, California: $11 an hour.

Montgomery County, Maryland: $11.50 an hour.

Oregon: $10.25 an hour. (Exception: $11.25 an hour in the Portland metro area, and $10 an hour in some counties designated as "non-urban.")

Pasadena, California: $12 an hour for businesses with 26 or more employees, and $10.50 an hour or businesses with 25 or fewer employees.

San Francisco: $14 an hour.

San Jose, California: $12 an hour.

San Leandro, California: $12 an hour.

Santa Monica, California: $12 an hour for businesses with 26 or more employees, and $10.50 an hour or businesses with 25 or fewer employees.

Washington, D.C.: $12.50 an hour.

Sources: Employment Policies Institute, National Employment Law Project, National Conference for State Legislatures and Business for a Fair Minimum Wage.