Seattle’s minimum wage will rise to $22.14 an hour on Jan. 1, 2027, continuing an annual inflation adjustment that has pushed the city’s wage floor well beyond the $15 benchmark established when Seattle adopted its landmark minimum wage law more than a decade ago.
For workers, the annual increases are intended to keep the minimum wage from losing purchasing power as prices rise. For small business owners, particularly those in labor-intensive industries such as restaurants and retail, each increase adds to payroll costs alongside rent, insurance, utilities, food and other expenses.
That tension has kept Seattle’s minimum wage at the center of an ongoing debate over how the city can protect workers’ earnings while small businesses manage the higher labor costs that come with those protections…