Washington’s state minimum wage will rise 3.5 percent to $17.73 an hour on Jan. 1, 2027, up from $17.13 this year. The state Department of Labor & Industries announced the new rate on Sept. 30, along with new pay floors for ride-hail drivers: at least $6.34 a trip within Seattle and $3.68 a trip everywhere else in the state.
The federal minimum stays at $7.25 an hour, so the Washington floor will sit $10.48 an hour above it. Workers who are 14 or 15 years old can be paid 85 percent of the state rate. That works out to $15.07 an hour, up 51 cents from $14.56.
What 60 cents an hour adds up to
The increase is 60 cents an hour. For someone working 40 hours a week all year, which is 2,080 hours, that is about $1,248 more in gross pay. A full-time year at the new minimum comes to $36,878.40 before taxes. At the federal $7.25, the same hours would pay $15,080…