The “Fight for 15” has gone mainstream. When the first $15 minimum wage initiative went on the ballot in SeaTac in 2013, it won by just 77 votes, resulting in a massive pay rise for thousands of airport, hotel and transportation workers. This year, a similar minimum wage ordinance in Tukwila passed with more than 80 percent of the vote.
Along with SeaTac, Tukwila is projected to have the highest minimum wage in the country, at $19.06. That rate will apply to businesses with at least 15 employees. Seattle follows closely behind at $18.69 for firms with more than 500 employees and small businesses that don’t offer tips or health benefits. Washington will have the highest statewide minimum wage at $15.74, behind only the federal District of Columbia, which adjusted its rate to $16.10 for 2023.
The minimum wage adjustments are made on an annual basis, responding to changes in the cost of living calculated by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) for the Seattle-Tacoma-Bremerton metropolitan statistical area.
These increases in the minimum wage show significant gains made by the labor movement over the past decade. In 2013, no city in Washington had a higher minimum wage than the state mandate of $9.19. This totals up to a 71 percent pay raise.
According to the national BLS Consumer Price Index calculator, inflation has risen by 29 percent between October 2012 and October 2022, decreasing the real dollar impact of the minimum wage increase. Median gross rent has...
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