SEATTLE — Washington state and several individual Puget Sound-area cities now offer some of the highest minimum wages in the nation now that rates have increased with the beginning of the new year.
On Jan. 1, 2024, the state minimum wage increased to $16.28 per hour, a 3.4% increase from last year. That's the highest minimum wage for a state in the nation, with only the District of Columbia offering a higher one at $17.
The state of Washington's minimum wage is tied to inflation. Each August, the Washington State Department of Labor and Industries (L&I) compares the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) to the one from the previous year, and then uses that increase to set a new minimum wage to take effect the following January. The CPI-W is a monthly measure of the average change over time in prices urban wage earners and clerical workers pay for a "market basket of consumer goods and services," according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Three Washington cities also top the list of having the highest minimum wages in the nation, with Tukwila coming out on top. Effective Jan. 1, the city's minimum wage sits at $20.29 an hour for large employers.
The city of Seattle comes in second on the list of all cities but offers the highest minimum wage of any major city in the country, requiring employers to pay at least $19.97 an hour. The city of SeaTac comes in third on the list of all cities in the nation with a minimum wage of $19.71 an hour.
Tukwila, SeaTac and Seattle use the same formula as L&I to determine the minimum wage increases each year.