by Jerry Cornfield, Washington State Standard
October 1, 2026
Washington’s minimum wage workers will get a 3.5% pay bump in 2027.
The state’s minimum wage will climb to $17.73 an hour starting Jan. 1, the state Department of Labor and Industries announced this week.
That’s a 60-cent increase from the current hourly rate of $17.13, which is the highest of any state in the nation and more than double the federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour.
State law requires the Department of Labor and Industries to adjust the minimum wage annually for inflation. It does so by using the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers. Agency staff compared the index figures from August of last year with August of this year.
Cities and counties can set minimum wages above the state threshold. Seattle’s rate, for example, will be $22.14 an hour next year. SeaTac, Tukwila, Renton, Bellingham, Everett, Burien and unincorporated King County also will have minimum wage rates higher than the state’s.
In Washington, the wage law applies to workers age 16 and older. Employers can pay 85% of the minimum rate to 14- and 15-year-old employees. Next year, those younger workers will get a 51-cent increase to $15.07 an hour.
Drivers for transportation network companies like Lyft and Uber will get a pay bump beginning Jan. 1, too. Minimum pay for drivers was part of a 2022 state law.
For trips within Seattle, drivers will earn 72 cents per passenger platform minute and $1.69 per passenger platform mile, or $6.34 per trip, whichever is greater, according to the state.
For trips outside of Seattle, drivers will earn 41 cents per passenger platform minute and $1.43 per passenger platform mile, or $3.68 per trip, whichever is greater.
Also in January, more salaried employees could become eligible for overtime pay. Washington law sets minimum salary thresholds below which workers must be paid time-and-a-half for overtime hours.
Next year, to be exempt from overtime, a worker in a company with 51 or more employees must be paid at least two-and-a-half times the state minimum wage in a 40-hour work week. That’s $1,773 a week or $92,196 a year. Currently, the threshold is $1,541 a week or at least $80,168.
Firms with up to 50 workers must pay at least two-and-a-quarter times the minimum wage to any workers they want to be exempt from overtime requirements. That works out to at least $1,595 a week or $82,976 a year.
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