If you’re one of those folks whose job pays the minimum wage, then you’re fortunate to be living here in Washington state! Even better is the fact that your pay will go up next year!
Here are Five Fast Facts on the increasing minimum wage:
- 🥱 That Was Soooo 2023 - Currently, the state’s minimum wage is $15.74 per hour. It’s the highest state-level minimum in the country. Now if we could just do something about the cost of living…
- 📈 Getting A Boost - Starting in 2024, the minimum wage will go up by 54 cents to $16.28 per hour, to provide a roughly 3.4% cost of living adjustment based on the Consumer Price Index. It’s not quite the rate of inflation, but we’ll take any increases we can get, right?
- 🗺️ Location, Location, Location - Some cities pay even higher than the state minimum. Seattle is $18.69 per hour, Tukwila is $18.99, and SeaTac is $19.06. That was the highest in the nation until West Hollywood, CA had a case of the one-ups and went to $19.08 this summer.
- ✌️ Exceedingly High - This state minimum wage is more than double the federal requirement of $7.25 per hour, which was set clear back in 2009. Ah, pre-COVID…such lovely times!
- 🧒 Young’uns Get A…Discount? - There’s an interesting provision in Washington state that workers aged 14-15 only have to be paid 85% of the minimum wage, which will be around $13.84 per hour after the increase next year. But then how will they pay for their Yeezys and Starbucks?!
🔥Bottom line: We always love to see Paychecks get bigger here! But don’t go nuts. Even at the increased 2024 rate, we’re looking at about $34k per year for a full time worker. You probably shouldn’t go on a spree at your local Louis Vuitton store just yet.
What do you think about the increased minimum wage?
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