Washington’s Living Wage: What It Is and How It’s Set

Washington’s Living Wage: What It Is and How It’s Set

This three-part series explains how communities, employers, and policymakers can use clear, data-driven tools to discuss affordability and design better programs in Washington. Each article breaks down the core idea in plain language, shows how it is calculated, and provides real-world examples of how it guides decisions on housing, wages, and local investment. Today’s focus is on calculating Washington’s living wage. By the end, you will know what the metric means, why it varies by place and family size, and how it can help leaders match resources to need so families and businesses can thrive.

A living wage is the hourly pay a full-time worker needs to cover their basic needs in the place they live. The MIT Living Wage Calculator builds this number from the ground up using local costs for eight essentials and then adds income and payroll taxes. It reports figures for 12 family types and updates them on an annual basis. In short, it estimates what it really takes to get by without public assistance, not a comfort budget or a savings plan.

Here is how MIT calculates it. First, the model totals the annual costs of food, childcare, health care, housing, transportation, Internet and mobile, civic engagement, and other necessities, all adjusted to recent prices. It then estimates federal and state income and payroll taxes using the NBER TAXSIM model and adds those taxes to the family budget. Next, it is divided by the number of working adults in the household. Finally, it converts that annual amount to an hourly rate by assuming 2,080 work hours per year.

In Washington State, the statewide living wage for a single adult working full-time is $26.36 per hour. Because children incur high costs, a single adult with one child would need $47.96 per hour. In a two-adult household with both adults working and no children, each adult would need $17.96 per hour to meet the same basic standards. These statewide figures average county data; therefore, local numbers will vary. MIT publishes county and metro breakouts, so you can check places like King County or the Tri-Cities specifically.

This helps to compare the living wage with the legal wage floors. Washington’s state minimum wage in 2025 is $16.66 per hour, and some cities require higher wages. Seattle’s city minimum is higher, and several other jurisdictions have set their own rates. These laws set the lowest pay employers may legally offer, while the living wage is a benchmark of what it costs to meet basic needs of living. The gap between the two shows how far a minimum wage paycheck may fall short of a basic needs budget in a given location.

Governments use living wage estimates in various ways. Some counties and cities have incorporated living wage rules into their purchasing and contracting processes. For example, King County requires certain contractors to pay a county-set living wage that is adjusted over time. Living wage data also inform impact statements and policy debates about minimum wage changes, childcare support, housing policy, and transportation planning, as these are the cost drivers in the model. Policymakers and analysts use the calculator to test how proposed policies might narrow the gap between actual pay and basic costs.

Economic development and workforce programs lean on the same numbers. Agencies compare typical local wages by occupation with the living wage to determine which jobs reach self-sufficiency and which do not. This lens can guide training priorities, employer outreach, and incentives that aim to create higher-quality jobs. It can also flag “benefits cliffs” when small pay increases cause families to lose support but still do not reach a living wage.

In practice, the MIT calculator is a clear and transparent way to discuss affordability. It does not include savings, debt repayment, or vacations, and assumes full-time year-round work. Still, it provides a consistent baseline that communities, employers, and lawmakers can use to compare places and track whether paychecks are keeping up with the real cost of living. In many household types, the living wage is above the statewide minimum; therefore, policies that reduce major costs or raise take-home pay will have the biggest impact on family self-sufficiency.
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Bottom line: The living wage is a cost-based target and not a legal rule. MIT’s method adds local basic expenses and layers of taxes and converts the result to an hourly rate. In Washington, this translates to approximately $26 per hour for a single adult statewide, with increased needs for parents and variations by county. Leaders use this benchmark to shape contracts, test policy ideas, and evaluate job quality so that families can meet their basic needs where they live. 

​References

• MIT Living Wage Calculator. “What is a living wage and how is it estimated?” Living Wage Calculator
• MIT Living Wage Calculator. “Living Wage Calculation for Washington.” Living Wage Calculator
• MIT Living Wage Calculator. “Frequently Asked Questions.” Living Wage Calculator
• MIT Living Wage Calculator. “Counties and Metropolitan Statistical Areas in Washington.” Living Wage Calculator
• National Bureau of Economic Research. “TAXSIM.” NBER
• Washington State Department of Labor & Industries. “Minimum wage.” Washington L&I
• Washington State Department of Labor & Industries. “Local minimum wage rates.” Washington L&I
• City of Seattle, Office of Labor Standards. “Minimum Wage Ordinance.” Seattle
• King County, WA. “Living wage ordinance.” King County
• King County, WA. “Rules Implementing Living Wage Ordinance 17909 (CON 7-21-PR).” King County
• Washington State Department of Labor & Industries. “Washington’s minimum wage going up to $16.66 per hour in 2025” (News release 24-24). Washington L&I

This article was written with contributions from AI to organize the information and improve its readability.