WA state minimum wage to increase Jan. 1
TUMWATER – Effective Jan. 1, Washington state’s minimum wage for 2026 will rise to $17.13 per hour, a 2.8% increase from the current rate of $16.66 per hour.
Under state law, the rate hike reflects an annual cost-of-living adjustment based on the federal Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers, according to the Washington Department of Labor and Industries.
Washington’s current minimum wage of $16.66 is the highest in the nation and more than double the federal rate of $7.25 an hour, L&I said. The department has also announced information regarding overtime, rest breaks, meal periods, and filing wage complaints.
Some Washington cities have even higher minimum wage rates which apply to employers within their jurisdiction. Seattle, for example, will increase to $21.30 in the new year. Others include SeaTac, Tukwila, Renton, Bellingham, Everett, Burien, and unincorporated King County.
For younger workers, employers in 2026 must pay 85% of minimum wage – or $14.56 per hour – to those ages 14-15.
L&I also uses the Consumer Price Index to calculate the minimum salary for certain “overtime exempt” employees who do not receive overtime pay. This affects executive, administrative, and professional workers, plus computer professionals.
In 2026, to be considered exempt from overtime pay, such salaried employees must earn at least 2.25 times the minimum wage – that is, $1,542 per week or $80,168 annually.
L&I is using an eight-year implementation schedule to incrementally raise how much more than the minimum wage a salaried employee must earn to be exempt from overtime. The increases will continue until 2028, when the threshold reaches 2.5 times the minimum wage. The pace of the increase varies based on the size of the employer.
The same rules allow exempt computer professionals to be paid an hourly rate rather than a minimum salary, L&I said. That hourly rate is 3.5 times the minimum wage, regardless of employer size, and will be $59.96 per hour in 2026.
