Washington MINIMUM WAGES

Washington State Minimum Wage for 2026

Effective January 1, 2025, the minimum wage rates of Washington is $16.66 per hour for workers aged 16 and above. This reflects a 2.35% increase from the previous 2024 rates of $16.28 per hour.

The minimum wage rates for workers aged between 14 to 16 are $14.16 per hour in 2025. Few states of Washington have higher minimum wages than the state rate.

The state law also mandates employers to pay overtime at 1.5 times the regular hourly rates for working beyond 40 hours a week, consistent with state laws.

Employers must comply with minimum wage laws to avoid strict penalties.

Minimum Wages in Washington Cities

The entire state of Washington has the minimum wage rate of $16.28 per hour for tipped and non-tipped employees, barring Seattle.

Here is a table of the minimum wage rates applicable to the top 30 cities of Washington: 

Threshold For Employees Exempt

Effective January 1, 2025, Washington State updated the minimum salary thresholds for exempt employees, which apply to executive, administrative, professional, and computer professional employees.

Salary Threshold by Employer Size

• Small Employers (1 to 50 employees): Minimum salary threshold is $1,332.80 per week or $69,305.60 annually.
• Large Employers (51 or more employees): Minimum salary threshold is $1,499.40 per week or $77,968.80 annually.
• Computer professionals must earn at least $58.31 per hour to qualify as exempt, regardless of employer size.

Salary thresholds are indexed annually to the Consumer Price Index and will continue to increase at 2.5 times till 2028.

Overtime Rules  

Some important points worth mentioning about Washington’s overtime rules: 

• The minimum exemption salary threshold will increase up to 2.5 times the state minimum wage by 2028. 
• One job duties test will replace the other two, and it will be closer to the federal requirements. 
• Small employers will have a phase-in schedule that is progressive relative to larger employers, those with 51 or more employees. 
• The minimum wage must be recomputed annually as indexed by the Consumer Price Index. 

Historical Data of Washington Minimum Wages 

The minimum wage history in Washington started back in 1913 when the state established its very first minimum wage law mainly targeting women and minors.  

As the years passed, the minimum wage had to be constantly increased in order to catch up with the high living cost in Washington, making it the second highest in the country today.  

In 2016, Washington implemented a plan to gradually increase the minimum wage to $13.50 by 2020, with annual adjustments based on the Consumer Price Index. In recent years, the state has made significant strides in protecting workers’ rights and implementing measures that ensure fair compensation.  

Here is a table of the minimum wage rates between 1968 and 2023: 

* – Under the FLSA, the two rates shown in 1968, 1970, and 1976 reflect the former multiple-track minimum wage system in effect from 1961 to 1978.

Source: https://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/state/minimum-wage/history

Exemptions in Minimum Wages of Washington 

All workers in Washington have the right to minimum wages, overtime, and paid sick leave along with protection from retaliation. However, state regulations allow for exemptions from these requirements for certain employees. 

Under the Washington State Minimum Wage Act, the list of exempted employees or workers: 

• Executive employees: Workers who primarily manage the enterprise or a department, supervising at least two other employees and exercising considerable discretion. 
• Administrative employees: These employees perform non-manual work directly related to business operations, requiring discretion in matters of significance. They must be salaried, meeting a threshold set by the state. 
• White-collar workers: Individuals in positions requiring advanced knowledge, typically acquired through higher education, such as doctors, lawyers, and engineers. They, too, must be salaried at a certain level. 
• Computer professionals: This includes computer systems analysts, programmers, and software engineers who perform specific skilled computer-related work and earn a salary or hourly wage above a specified rate. 
• Outside sales employees: Salespersons whose primary duty is making sales away from the employer’s place of business, exempt from minimum wage and overtime requirements. 
• Highly compensated employees: Federal law includes an exemption for workers earning over $107,432 annually, performing at least one executive, administrative, or professional duty. However, this is not included in Washington State’s exemption policies.