Seattle and Washington minimum wage 2027: $22.14 and $17.73, with no tip credit

A server in Seattle will cost you $885.60 for a 40-hour week in January before a single tip, and a dishwasher in Spokane $709.20. Washington has two rates that matter to restaurants, and neither lets tips count.

From 1 January 2027, Seattle's minimum wage is $22.14 an hour for every employer, whatever its size, and Washington's statewide minimum is $17.73, up 3.5%. Neither allows a tip credit, so servers and bartenders get the full rate plus their tips. A salaried manager needs at least $82,976.40 a year to be exempt from overtime at a business with up to 50 employees, or $92,196 above that. Last checked: 5 November 2026.

What is the Seattle minimum wage in 2027?

$22.14 an hour from 1 January 2027, up from $21.30, according to the Seattle Office of Labor Standards. Seattle's rate rises every 1 January in line with inflation, measured by the Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue consumer price index for wage earners.

Since 1 January 2025 there has been one rate for every employer:

• Size no longer matters. A 12-seat cafe and a 400-person group pay the same $22.14.
• Tips no longer count. The city says small employers can no longer count tips or payments toward an employee's medical benefit plan against the minimum. In Seattle, every server is paid $22.14 an hour before tips.

Seattle's secure scheduling ordinance is a separate law that reaches only large food service employers. Our predictive scheduling guide covers who it applies to.

What is the Washington state minimum wage in 2027?

$17.73 an hour from 1 January 2027, up 3.5% from $17.13. The Department of Labor & Industries announced it on 30 September 2026 (L&I release 26-17).

L&I is direct about tips: "Businesses may not use tips and service charges paid to an employee as part of an employee's hourly minimum wage" (L&I minimum wage page). Because you take no tip credit, you can still claim the federal FICA tip credit on reported tips; our tip credit guide shows how.

Other Washington cities set their own rate. L&I's local rate page lists Bellingham, Burien, Everett, Renton, SeaTac, Tukwila and unincorporated King County, as well as Seattle. On 5 November it still showed only 2026 figures for those places, so read the city's own page for 2027, and pay whichever rate is higher where the work is done.

What salary makes a Washington restaurant manager exempt in 2027?

Washington sets the exempt salary as a multiple of the state minimum wage, and the multiple now depends on how many people you employ:

• Up to 50 employees: 2.25 times the minimum, so $1,595.70 a week ($82,976.40 a year).
• 51 or more employees: the multiple rises to 2.5 times, so $1,773.00 a week ($92,196.00 a year).

Both figures come from L&I's 26-17 release. They are state levels and apply in Seattle too. Salary is only half the test: the manager's duties must also be genuinely managerial. Our restaurant manager salary guide sets out the duties test and a job description you can copy.

For a growing group, the 51st hire matters. Crossing 50 employees raises the floor for every salaried manager by $177.30 a week, or $9,219.60 a year each.

What else changes for Washington employers on 1 January 2027?

Three rules reach smaller employers from 1 January:

1. Pregnancy accommodation and paid lactation breaks for every employer. SB 5217, which "takes effect January 1, 2027", extends the pregnancy accommodation law to any employer of one or more people, and says time to express milk "must be paid to the employee at the employee's regular compensation rate" (SB 5217 as passed).
2. Paid Family and Medical Leave job protection reaches employers with 15 or more employees in 2027, for staff with 180 calendar days of service. It reaches 8 or more in 2028 (Paid Leave job protection).
3. Fair Chance Act amendments apply to employers with fewer than 15 employees from 1 January 2027. You may not ask about criminal history, or run a background check, until you have decided the applicant is otherwise qualified and made a conditional offer (Washington Attorney General).

Further out, L&I's release says state law will prohibit non-compete clauses starting in July 2027. Check with an adviser for your situation.

How does Seattle's $22.14 compare with what restaurant jobs pay?

We compared the 2025 average weekly wage per full-service restaurant job in Washington's biggest counties with one 40-hour week at the 2027 rate that applies there.

Our analysis of the BLS QCEW 2025 annual averages, full-service restaurants (NAICS 722511), private sector, downloaded 5 November 2026. Rows are the four largest counties by jobs; the 37 of 38 count and the median use every county with published data.

What it shows:

• Statewide, the average full-service job paid $719 a week in 2025, almost exactly one 40-hour week at the new $17.73. In 37 of the 38 counties with published data it paid less than that 40-hour week; the median county was about $600. King County is the only exception.
• The QCEW counts part-time jobs, and under most state laws its wages include tips. So the typical restaurant job is part-time, and the minimum wage is the going rate for most of the hourly payroll. A rise moves nearly every line.
• King County's $816 is below one 40-hour week at Seattle's $22.14. Average pay per job there rose 3.2% in 2025, while Seattle's 2027 rise is 3.9%, so in Seattle the floor is still gaining on the average.

What does the 2027 rise cost a Seattle restaurant?

Worked example: the same restaurant in two cities. 360 hourly hours a week paid at the minimum, front and back of house together.

The table leaves out staff paid just above the minimum. A Seattle cook on $23.00 is now 86 cents ahead of a new hire, not $1.70, and will notice.

To set a labor cap for January, divide this cost by weekly sales and decide how much the menu carries. Every other state that changes on 1 January is in our 2027 state-by-state table. Our guide to raising menu prices in 2027 works through which items to change.

A Washington 1 January 2027 checklist

WASHINGTON AND SEATTLE 1 JANUARY 2027 CHECKLIST

Location: [ ] Seattle  [ ] Other city with its own rate: ________
          [ ] Rest of Washington

[ ] Hourly rate for every adult employee at least:
    $22.14 (Seattle) / $17.73 (state) / city rate $______
[ ] Workers aged 14 and 15: at least $15.07 outside cities
    with their own rate (check the city page in Seattle)
[ ] No tips or service charges counted toward any wage
[ ] Staff just above the minimum reviewed, decision recorded
[ ] Employee count checked: 50 or fewer / 51 or more
[ ] Exempt managers paid at least $1,595.70 a week (50 or fewer)
    or $1,773.00 a week (51 or more), and duties are managerial
[ ] Pregnancy accommodation and paid lactation break policy
    written for all staff (SB 5217, any employer size)
[ ] 15+ employees: Paid Leave job protection for staff with
    180 days' service
[ ] Fewer than 15 employees: hiring forms and ads checked for
    criminal history questions before a conditional offer
[ ] New state and city posters on the wall
[ ] Menu prices reviewed for the items that carry the cost

Can TablePort handle this for you?

TablePort's Staff Management add-on does not have a Washington preset, but you can set the limits that matter in plain words.

1. Type your rules into the autopilot as you would brief a manager, such as maximum hours per person or a weekly labor cap, and they become rules for the draft schedule.
2. Check labor as a share of forecast sales against your target for each January day in the planner before you publish.
3. Staff clock in on the till with a PIN, and attendance flags late starts and missed clock-outs against the schedule.

One honest limit: there is no Washington or Seattle preset, so state break and scheduling rules are yours to set, and TablePort does not set pay, follow wage changes or run payroll. See the staff rota page.