SeaTac has one of the highest minimum wages in the country — $19.06 for some workers. Seattle and Tukwila’s minimum wage is close, at just under $19 an hour. And there’s a group hoping to raise the minimum wage in Renton through a ballot initiative in the fall. But workers in unincorporated King County are making $15.74 an hour — Washington state's minimum wage.
King County Councilmember Girmay Zahilay wants to change that. He’s calling for a minimum wage of $18.99 in places like Skyway, where he grew up.
"It's something that's very close to my heart as somebody who was the child of a single mother who had to work three minimum wage jobs at a time to make ends meet. And so this is something that I'm very passionate about," Zahilay said in a recent interview.
Zahilay said the state's current minimum wage isn't enough for most people living in King County.
"If you are making that much, it will take you 103 hours each week to afford a modest one bedroom … And so it's clearly not enough. We need to boost the minimum wage to just give people in unincorporated King County a fighting chance to be able to afford their basic needs," Zahilay said, citing 2023 data from the National Low Income Housing Coalition.
Zahilay said the businesses he’s talked to so far about the proposal seem open to learning more. The legislation would give small businesses time to adjust to the new minimum wage. At the beginning, those with 15 employees or less would pay workers the minimum wage, minus three dollars. Employers with less than 500 workers would pay two dollars less than the minimum.
Zahilay is hoping the King County Council can vote on the legislation before the end of the year. The new minimum wage would then be adjusted annually based on inflation.
The federal minimum wage is currently $7.25 per hour. There is an estimated 250,00 people living in unincorporated King County.
