Why Seattle’s $22 Minimum Wage Hike Isn’t Beating Real Estate

Seattle's minimum wage will increase to $22.14 an hour in 2027, making it one of the highest minimum wages in the country—but it's still not enough for many to afford to live there.A Seattle minimum-wage employee working full time next year will make $46,051 annually—or $1,747 more than they do at the city's current minimum wage rate of $21.30 per hour.Washington state boasts some of the highest wage floors in the country. The overall state-level minimum wage is $17.13, but several cities across the state boast minimum wages $4 to $5 higher.In 2014, Seattle passed a minimum wage ordinance that guaranteed employees $11 an hour and instituted an automatic annual increase based on inflation. Today, the city's rate is almost three times the federal minimum wage of $7.25, which hasn't increased since 2009.But despite its relatively generous wage laws, Seattle remains a perilously difficult place for many low-income workers to find housing.Rachel Smith is the president of the nonprofit coalition, Washington Roundtable. Earlier this year, they collaborated with Kinetic Research on Prices We Pay, a report on affordability across the state."Housing is part of a broader affordability challen...