Washington Lawmakers Let Rents Rise Three Times Faster Than Minimum Wage

Washington State boasts the highest state-level minimum wage in the nation, but that doesn’t mean it's keeping up with the cost of living. Minimum wage workers will see a 2.8% bump next year. Meanwhile, the State will allow their landlords to hike rents up to 9.638%. That means minimum wage workers paychecks are rising three times slower than their housing costs could. If it wasn’t already clear, Washington lawmakers have built a system where bosses and landlords come out ahead — while workers and renters are left falling behind.

On Tuesday, the Washington State Department of Labor & Industries (L&I) announced the new minimum wage for 2026: $17.13 minimum wage, a 2.8% increase from 2025’s $16.66 minimum wage. According to a press release, L&I calculates minimum wage increases by finding the percent change between the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) from August of the previous year and August of the current year.

Of course Washington workers have it better than workers in states subject to the federal minimum wage, an utterly pathetic $7.25, a rate that hasn’t budged since 2009. But Washington workers certainly don’t have as sweet of a deal as their landlords. 

Earlier this year, the Washington State Legislature passed a long-awaited, hard-fought rent stabilization bill. However, the State provided many exemptions and set the bar much higher than many renters advocates thought would be fair: 7% plus inflation, with an absolute cap at 10%. The state announced the 2026 cap a few months ago: 9.683%, to account for that 7% gift from lawmakers and the 2.683% increase in the Consumer Price Index, a broader, but usually similar economic lens. 

So let’s run some quick, back-of-the napkin math. A minimum wage worker in 2025 who works 40 hours a week is taking home a little less than $1,220 after taxes per two-week pay period and about $31,720 annually. But they rent the average one bedroom apartment, which in Washington rings up at about $1,830 a month, or $21,960 annually. That means about 69% of that workers’ take home pay will go straight to their landlord. 

Now imagine 2026, that worker gets the mandated 2.8% pay bump. Their two-week pay period check comes out to $1,250 and their annual take home pay looks more like $32,500. But their landlord (if they are even subject to the narrow rent stabilization law) also raises their rent at the highest legal rate of 9.683%, bringing their average one bedroom cost to $2,007, or $24,086 annually. Now 74% of that minimum wage workers take home pay goes into their landlord’s pocket. 

That’s an extreme example as many of the expensive jurisdictions that drive up the statewide average apartment cost have higher minimum wages and many minimum wage workers would probably hunt for a cheaper apartment or live with roommates to lighten their load. 

So let’s get a little more specific and realistic. Imagine a Seattle minimum wage worker. In 2025, they make $20.76 for a two week take-home of $1,489 and $38,714 a year. The cheapest available apartment on HotPads Thursday morning, a studio in Chinatown, was listed for $1,017 a month, which means it would cost the renter $12,204 annually. That means 31% of the income of the absolute most frugal Seattle renter and minimum wage worker still goes to their landlord. 

In 2026, that worker will make $21.30 — $1,526 every two weeks, $39,676. If the landlord of that Chinatown studio raises rent at the maximum legal rate, that $1,017 studio becomes a $1115 studio, costing 13,385 annually. So in 2026, almost 34% of their take home pay goes to their landlord. 

And in both examples, year after year, that rate can keep creeping up because the state legislature was more generous with landlords than they would ever be to workers.