The new wage starts in January
Washington's minimum wage will rise to $17.73 an hour January 1, 2027, the Department of Labor and Industries announced September 30. The increase is 3.5 percent, based on the statutory inflation calculation. It is not an immediate October raise or a replacement for higher local minimums.
The same announcement changes salary thresholds for specified overtime-exempt occupations. At employers with fifty-one or more employees, the multiplier becomes two and a half times the minimum wage, requiring at least $1,773 weekly, or $92,196 annually. Smaller employers remain at a lower multiplier for 2027.
Salary alone does not settle overtime rights
For employers with up to fifty workers, the announced threshold is $1,595.70 weekly, or $82,976.40 annually. Certain computer professionals can be paid under a separate hourly threshold of $62.06. These figures describe minimum compensation tests; an employee's duties and other exemption requirements still matter.
The agency says most workers must receive at least the minimum for every hour, while fourteen- and fifteen-year-olds have a separate permitted youth rate. Workers should compare the actual employer size, location, duties and pay arrangement rather than assume a salary title ends overtime rights. The new figures give a dated benchmark for 2027 compensation, not a claim that every Washington employee receives the same increase.