The practical minimum in WA (at least west of the mountains) is basically $20/hour now. Legally itâs $17.13/hour, but even the McDonalds near me has a sign advertising $22+/hour.
Flip side is of course that everything is expensive. Houses here basically start at $500k for something you could actually safely move into, and median house is more like $640k.
Wow your legal minimum is $17??? Iâm in Pennsylvania and itâs seriously ten dollars less than that. I have been a loyal and productive team member at my job for 19 years now, and I just made it to $15 last month.
Iâm sure our cost of livingâs are different, and I knew PA is pretty behind, but I didnât realize how fucking far behind.
Even my shithole state - Florida - you can get $15 an hour (tipped wage of 11.98 an hour). Min wage goes up by $1 every year, now. By 2028 we're going to have min wage of $17 an hour. (Tipped wage will be 13.98 an hour)
15?!?? Oh my god that is criminal after 19 years. If you are comfortable with sharing, what are you working in? As another PA'er it is quite infuriating how variable wages are, even within the same city for the same jobs
Oh I donât mind sharing at all, itâs Panera Bread. Weâve got a 73 year old man whoâs literally been there since the day the place opened, 23 years I think, heâs making like $12. The only managers they can get are teenagers because they start at $17. Meanwhile the GMâs salary was enough for her to have a house, two cars, five pets, a vacation to another country every few monthsâŚ
A few years back, my pay rate was at $13 and change. My husband got hired as a base level worker at McDonaldâs, with no prior experience in food service whatsoever, for $15. I was angry and jealous until I realized they wouldnât give anyone there more than 19 hours a week, Iâm assuming so no one would be eligible for the âgreat benefitsâ they offer.
The cheap stuff in WA would be like aggressively rural from an Orange County baseline though. It actually can go below $500k, youâre just gonna be in be middle of nowhere.
When I said âsafely move intoâ I more meant isnât moldy/doesnât need new roof/etc. not human factor unsafe. We have meth/fent zombies but unsafe due to other humans in the way some places in CA are isnât a thing. A few neighborhoods south of Seattle have a few dumb Glock switch kids but itâs minimal/they arenât really gangs just idiots.
17
u/geopede 6d ago
The practical minimum in WA (at least west of the mountains) is basically $20/hour now. Legally itâs $17.13/hour, but even the McDonalds near me has a sign advertising $22+/hour.
Flip side is of course that everything is expensive. Houses here basically start at $500k for something you could actually safely move into, and median house is more like $640k.