Question about wages in Seattle (I don't live in Washington) (Spokane: real estate, apartments)

[ialwayswin001]

I've read that minimum wage is $13 an hour and will be $15 in the near future. This is literally twice our minimum wage. I understand that you guys have everything more expensive there. But what I am curious about is jobs like Tech Support or Nursing or even engineering, is the salary a lot higher too? The company I work at has several locations including Seattle Washington, I make three times our minimum wage which puts me in the 40k category salary wise. If I was to transfer to Seattle location, does that mean they will almost double the salary?

My job is similar to support, and I can't imagine making 60-80k doing something similar to Tech Support. The reason I am asking is because my job is not simply by any means, I also just can't imagine someone working at fast food restaurant making only $4 or $5 less than what we do. This is not to start any arguments, it's just pure curiosity

[flyingsaucermom]

I think nurses here make somewhere between $60-80k and up. A lot of factors like specialty and experience. Engineering too... I know "engineers" making $70k and others, such as my husband, making over $150k.

It's expensive to live here. 1 bedroom apartment on my street just leased out for $1500 a month.

[Hemlock140]

You should ask your employer if they pay more in other cities. We have no state income tax, which helps, but just because our minimum wage is higher doesn't mean that all employers with multiple locations pay more depending on the cost of living. They typically do in high demand jobs, in order to attract the best people here, but for routine jobs, not so much.
A local McDonalds is starting at $13 outside of Seattle where minimum is only $9.47, because no one wants to work there.
Where I work, the entry level Jr. Engineer starts at about $65k, Senior Engineers are about $120k. Our help desk people are starting at $50k.

[amaiunmei]

When people from other areas look at the wages in the Seattle area, their presumption is that the labor market where they live is the same as Seattle's. Nothing could be further from the truth.

If you look at the influx of people coming to Seattle, the percentage of people coming here to make over $100,000 has increased dramatically as wages for them have continued to climb.

If you are a person making in the bottom 20% of incomes in this area, however, wages are flat and have been flat for some time. Meanwhile, rent has more than doubled ... with rental increases being a yearly certainty.

In other words, the poorest have gotten negative income and the wealthiest have been paid quite handsomely.

What a lot of people in other parts of the country fail to understand is that the higher wages for the folks making minimum wages in this city is -- more or less -- a last-ditch effort to keep them from bailing and leaving to other parts of the country. There has been a slow-but-steady exodus for working-class folks out of Seattle; what this means for folks making more $$$ is that there will be fewer restaurants will be able to get off the ground, EMTs and other lowly-paid health workers will feel the pull of the suburbs, and folks like police officers and teachers will continue to be tempted to move away where their buying power will be stronger.

I can attest to this personally. I work at a local office with many locations throughout Washington state. It is common for people to come to Seattle to train, and then promptly leave the Seattle office to work in Wenatchee or Olympia or Bellingham or Spokane because your buying power is so much stronger in those places (and real estate is so much cheaper, among other things).

The minimum wage in Seattle is a last-ditch effort to keep some basic services (especially police officers, teachers, firefighters, etc.) in the city because -- as things stand right now -- Seattle is losing its working class and many services are going along with them.

[mhays25]

Seattle's minimum wage initiative was a populist thing, not really related to macroeconomics. I mean how it was sold and why people voted for it...largely it was about people's idea of how things oughta be.

As for police, teachers, and firefighters, those jobs have been largely unaffected since they pay more, and also that would be solvable by raising their wages directly.

I like that we've raised minimums (Seattle starting to phase it in, and now the State), but think we overstepped in the amount, and most people seem totally unaware of the side effects. For example it's behind some of our rent increases, some services and food are more expensive, and the average nurse now has less buying power.

[Ruth4Truth]

OP, all you have to do is look up job listings at hospitals in town. Virginia Mason, Swedish, University of Washington hospital, etc. Is there a reason why you haven't done that?

[amaiunmei]

As for police, teachers, and firefighters, those jobs have been largely unaffected since they pay more, and also that would be solvable by raising their wages directly.

Not really ...

The average firefighter in Seattle makes $70,000. The average firefighter in Everett makes $47,000.

The average house in Seattle costs almost $600,000. The average house in Everett costs not quite $300,000.

Of course, the Seattle firefighter technically makes more money. But, the Everett firefighter can still afford to buy a house while the Seattle firefighter cannot.

I can do that math with several occupations, and the results are largely the same. To that end, until we deal with that underlying issue, we aren't looking at the macroeconomic forces behind the conversation that lead up to the raise in the minimum wage and we aren't doing the discussion justice.

[mhays25]

Seattle is far more affordable for people in condos and apartments vs. houses. We can make more of the former, and not so much of the latter (the exception generally being townhouses). So houses go at a premium. Condos and apartments aren't cheap either, much of which is directly/indirectly due to the City Council, but comparably they're easier, especially if you don't have a car.

[noah]

In my experience the answer is no. I am in the professional accounting/finance field and while wages can trend slightly higher than when I lived in Atlanta, it may be 5-10% more at the most whereas cost of living is a good 30% more.

[CrazyDonkey]

In Raleigh, Zillow shows 86 2-br apartments for $1,000 or less. In Seattle, it shows one, for 55+, and next to the scummiest area of town. To find similar availability in Seattle (which is 50% more populous), you need to raise your top rent to $1,800.