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You call that a living wage? In Washington the minimum is $16.28 statewide, including tipped labor, and it’s $19.97 in Seattle.
What’s wild to me is that the cost of a meal is the same as in places like Pennsylvania where a waiter can be paid as little as $2.83/hr.
Almost like the cost is set by the market, and the owners will cut wages as low as they’re allowed to simply to take more for themselves.
Ignoring the fact there’s no sales tax on many of the largest expenses (food, rent, healthcare), $14.70 + 10.4% (the highest sales tax in WA) is still lower than the lowest minimum wage in Washington, and in rural Oregon counties the minimum is only $13.70.