西雅图计划于2027年将最低工资提高到每小时22.14美元。与此同时，整个大都会地区正面临就业机会急剧减少的挑战，而西雅图的企业也承受着日益增加的成本压力。
Seattle is slated to increase its minimum wage to $22.14 an hour in 2027 as the broader metro area contends with a sharp drop in job openings and Seattle businesses face mounting cost pressures.
自2025年起，所有西雅图的雇主（包括小型企业）都必须支付统一的最低工资标准，该标准会根据通货膨胀情况每年进行调整。一些已经关闭门店的餐厅老板表示，劳动力成本的上升是他们做出这一决定的主要原因之一。
Beginning in 2025, all Seattle employers, including small businesses, were required to pay the same minimum wage, which is adjusted annually for inflation. Several Seattle restaurant owners who have since closed their businesses have cited rising labor costs among the financial pressures that contributed to their decisions.
2025年上半年，在最低工资政策对所有企业生效后不久，西雅图有450家餐厅关闭（约占全市餐厅总数的16%）。根据《华尔街日报》援引Square公司的数据，在亚马逊和微软园区周边的一些商业和购物区，餐厅及零售业的营业额比上一年下降了多达7%。
During the first half of 2025, shortly after the wage hikes went into effect for all businesses, 450 Seattle restaurants — about 16% of the city’s total — closed. Restaurant and retail transactions fell by as much as 7% over the prior year in some business and shopping districts around Amazon and Microsoft campuses, according to Square data cited by The Wall Street Journal.
桑德斯（Sanders）和奥卡西奥-科尔特斯（Ocasio-Cortez）联合100多个组织，推动了一项旨在将联邦最低工资标准提高到25美元的进步性法案。如果其他地区不提高最低工资标准，西雅图将成为美国最低工资最高的城市。在该市，一名全职从事最低工资工作的人每年收入将略高于4.6万美元。
SANDERS-AOC BACKED PROGRESSIVE DEBUTS FEDERAL $25 MINIMUM WAGE BILL WITH COALITION OF 100+ ORGANIZATIONS If no other jurisdictions increase their minimum wages to match or surpass Seattle, the Emerald City will have the highest minimum wage in the country next year. An individual working full time on minimum wage in the city will make just over $46,000 annually.
“如果服务员每小时只能拿到20美元的工资，那我就必须给厨师支付35美元的工资，”一位西雅图餐厅老板在2024年接受《Eater》杂志采访时说道。
"If the servers are making $20 an hour, then I gotta pay the cooks $35," one Seattle restaurant owner said of the wage increases to Eater in 2024.
洛杉矶的酒店业领袖警告称，贝斯（Bass）市长推行的每小时30美元的最低工资规定正在破坏当地的商业环境（尤其是在世界杯和奥运会前夕）。据Center Square报道，华盛顿酒店业协会（Washington Hospitality Association）的首席执行官安东尼·安东尼（Anthony Anton）去年表示：“酒店经营者的收入比以往任何时候都低，但他们的收费却比以往任何时候都高。”
LA HOTEL LEADERS WARN MAYOR BASS' $30 WAGE MANDATE IS KILLING BUSINESS AHEAD OF WORLD CUP, OLYMPICS "Operators are making less money than ever and are charging more than ever," Anthony Anton, CEO of the Washington Hospitality Association, said last year, according to the Center Square.
一项由威斯康星大学麦迪逊分校的研究人员发表的经过同行评审的研究发现，仅仅宣布西雅图最低工资标准的提高，就导致该市范围内新企业的数量减少；相反，在工资水平较低的周边郊区，新企业的成立数量却有所增加。
A peer-reviewed study published by researchers at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, found that the mere announcement of Seattle’s minimum wage increase decreased the formation of new businesses in city limits while actually increasing the founding of new businesses in adjacent suburbs with lower wage floors.
然而，西雅图最低工资标准政策的支持者认为，由于该市的生活成本较高，低收入人群需要更高的工资以避免更多的人陷入贫困。他们还指出，更高的工资有助于企业留住员工。
Proponents of Seattle's minimum wage increase, however, argue that the city's high cost of living necessitates higher pay for those on the lower end of the economic spectrum to avoid more people falling into poverty. They also claim that higher pay can help businesses with staff retention.
根据最新报告，自2020年实施工资税以来，西雅图市中心失去了3万个就业岗位，商业价值也大幅下降。报告指出，西雅图日益恶化的商业环境其实早在最低工资标准与通货膨胀挂钩的法规正式实施之前就已经存在。
DOWNTOWN SEATTLE LOST 30,000 JOBS, BILLIONS IN OFFICE VALUE SINCE 2020 PAYROLL TAX: NEW REPORT FINDS Seattle's degrading business environment predates the widespread implementation of its inflation-indexed minimum wage laws.
根据西雅图市中心协会的数据，从2020年初新冠疫情爆发到2023年，约有500家当地企业倒闭；一年后，该协会统计出市中心有543家店面处于空置状态。许多企业主将倒闭的原因归结为财产犯罪以及当地的经济因素。
From the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020 to 2023, about 500 local businesses closed, according to the Downtown Seattle Association. A year later, the association counted 543 vacant storefronts in the city. During this period, many business owners cited property crime as well as local economic factors as the reasoning behind their exits.
对于西雅图居民来说，这种商业环境的恶化来得非常不合时宜：据Axios的分析，2020年2月至2025年10月期间，该市大都会地区的招聘岗位减少了35%，这一降幅仅次于旧金山。当地企业主反映，拥有硕士学位的人以及曾在微软等知名公司工作过的人，现在纷纷申请从事咖啡师等低薪工作。
Declining business formation comes at an inopportune time for Seattle residents as job postings in the city’s metropolitan area fell by 35% between February 2020 and October 2025, a decline second only to San Francisco, according to an Axios analysis. Local business owners have reported that individuals with master's degrees, and those with experience at prestigious companies such as Microsoft, are applying to work as baristas.
曾经蓬勃发展的西雅图科技经济如今已显现出明显疲态——招聘活动减弱，市中心办公空间的空置率也持续上升。
Seattle’s once-booming tech-driven economy is now showing clear signs of strain, from weaker hiring to elevated downtown office vacancies.
根据 Cushman & Wakefield 的数据，截至 2025 年第四季度，西雅图市中心的办公空间空置率为 35.6%，而上一年度这一比例为 32.3%。一些知名的西雅图企业（例如星巴克）已经将业务搬出了该市。
As of the fourth quarter of 2025, 35.6% of Seattle’s downtown office space was vacant, up from 32.3% the year before, according to Cushman & Wakefield data. Some iconic Seattle businesses, Starbucks, for example, have shifted operations away from the city.