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Indicator: Living Wage

Data and Data Discussion provided by Communities Count

Figure 2: Living Wage Income in King County Compared to Washington State Minimum Wage

Figure 1: Living Wage Jobs in King County

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Upstream Indicators
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Downstream Indicators
  •   Income Distribution --- In the two decades between 1979 and 2007, income has shifted from the four lower income groups to the highest income group.   (view data graph)
  •   Adequate Food --- Compared to 2003, fewer adults (6.8% of the population) in 2007 reported that household food money often or sometimes did not last. Fewer people in East Region said their household food money often or sometimes did not last compared to Seattle, South Region or King County as a whole.  (view data graph)
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Related Goals

The presence of sustainable industries in an area is related the number of jobs available which pay a living wage. Employees earning a living wage are more likely to meet their basic needs and invest economically in their communities.

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Sustainability Snapshot:

A living wage guarantees that a person working a 40-hour week makes enough to pay for essentials: housing, food, utilities, transport, health care, and some recreation. A living wage differs from the minimum wage in that the latter is set by law and may fail to cover basics. Workers making less than living wages in the communities where they work are often forced to live at a distance at a cost. Nearly one-fourth of all low-wage earners are immigrants or refugees.

Sustainability Trend:

Almost half of all jobs do not provide enough income for a family of 4 with 2 full-time wage earners. Because this indicator is measured differently than in previous years, it is difficult to make comparisons.

Data Discussion

The Indicator Defined

In Communities Count, a living wage (also referred to as family wage) income is defined as the minimum income that is needed to purchase the basic necessities without assistance from public programs.

Data Interpretation/Evaluation

In 2007, a family of 4 with only 1 working adult needed $49,812 a year in order to afford basic necessities in King County.(Figure 1) 64% of King County jobs do not pay this amount. A single parent household with 2 children needed a higher wage, $58,293 annually, to cover higher childcare expenses. 76% of King County jobs do not pay this amount.

The cost of basic necessities has risen faster than wage levels. A worker in King County who made a living wage in 2002 may not be able to cover basic needs with the same job today, even with wages adjusted for inflation. Health care costs are a major reason for the substantial rise in living wage income required in King County in the past five years.

Minimum wage workers who work full-time experience a substantial gap between their annual income and a living wage. A family of 4 with 1 worker earning minimum wage, earns $33,026 less than a living wage. The same family, with 2 full-time minimum wage earners, would fall short of a wage sufficient to pay for the basics, including childcare by $37,803. The calculation of 200% of FPL is often used as a measure of a living wage income. However, this, too, falls short. For a family of 4 with 1 worker, an income that is 200% of FPL would provide $7,762 less than a living wage.

A worker in King County needed to earn roughly $1 per hour more than workers in other counties in Washington State in order to afford basic needs (Figure 2).

Data Source and Limitations

Data was contributed by Communities Count (www.communitiescount.org). Living wage figures and information are from the Northwest Federation of Community Organizations publications “Living in the Red: 2007 Washington Job Gap Study” http://www.nwfco.orgpubs/2007.1009_WashingtonWeb.pdf, and “The Race For Wages: Living Wage Jobs in the Current Economy” http://www.nwfco.org/pubs/2007.1218_NW.JG.The.Race.For. Wages.pdf


Washington State minimum wage levels are from the U.S. Department of Labor www.dol.gov/eas/minwage/america.html. Federal Poverty Levels are from the Census Bureau, http://www.census.gov/hhes/www/poverty/threshld/thresh07.html

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Additional Resources

  • The 2008 Job Gap: Tough Times for NW Families
    This 2008 report sponsored by the Northwest Federation of Community Organizations provides detailed information from living wages for counties in the NW, to the percent of job openings that pay a living wage, to the ratio of the number of living wage job openings to the number of people seeking employment. The report includes the implications of this problem as well as policy suggestions to close the increasing gap.
  • Self-Sufficiency Calculator
    This Washington State calculator is based on the Self Sufficiency Standard, which measures how much income is needed for a family of a given composition - one person household to large family size - in a given place, to adequately meet its basic needs without any public or private assistance. This free on-line tool does the following: * Shows you what hourly wage you must make to support yourself or your family, based on where you live. * Tells you what you and/or your family should be making based on market value prices for rent, food, health care, transportation, taxes, child care and miscellaneous expenses. * Allows you to test different work or living options and see how this affects your bottom line.
  • Real Wages per Worker and Median and Personal Income, King County Benchmarks, Economics, 2005-2006
    After 25% growth during the 1990’s, real per capita personal income is still below 2000 levels but has rallied with a nominal increase from 2002 to 2003. Despite the considerable slowdown in income growth after 1999, real per capita personal income has risen 17% since 1993. When adjusted for inflation, median household income has grown 2% from 2000-2004. However, household income has not grown evenly among King County’s households. The proportion of households earning under 50% of median household income and those earning more than 150% of the median have grown while the proportion of households earning between 50% and 149% of the median has shrunk. With uneven growth in incomes, many households continue to struggle to make ends meet.