From the resident-run scorecard that grades Spokane’s economy four times a year

The minimum wage in Spokane, and what jobs really pay

The current rate. Why it changes every January. What eight local industries pay on average. Every figure links to a public source. The page refreshes each quarter with the scorecard.

The minimum wage in Spokane

The minimum wage in Spokane is $17.13 an hour in 2026. Spokane has no city minimum wage, so Washington State’s rate applies.

The state rate is set by the Washington Dept. of Labor & Industries. It adjusts for inflation every year. The new rate is announced on September 30. It takes effect January 1.
Tips do not count against it. Washington requires the full minimum wage on top of tips and service charges. L&I.
Eight Washington cities and counties set higher local rates. Bellingham is lowest ($19.13) and Tukwila is highest ($21.65). All eight are in western Washington. No eastern Washington city has one, Spokane included. L&I local minimum wage rates.
Washington’s minimum is among the highest of any state. It raises the floor under every job here. The scorecard notes it pushed Spokane’s hourly pay close to the U.S. average.

What the average job pays here

The average wage across the Spokane metro is $32.96 an hour (May 2025; the metro is Spokane County plus Stevens County). The state minimum is about half of that. BLS Occupational Employment and Wages.
Average pay per worker in Spokane County was $68,949 in 2025. It has climbed for a decade. BLS Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages.

Pay has climbed for a decade. Average annual pay per worker, Spokane County, 2014 to 2025. Dollars are not adjusted for inflation, so part of this climb is rising prices everywhere, not raises.

Show these numbers as a table

Average annual pay per worker, Spokane County (QCEW)
Year	Value
2014	$42,666
2015	$44,066
2016	$44,751
2017	$46,588
2018	$48,298
2019	$50,234
2020	$53,678
2021	$57,217
2022	$59,604
2023	$62,403
2024	$65,488
2025	$68,949

Source: BLS QCEW, annual averages. Download this data (CSV).

Average pay by industry

These are the eight pay figures in the employer calculator. Each one is from the newest public release.

Industry	Average pay	Source and vintage
Finance & professional services	$137,400	Lightcast via Spokane Workforce Council
Software & tech occupations	$108,600	BLS, computer & math occupations, May 2025
Aerospace & advanced manufacturing	$84,000	Spokane Workforce Council targeted-industry data
Health care	$83,100	Lightcast via Spokane Workforce Council
Construction	$74,306	BLS QCEW, Spokane County, 2025
Logistics & warehousing	$62,577	BLS QCEW, Spokane County, 2025
Retail & food service occupations	$44,100	BLS, food prep & serving, May 2025
Hotels & tourism	$30,425	BLS QCEW, Spokane County, 2025

The rows mix measures on purpose. Some are whole industries (QCEW). Some are occupation groups (BLS OEWS). Two come from a private data firm via the public workforce board, and say so. The exact QCEW rows are committed and downloadable here.

Want to see what those differences do to a neighborhood? Try the employer calculator. Same figures, plus the ripple each payroll creates.

What it means

The floor is high here. The middle is average. A minimum-wage job in Spokane pays more than one in most states. The harder finding is about the middle. Income per person is 97% of the U.S. figure and 80% of Washington’s. And the sectors hiring fastest pay near the middle, not the top. The full picture is on the scorecard and in plain terms on Is Spokane a good place to live.

Where these numbers come from

The minimum wage comes from the Washington Dept. of Labor & Industries. Hourly averages come from the BLS Occupational Employment and Wages release for the Spokane metro. Annual pay comes from the BLS Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages for Spokane County. Two industry figures come from Lightcast via the Spokane Workforce Council. Those two are labeled as privately sourced. Every figure carries its geography and date.

This page was last updated in September 2026. The minimum wage changes every January 1, and this page is rechecked each quarter. If a number here is wrong, say so, and it gets fixed in public with a note in the change log.