Seattle Businesses Face 450 Restaurant Closures as Minimum Wage Rises to $22.14 in 2027
Updated
Updated · Fox News · Sep 30
Seattle Businesses Face 450 Restaurant Closures as Minimum Wage Rises to $22.14 in 2027
3 articles · Updated · Fox News · Sep 30
Summary
450 Seattle restaurants—about 16% of the city total—closed in the first half of 2025 after all employers, including small businesses, were required to pay the same inflation-indexed minimum wage.
Seattle’s wage floor is set to reach $22.14 an hour in 2027, potentially the highest in the U.S., and business owners say the increase is pushing up pay scales well beyond entry-level workers.
Square data cited by the Wall Street Journal showed restaurant and retail transactions fell by as much as 7% in some districts near Amazon and Microsoft campuses, adding to pressure on local operators.
A University of Wisconsin study found even the announcement of higher wages reduced new business formation in Seattle while boosting it in nearby lower-wage suburbs.
The strain is hitting a weakening local economy: metro job postings were down 35% from February 2020 to October 2025, and downtown office vacancy reached 35.6% in late 2025.