OLYMPIA, Wash. — New data shows Whatcom County is in the top 20 nationwide for wage increases, but it wasn’t enough to get us out of the bottom two counties in Washington with the lowest weekly wages.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics says between the third quarter of 2016, and the third quarter of 2017, Whatcom wages increased 1.7%, ranking its growth 17th among large counties in the U.S.
However, Whatcom County’s average weekly wage of about $860, put us just above Yakima with the lowest in Washington, and in the bottom third nationwide.
King County leads the state with an average weekly wage of $1,626, which ranks them eighth in the nation behind counties like Santa Clara ($2,320), San Francisco ($1,954), New York ($1,889), and Washington D.C. ($1,759).