Washington state has now lost its title of having the highest state minimum wage in the United States, but in 2015, it was the top, at $9.47 an hour. Business Insider has now ranked all 50 state economies plus the District of Columbia for 2015, and surprise! Washington state takes the top spot there, too:
1. Washington
Washington state scored extremely well on most of our metrics. Its Q2 2015 annualized GDP growth rate was a stunning 8.0%, by far the highest among the states and DC. The November 2015 average weekly wage of $1,073 was the second highest in the country, and was 5.6% higher than the weekly wage in November 2014, the third highest wage growth rate.
This is not the first time we’ve seen Washington’s strong state economy serve as a counter to all those Republican “higher minimum wage will mean economic disaster” claims, by the way. Of course, now Washington has some catching up to do, as other states have leapfrogged their minimum wages to the top of the pile.