(The Center Square) – Seattle employees making the minimum wage will see a mandatory raise starting next year, making them the highest paid minimum wage workers in the country.

Starting at the beginning of 2025, all employers regardless of size will be required to pay their employees at least $20.76 an hour.

Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell sees this increase in minimum wage for all employers as a positive for workers and the local economy.

“Seattle has one of the highest minimum wages in the country – this is a good thing for workers, a good thing for our overall economy, and something we should take pride in,” Harrell said in a news release.

Seattle’s current minimum wage is set at $19.97 an hour for businesses that employ more than 500 workers. Smaller employers can pay their workers a minimum $17.25 per hour if they pay $2.72 per hour toward medical benefits, or if the employee earns $2.72 per hour in tips.

Last August, Seattle City Councilmember Joy Hollingsworth proposed a bill to extend the city’s $2.72 tip credit, but pulled the legislation just three days after it was initially introduced.

Harrell has supported the end of the tip credit, and previously noted that the COVID-19 pandemic and rising inflation were not factored in to the city's original projections, exacerbating the disparity between wages.

“While this is the right thing for wage fairness, we recognize it will present a significant change for many small businesses who are still recovering from the impacts of the pandemic and the resulting record inflation,” Harrell said. “We are committed to aggressively addressing many of the pressures facing small restaurants moving forward ... including best practices in addressing the absence of a tip credit.”

Seattle now has the highest minimum wage in the county at $20.76. The second highest is a tied between the city of Tukwila and unincorporated parts of King County at $20.29 an hour.