--- description: Seattle's mayor announced a plan Thursday to raise the minimum wage to $15 per hour over the next three to seven years. The plan is part of a nationwide push to combat income inequality. title: Seattle Mayor Will Raise Minimum Wage to $15 image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2c2dd911d22a3a4e/69868d7eadae4448eb542e02/time-a-ed-murray-140501.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [U.S.](/section/us/) ## U.S. Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [cities](/tag/cities/) ## cities Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Seattle Mayor Plans to Raise Minimum Wage to $15  by [Eliana Dockterman](/author/eliana-dockterman/)  ## Eliana Dockterman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Correspondent May 1, 2014 10:58 PM CUT  Seattle Mayor Ed Murray smiles as he addresses a news conference on a proposal to increase the minimum wage in the city Thursday, April 24, 2014, in Seattle. Seattle Mayor Ed Murray smiles as he addresses a news conference on a proposal to increase the minimum wage in the city Thursday, April 24, 2014, in Seattle.Elaine Thompson—AP  by [Eliana Dockterman](/author/eliana-dockterman/)  ## Eliana Dockterman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Correspondent May 1, 2014 10:58 PM CUT Seattle Mayor Ed Murray [announced a plan](http://murray.seattle.gov/murray-we-have-a-deal-seattle-workers-are-getting-a-raise/#sthash.2xx5LCLe.ZY4O8kJA.dpbs "undefined") on Thursday to raise the minimum wage to $15 per hour over the next three to seven years. It is the first major U.S. city to make a commitment to such a high base wage. The plan, which was decided by committee, must still be approved by Seattle’s City Council. Murray said at a press conference the plan demonstrates how Seattle “can lead the conversation and the nation to address this growing problem of income inequality.” Small businesses with fewer than 500 workers have seven years to implement the plan. Large businesses have three. The plan is part of a nationwide push to combat income inequality. President Obama has so far failed in his efforts to raise the federal minimum wage from $7.25 to $10.10 per hour. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/85191/seattle-minimum-wage-15-hour/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/85191/seattle-minimum-wage-15-hour/"},"headline":"Seattle Mayor Plans to Raise Minimum Wage to $15","datePublished":"2014-05-01T22:58:03.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T07:37:03.554Z","description":"Seattle's mayor announced a plan Thursday to raise the minimum wage to $15 per hour over the next three to seven years. The plan is part of a nationwide push to combat income inequality.","url":"https://time.com/85191/seattle-minimum-wage-15-hour/","keywords":["cities","Minimum Wage","Seattle"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2c2dd911d22a3a4e/69868d7eadae4448eb542e02/time-a-ed-murray-140501.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Eliana Dockterman","jobTitle":"Correspondent","url":"https://time.com/author/eliana-dockterman/"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2c2dd911d22a3a4e/69868d7eadae4448eb542e02/time-a-ed-murray-140501.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Ed Murray","caption":"Ed Murray","creditText":"Elaine Thompson—AP","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/cities/","name":"cities"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/85191/seattle-minimum-wage-15-hour/","name":"Seattle Mayor Plans to Raise Minimum Wage to $15"}}]}] ```