Unemployment rate, taxable wage base, minimum wage and withholding
Federal payroll rules are identical everywhere; the money differs by state. What Washington assigns a new Port Angeles employer, what wage base it applies, and what its minimum wage requires are below with state sources.
Two free marketplace paths: one form brings back multiple vetted payroll providers who know they are competing for the account.
Washington sets the new-employer unemployment tax rate by state formula rather than as one flat number, and applies it to the first $78,200 of each employee's wages per year - the state-set portion of every Port Angeles payroll, shown in full in the table below.
Washington sets its minimum wage at $17.13, the floor every Port Angeles hourly rate has to clear before overtime, tip credits and local ordinances are applied on top.
Employers in Port Angeles's county pay about $50,035 a year per employee on average across 18,884 covered jobs (Census County Business Patterns 2023) - the wage base every unemployment rate and withholding schedule is applied to locally.
Two Port Angeles businesses with identical payrolls can owe materially different amounts because of Washington's unemployment tax alone: new employers are assigned a starting rate, experience moves it within a statutory band, and the taxable wage base decides how much of each salary the rate applies to. Both figures are published by the state and shown below with sources.
The state layer is where payroll compliance stops being generic. Washington sets the unemployment rate and wage base your account is billed on, the minimum wage your rates must clear, the deadline for reporting every new hire, and the rule that decides when a departing Port Angeles employee's final check is legally late.
Put a state payroll setup review out to competing quotes before you compare prices
Two free marketplace paths: one form brings back multiple vetted payroll providers who know they are competing for the account. Competing quotes are the only reliable way to see what your headcount actually prices at.
External links go to the marketplaces' own sites and forms. This site may earn a referral fee at no cost to you - it never changes the data above, and no individual payroll provider pays to appear in our research.
What Washington adds to every payroll
| Question | Washington answer |
|---|---|
| State unemployment tax - new employer rate | 115% of the average rate for all businesses in the employer's industry, with a floor of 1.00% (range 0.27% - 6.02% total for qualified employers) |
| Taxable wage base per employee | $78,200 - STALE-FIGURE WARNING: industry tables widely republish $72,800 for Washington - that is the 2025 value and is outdated; the state ESD figure for 2026 is $78,200 |
| State minimum wage | $17.13 - $17.13/hr for 2026 (L&I) |
| State income tax withholding | none — no state individual income tax on wages (a 7% tax applies to certain long-term capital gains, not wages) |
| Local payroll or income taxes | No local income tax, but Seattle levies a JumpStart payroll expense tax on large employers based on compensation paid to high earners — rates/thresholds not verified in this pass |
Washington has the highest UI taxable wage base in the country at $78,200 for 2026 - over eleven times the federal $7,000 floor - and adds a separate delinquency rate schedule that penalizes late filers with a permanently higher rate.
This page is independent research, not legal, tax or accounting advice. Federal deposit rules and state wage, unemployment and final-paycheck laws change - verify current requirements with the IRS and your state labor and revenue agencies, or with a licensed CPA or attorney, before acting.
Why two identical Port Angeles payrolls owe different amounts
Unemployment tax is charged as a rate against a capped amount of each employee's wages, and both halves of that formula are state decisions. A new Port Angeles employer is assigned a starting rate; once there is claims history the rate moves within the state's statutory band. The wage base decides how much of a salary the rate touches - which is why a state with a high base and a low rate can cost more than the reverse. Neither number is negotiable, but both are worth knowing before comparing payroll quotes that quietly assume one state.
What this means in Port Angeles
Withheld income tax and the employee share of FICA are trust funds - money that was never the company's. That is why the Trust Fund Recovery Penalty can reach an owner or officer personally, and why 'the company can't pay' is not an exit from this particular bill.
This page is independent research, not legal, tax or accounting advice. Federal deposit rules and state wage, unemployment and final-paycheck laws change - verify current requirements with the IRS and your state labor and revenue agencies, or with a licensed CPA or attorney, before acting.
Put a state payroll setup review out to competing quotes before you compare prices
Two free marketplace paths: one form brings back multiple vetted payroll providers who know they are competing for the account. Competing quotes are the only reliable way to see what your headcount actually prices at.
External links go to the marketplaces' own sites and forms. This site may earn a referral fee at no cost to you - it never changes the data above, and no individual payroll provider pays to appear in our research.
Common questions
Do I have to file W-2s and 1099s electronically?
Almost certainly yes. The threshold dropped to 10 returns: if you file 10 or more information returns of all types combined in a calendar year, they must be filed electronically. Articles still citing the old 250-return threshold are out of date. Any full-service payroll provider files electronically as standard - confirm it is included rather than billed per form.
What hidden fees do payroll companies charge?
The recurring surprises are year-end W-2 and 1099 filing at roughly 4-8 dollars per form, additional state tax filings at 6-20 dollars per state per month for remote employees, off-cycle or bonus runs at 5-50 dollars each, setup or implementation fees, charges for mailed paper checks, and per-employee fees that continue for terminated staff. Ask for the full fee schedule in writing, not the pricing page.
Is payroll priced per employee or per payroll run?
Both models exist. The common structure is a monthly base fee plus a per-employee fee, which is predictable regardless of how often you run payroll. A per-run model charges each time you process, which favors businesses paying monthly and penalizes weekly payrolls. Ask for the all-in annual total under your actual pay frequency - that single number makes the two models comparable.
How much does payroll cost per employee per month?
Per-employee fees cluster at $4-$15 dollars per month on top of the base fee for standard payroll software and services. Fully outsourced processing and PEO-style arrangements are quoted differently - commonly $30-$100 dollars per person per month or a percentage of gross payroll - and bundle benefits administration and compliance work that standard payroll does not include.
What do I need to give a payroll company to get a quote?
Employee count split into salaried, hourly and contractors; every state where someone physically works; pay frequency; expected off-cycle runs; and whether you need benefits, time tracking, garnishments or workers' comp integration. Providing all of it up front is what makes competing quotes genuinely comparable - and it is exactly what a marketplace form collects once and sends to several providers.
Put a state payroll setup review out to competing quotes before you compare prices
Two free marketplace paths: one form brings back multiple vetted payroll providers who know they are competing for the account. Competing quotes are the only reliable way to see what your headcount actually prices at.
External links go to the marketplaces' own sites and forms. This site may earn a referral fee at no cost to you - it never changes the data above, and no individual payroll provider pays to appear in our research.