Seattle company continues expansion of $70,000 minimum salary

Gravity Payments — the company known for its groundbreaking $70,000 minimum salary for its Seattle employees — expanded that offering to its Boise, Idaho offices.

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The move was announced in Tuesday news release, putting its Boise employees on track to meet the $70,000 salary minimum by 2024.

Gravity first raised its salary minimum in Seattle to $70,000 in 2015, when its CEO Dan Price opted to cut his $1.1 million yearly pay down to $70,000 to fund the move.

“A lot of people said giving up a million dollar per year salary was an unreasonable sacrifice to pay a living wage,” Price said on Twitter. “It was worth it. I am proof of that. Any business making over a million in profit, any CEO making over a million should do it.”

In 2016, Price won a lawsuit filed by his brother and business partner, Lucas, alleging the CEO had violated his brother’s rights as a shareholder. In the year’s since, Price has garnered the attention of everyone from other CEOs, to Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang.

Congrats Dan! Way to lead in a new direction 👍🇺🇸 https://t.co/b4oAK1Ike1

— Andrew Yang (@AndrewYang) September 26, 2019

Gravity now boasts over 200 total employees. In the years since the $70,000 salary minimum, Price has pointed to an increase in employees who have had children, a 10 percent increase in employees who bought a home, and a doubling of 401k contributions.

“The worries of not being able to pay for something have disappeared,” a Gravity employee wrote recently. “I don’t have to make a choice between fuel or groceries. I don’t have to worry about an unexpected emergency.”

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