Cost of living report: King County adult needs $17/hour to survive

A new report says the cost of living in Washington state has risen at a rate 12% higher than median wages in the past two decades.

A single adult in King County needs to make $17.61 an hour and not spend much of their earnings to survive.

“No coffees, no dining out, food is only bought from stores, no haircuts, that kind of thing,” said Annie Kucklick with the University of Washington’s Self Sufficiency project.

Kucklick says that person also could not afford a car and likely would not live alone.

The new report says a King County resident with a child in preschool would need a minimum of $69,000 per year for a similar lifestyle. Half of those working in Seattle’s top 10 occupations could not support a child on what they earn.