Prices We Pay:
A Washington Roundtable Research initiative, produced in partnership with Kinetic West
About This Research
Rising costs are reshaping life in Washington state. Families are paying more for groceries, childcare, restaurant meals, and everyday goods. Small businesses are absorbing multiple cost pressures across all facets of the business—wages and associated labor costs, taxes, insurance, licensing and fees, regulations, tariffs. Costs they can’t absorb show up in higher prices families pay every day.
Our research examines this challenge from two directions: what Washington families are paying, and what’s driving those costs. Together, the two reports trace the full arc, from household budgets to business bottom lines and back again.
The Reports:
Vol. 1: Understanding Washington's Affordability Crisis
Spring 2026
Washington ranks among the most expensive states in the nation. Consumer spending per person has risen 55% over the past decade, nearly double the rate of inflation. Prices have climbed faster here than in any other state, and all 12 of Washington’s metropolitan areas rank among the most expensive in the nation.
This report documents the scale of Washington’s affordability challenge for families, examining consumer spending and costs across essential areas like housing, healthcare, food, and transportation.
Vol. 2: The Cost of Doing Business in Washington
Summer 2026
Washington families are paying more for nearly everything. This report explains a critical part of why, and much of the answer lies upstream: rising costs for Washington’s 160,000 small businesses that families depend on every day.
Washington’s small businesses face multiple cost pressures at once: wages, cascading labor costs, business taxes, regulatory compliance, occupancy, inflation, and tariffs. Each has moved in the same direction over the past decade — up, and faster than the national average.
This report documents how those pressures are reshaping business decisions and driving up the prices that Washington consumers pay for the goods and services they depend on every day.
The Throughline
Washington families and Washington businesses are not on opposite sides of this challenge. They are on the same side. When the cost of running a business rises — through wages, taxes, insurance, or regulation — those costs don’t stay inside the business. They show up at the cash register, on the menu, and in the monthly childcare bill.
Relief for families and survival for businesses are the same goal. These reports document what it costs to pursue it.
Prices We Pay is a research initiative of the Washington Roundtable, produced in partnership with Kinetic West.