Updated August 7, 2026. Quick answer: every figure Clear Money Guide holds about Washington, on one page, each one copied from a dataset that cites its own statute or agency. Built for reporters on deadline — take any line, follow the link for the source.
What stands out about Washington
These are the figures where Washington differs most from the rest of the country — selected by counting how many jurisdictions share each value, not by editorial preference.
- Return deadline: 30 days after termination of the rental agreement and vacation of the premises — the only jurisdiction of the 51 we have data for
- Disclosure trigger: in the job posting (plus on request for internal transfers and promotions) — the only jurisdiction of the 51 we have data for
- Formation fee: $180 — the only jurisdiction of the 48 we have data for
- Grace period days: one month, but not less than 30 days — the only jurisdiction of the 47 we have data for
What dying costs here
- Small estate limit: 100000
- Small estate scope: personal_only
- State estate tax exemption: 3076000
Source and full detail: the cost-of-dying index. Figures copied from those pages, which own them.
Estate and property law status
- Authorized: yes
- Statute or act: RCW 42.45.280 (RULONA), enacted S.B. 5641 (2019)
- Effective date: 2020-10-01
- Conditions: Identity by personal knowledge, credible-witness oath, or two types of identity proofing; audiovisual recording retained 10 years; notary must notify the SOS before performing remote acts and use approved technology; fee up to $25. A 2026 amendment effective 2027-01-01 expands remote notarization…
- Association name: Washington Life and Disability Insurance Guaranty Association
- Death benefit limit: $500,000
- Cash surrender limit: $500,000
- Annuity limit: $500,000
- Aggregate limit: $500,000
- Statute citation: Wash. Rev. Code § 48.32A.025 (Coverage and limitations)
- Free look days: 10 days
- Trigger: receipt of the policy by the policy owner
- Extended windows: 20 days for replacement policies (regulation)
- Refund basis: refund of the premium paid, plus a 10% penalty if not refunded within 30 days of return; policy void from inception
- Grace period days: one month, but not less than 30 days
- Coverage during grace: the policy continues in force; if the policy becomes a claim during grace before the overdue premium is paid, the premium(s) with interest may be deducted in any settlement
- Variations: annuities and pure endowments have a separate grace provision at RCW 48.23.150; the notice requirements in RCW 48.23.030(3) do not apply to group policies or to policies with premiums payable monthly or more frequently
Source and full detail: notary rules by state · guaranty association limits · life insurance free-look periods · life insurance grace periods. Figures copied from those pages, which own them.
Working and earning here
- Quit deadline: By the end of the established pay period (the next regular payday) following separation
- Fired deadline: By the end of the established pay period (the next regular payday) following separation
- Statute citation: RCW 49.48.010 (deadline); 49.48.020, 49.48.083, 49.52.070 (penalties)
- Has law: Yes
- Disclosure trigger: in the job posting (plus on request for internal transfers and promotions)
- Employer threshold: 15 or more employees (posting duty only)
- Covers remote roles: Yes
- Effective date: 2023-01-01 (posting duty); amended effective 2025-07-27
- Salary history ban: Yes
- Local ordinances: none identified
- Wage replacement: Progressive, benchmarked to the state average weekly wage: 90% of the employee’s average weekly wage up to 50% of the state average weekly wage, plus 50% of the portion above that; capped at $1,647/week in 2026; floor of $100/week
- Max weeks family: 12 weeks
- Max weeks medical: 12 weeks, extendable to 14 for a serious health condition with a pregnancy-related incapacity
- Funding: Both, from a single payroll premium: 1.13% of gross wages in 2026, split 28.57% employer / 71.43% employee; employers with fewer than 50 Washington employees owe no employer share but must still collect and remit the employee share
- Benefits effective date: 2020-01
- Mandatory: Yes
- Contested: No
Source and full detail: final paycheck laws by state · pay transparency laws by state · paid family leave by state · the convenience-of-the-employer rule. Figures copied from those pages, which own them.
Renting here
- Return deadline: 30 days after termination of the rental agreement and vacation of the premises
- Interest required: no
- Statute citation: RCW 59.18.280
Source and full detail: security deposit law by state. Figures copied from those pages, which own them.
Starting a business here
- Formation fee: $180
- Annual report: $70
- Franchise tax: No franchise or minimum entity tax; B&O gross-receipts tax applies instead, plus a state business licence
- Publication requirement: none
- Expedite options: $100 expedited (about three working days); $150 same-day
- Statute citation: RCW 25.15 (LLC Act); WAC 434-112-080 and WAC 434-112-085 (fees; annual report fee at WAC 434-112-085(7)); WA SOS fee schedule
- Five year total: $530
Source and full detail: LLC cost by state. Figures copied from those pages, which own them.
Tax treatment here
- Has law: Yes
- Treatment: none
- Rate: Excise tax on long-term capital gains, tiered from TY2025: 7% on the first $1,000,000 of taxable Washington capital gains and 9.9% on amounts above $1,000,000. Neither flat nor top-marginal in the income-tax sense — this is a separate excise. Applies only ABOVE an annual standard deduction: $278,…
- Preferential mechanism: none
- Tax year: 2025
- Statute citation: RCW ch. 82.87; ESSB 5096 (2021); ESSB 5813, ch. 421, Laws of 2025
Source and full detail: capital gains tax by state. Figures copied from those pages, which own them.
For journalists: how to cite this
Clear Money Guide, Washington Money Statistics 2026. https://clearmoneyguide.com/state-money-statistics/washington/. Every figure on this page is copied from a Clear Money Guide dataset that states its own primary source and the date it was read — follow the section links for the statute or agency behind any number. Free to reuse with attribution under CC BY 4.0.
What this sheet does and does not contain
This sheet aggregates; it does not research. Every figure is copied from the owning page linked in each section, and a figure we do not own is simply absent — not estimated, not inferred from a neighbouring state. That is why sheets differ in length: this one states 53 figures, and a state where we hold less will show fewer. A short sheet means we have less, not that the state has less.
Statutory law changes. Each linked owner page carries the date its figures were read; check there before relying on anything here. See also Washington financial adviser statistics and all 51 state money sheets.
General information about published law and public data, not legal, tax or investment advice. No advertising appears on this page and we earn nothing from it.