Washington sales tax, and who sets it
Tax year 2026
Set by the state
6.5%
Set locally
3.07%
statewide average
Combined
9.57%
Local share
32.08%
of what you pay
Work out the tax on a purchase in Washington
Add the tax on
9.57% effectiveThe general rate applies here: 9.57%, state and local combined. “Statewide average” is a comparison estimate. Named locations use the stored local rate; city and special-district coverage varies, so an address may differ. Rate source · as of 2026-07-01.
How Washington's sales tax is put together
- Washington splits this with your county. The state's share is about 6.5%. The local share, on average across Washington, is about 3.07%. What you actually pay is both of them at once, about 9.57%, and the second half changes depending on where in Washington you are standing when you buy.
- No sales tax on groceries in Washington. Unprepared food is exempt outright, so what you save depends on how much of your shopping is raw ingredients rather than ready meals. That boundary is where the money actually is, and it catches people out constantly at the deli counter.
- Clothing is taxed at the ordinary rate in Washington — $96 on a thousand dollars of it. That is the usual arrangement nationally, though a small group of states exempt apparel entirely. Prescription medicine, by contrast, is exempt here, as it is almost everywhere.
- Rate-setting in Washington is shared between the state and its localities. The state component is about 6.5% and the local component on average across Washington is about 3.07%, producing about 9.57%. Because the local half is set independently and varies across the state, the combined rate is a property of the transaction's location rather than of Washington as a whole — the reason this site prices purchases against a named county instead of a statewide average.
- Grocery purchases are exempt from sales tax in Washington. Because the exemption is complete rather than reduced, the practical question for a shopper is classification rather than rate: prepared and heated foods generally fall outside the exemption and are taxed at the full combined rate. States drawing that boundary differently produce noticeably different effective rates on identical shopping baskets, which is why a grocery exemption is a weaker predictor of household sales tax burden than it first appears.
- Washington applies its full combined rate to clothing, adding $96 to a thousand dollars of apparel. This is the majority treatment; a small group of states exempts clothing outright, and those exemptions are a larger source of variation in real household burden than the rate differences that dominate published comparisons. Prescription drugs are exempt in Washington, consistent with essentially every sales-taxing state.
Sales tax on this purchase
A $75,000 salary
| Tax added | $9.57 |
|---|---|
| Rate appliedStatewide average | 9.57% |
Uses this location’s stored combined rate and category rule. Clothing is one item; address-level coverage varies.
Rates across this state
A $75,000 salary
| Counties in this state | 39 |
|---|---|
| Different rates among them | 19 |
| Lowest county rate | 7.6% |
| Highest county rate | 10.3% |
County floors only — city, transit and special-district taxes are excluded where applicable.
At the register
A $75,000 salary
| Tax added | $9.57 |
|---|---|
| You hand over | $109.57 |
| Rate here | 9.57% |
Uses this location’s stored combined rate and category rule. Clothing is one item; address-level coverage varies.
How much of that was tax
A $75,000 salary
| Goods before tax | $97.65 |
|---|---|
| Rate applied | 9.57% |
Uses the selected combined rate for ordinary goods. Exempt items or a mixed receipt change the split.
Every county here
A $75,000 salary
| Lowest | 7.6% |
|---|---|
| Highest | 10.3% |
| Gap between them | 2.7% |
County floors only — city, transit and special-district taxes are excluded where applicable.
What gets taxed, in each
A $75,000 salary
Washington
Statewide average
Texas
Harris County (Houston)
- Sales tax
- Fuel
- Tobacco
| Category | Washington | Texas |
|---|---|---|
| Groceries | Exempt | Exempt |
| Clothing at $100 | 9.57% | 8.25% |
| Fuel | 56.5¢ | 20¢ |
| Tobacco | $3.03 | $1.41 |
Grocery and general rates use the locations named here. Clothing is one item priced at $100; a more expensive garment may be taxed differently. Fuel and tobacco have separate units and scales.
The split, county by county
The state rate is the same everywhere in Washington. Anything beyond it was decided by a county or a city. These counties are a sample chosen to show the range, not a complete list.
| County | State | Local | Combined |
|---|---|---|---|
| Statewide average | 6.5% | 3.07% | 9.57% |
| King County (Seattle) | same | 4.05% | 10.55% |
| Pierce County (Tacoma) | same | 4% | 10.5% |
What it costs on a thousand dollars
The same purchase in four categories, priced on average across Washington. A flat thousand dollars is used deliberately — this is Washington's own rate restated in money, not a claim about what anyone spends.
| What you're buying | Tax as share of price | Tax on $1,000 |
|---|---|---|
| General goods | 9.57% | $96 |
| Groceries | 0% | $0 |
| Prescription drugs | 0% | $0 |
| Clothing | 9.57% | $96 |
Every county in Washington
This is the whole state, not a sample — 39 counties, from 7.6% in Klickitat County up to 10.3% in King County. These are county floors. City, transit and special-district taxes can add to them, so an address may pay more.
Complete county coverage for Washington: 39 counties spanning 7.6% (Klickitat County) to 10.3% (King County), across 19 distinct rates. Figures are county floors: the state rate plus the county's own levy, excluding municipal, transit and special-district taxes. The representative location figures earlier in the page may include additional local layers.
| County | State portion | County levy | Floor (state + county) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Adams County | 6.5% | 1.5% | 8% |
| Asotin County | 6.5% | 1.8% | 8.3% |
| Benton County | 6.5% | 1.6% | 8.1% |
| Chelan County | 6.5% | 2% | 8.5% |
| Clallam County | 6.5% | 2.1% | 8.6% |
| Clark County | 6.5% | 1.5% | 8% |
| Columbia County | 6.5% | 1.7% | 8.2% |
| Cowlitz County | 6.5% | 1.2% | 7.7% |
| Douglas County | 6.5% | 1.4% | 7.9% |
| Ferry County | 6.5% | 1.5% | 8% |
| Franklin County | 6.5% | 1.6% | 8.1% |
| Garfield County | 6.5% | 1.6% | 8.1% |
| Grant County | 6.5% | 1.7% | 8.2% |
| Grays Harbor County | 6.5% | 2.4% | 8.9% |
| Island County | 6.5% | 2.6% | 9.1% |
| Jefferson County | 6.5% | 3% | 9.5% |
| King County | 6.5% | 3.8% | 10.3% |
| Kitsap County | 6.5% | 2.7% | 9.2% |
| Kittitas County | 6.5% | 1.8% | 8.3% |
| Klickitat County | 6.5% | 1.1% | 7.6% |
| Lewis County | 6.5% | 1.5% | 8% |
| Lincoln County | 6.5% | 1.5% | 8% |
| Mason County | 6.5% | 2.1% | 8.6% |
| Okanogan County | 6.5% | 1.5% | 8% |
| Pacific County | 6.5% | 1.7% | 8.2% |
| Pend Oreille County | 6.5% | 1.2% | 7.7% |
| Pierce County | 6.5% | 3.1% | 9.6% |
| San Juan County | 6.5% | 1.85% | 8.35% |
| Skagit County | 6.5% | 1.8% | 8.3% |
| Skamania County | 6.5% | 1.2% | 7.7% |
| Snohomish County | 6.5% | 2.8% | 9.3% |
| Spokane County | 6.5% | 1.6% | 8.1% |
| Stevens County | 6.5% | 1.5% | 8% |
| Thurston County | 6.5% | 1.9% | 8.4% |
| Wahkiakum County | 6.5% | 1.3% | 7.8% |
| Walla Walla County | 6.5% | 1.8% | 8.3% |
| Whatcom County | 6.5% | 1.8% | 8.3% |
| Whitman County | 6.5% | 1.5% | 8% |
| Yakima County | 6.5% | 1.7% | 8.2% |
Streamlined Sales Tax member rate files plus individual state Department of Revenue rate tables — county-level rows only; city, transit and special-district levies excluded — as of 2026-01-01, last verified 2026-08-29.
What this page does not cover
- The first Washington county table and calculator location list are samples, picked to show how much local rates move rather than to cover everywhere. Your address might land outside the range shown. A recent receipt is the better source if you have one.
- Washington taxes some things through this general rate and other things through taxes of their own. Fuel, alcohol and tobacco fall in the second group, and those charges sit inside the price rather than on the receipt. Vehicle purchases, hotel stays and eating out often add their own charges as well.
- An exemption is a category, not a promise. Washington decides for itself where each category stops — hot food is usually outside the grocery exemption, and accessories are often outside the clothing one. That boundary work is where the real difference between two states with the same rate turns up.
- The first Washington county table and calculator location list are representative samples, not a complete register. It exists to demonstrate the magnitude of local variation, so the highest and lowest figures shown bound the sample rather than the state. Any specific address should be checked against the local revenue authority or a recent receipt; a complete county-floor table, where shown separately, still excludes additional city and district taxes.
- Washington's general sales tax is one of several consumption taxes it levies, and the only one modeled on this page. Motor fuel, alcoholic beverages and tobacco are taxed under separate excise schedules, normally price-inclusive and therefore not visible as a line item. Lodging, prepared meals and vehicle transfers are frequently subject to additional dedicated rates at state or local level.
- Exemption treatment in Washington is recorded here at category level; the operative detail is where the state's statute terminates each category. Heated and prepared foods generally revert to the full rate despite a grocery exemption, and clothing exemptions are typically bounded by price threshold or by use. These definitional boundaries account for much of the divergence between states that appear equivalent on rate and exemption list alone.
Questions people ask
Why is the tax at the register higher than the state rate?
The state sets about 6.5%; local governments stack theirs above it, reaching about 9.57% in practice. The total moves with the address, not with the purchase.
Is food taxed the same as everything else?
Raw food is exempt in Washington. Prepared food is not, and the boundary between them is the part that surprises people.
Is clothing exempt here?
No. A handful of states exempt clothing and Washington is not one of them, so a coat is taxed exactly like a television. The exemption is unusual enough that assuming it is the common mistake.
Will the rate change if I shop in the next town?
Barely. The local portion is about 32.08% of the combined rate, so a statewide figure is close to right almost everywhere in Washington.
Is the sales tax higher here because there is no income tax?
The money is collected somewhere. Without an income tax, sales and property carry the load, and a combined rate of about 9.57% is part of how.
What composes the combined rate in this state?
The combined rate is the state levy plus every local levy sourced to the point of sale. Washington sets about 6.5%; the representative combined rate is about 9.57%, of which about 32.08% is decided locally. A single statewide figure is therefore an approximation.
How are groceries classified for sales tax here?
Washington exempts groceries from general sales tax. The exemption typically excludes prepared food, and definitional boundaries — utensils supplied, heating, or a seller's prepared-food share — determine which side a specific item falls on. Those tests vary by state and are not uniform.
How is apparel classified for sales tax in this state?
Washington applies the standard rate to apparel with no general exemption. Only a small minority of states exempt clothing, and among those several impose per-item caps or exclude athletic and formal wear, so cross-state assumptions about apparel are unreliable.
How much intra-state variation is there in the combined rate?
Locally determined levies account for about 32.08% of the representative combined rate, so intra-state dispersion is limited and the statewide figure approximates most locations closely. Rates remain sourced to the point of sale.
How does the absence of an income tax affect consumption tax burden?
Washington levies no personal income tax on wages, so general revenue relies more heavily on consumption and property bases. The representative combined sales rate is about 9.57%. ⚠️ Relative overall burden depends on a household's consumption share of income and cannot be inferred from the rate alone.