Washington
Wireless Facts
| Subscribers: | 5,291,131 |
| Population: | 6,508,824 |
| Percentage of Wireless Consumers: | 81% |
| Wireless-Only Households: | 16.6% |
Industry in Washington
| Service Providers: | 11 (in urban areas) |
| Wireless Employees in the State: | 13,237 |
| Average Annual Wireless Payroll: | $1,055,032,000 |
| Average Annual Wireless Employee Wage: | $79,704 |
Wireless Subscriber Growth
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Wireless Tax Rate
- State-Local Rate
- 18.59%
- Federal Rate
- 5.05%
- Combined Monthly Tax Rate
- 23.64%
- Rank Nationally
- 1st
Breakdown
- State Sales Tax (Access, Interstate and Intrastate) 6.50%
- Local Sales Tax (Average Olympia, 1.9%, and Seattle, 2.4%) 2.15%
- Business and Occupation Tax/Utility Franchise - Local (Olympia, 6.38%, and Seattle, 6.38%, Average 6.38%)
- 9-1-1, State (20 cents/month) 0.40%
- 9-1-1, Local (Up to 50 cents/month) 1.00%
Federal Wireless
Issues
- Managing Your Wireless Account
- Taxing “Digital Goods & Services”
- Listed Property
- Internet Regulation or Network Neutrality
- Cell Tax Fairness Act Of 2009
- Safe Driving
- Wireless 9-1-1 Services
- Support One National Policy For Wireless
- Consumer Code
- Adding Wireless Facilities
- Wireless Amber Alerts™
- Keeping The Internet Tax-Free
Helpful State
Legislative Links
- State Homepage link: access.wa.gov
- Legislature link: www.leg.wa.gov
- Governor’s link: www.governor.wa.gov
All Information Compiled from the Following Sources:
- Dr. Robert Roche, CTIA-The Wireless Association’s Vice President for Research, Washington, D.C., http://www.ctia.org.
- Scott Mackey, Partner and Economist, Kimbell Sherman Ellis, LLP, Montpelier, VT, http://www.ksefocus.com/why-kse/people/scott-mackey, from Tax Analysts, Special Report, State Tax Notes, February, 2008, “Excessive Taxes and Fees on Wireless Service: Recent Trends,” by Scott Mackey.
- Federal Communications Commission, FCC’s Industry Analysis and Technology Division, Wireline Competition Bureau, July 2009, “Local Telephone Competition: Status as of June 30, 2008,” http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-292193A1.pdf.
- Data on employment and wages by state are available from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Census of Employment and Wages (CEW) at http://data.bls.gov/PDQ/outside.jsp?survey=en. The wireless industry data is retrievable through NAICS 5172 - Wireless Telecommunications Carriers.
- The data on state population and household income is available via drop down menu from the Fact Sheets available from the U.S. Census Fact Finder page, at http://factfinder.census.gov/home/saff/main.html?_lang=en.