Ikea is raising its starting wage 17 percent, to an average of $10.76 an hour

Ikea is announcing a pretty hefty raise for hourly workers at its 38 U.S. stores. The middlebrow Swedish furniture and housewares purveyor isn't instituting a uniform minimum wage, but will raise pay based on cost of living. The new average starting wage of $10.76 an hour, The New York Times reports, includes the floor of $8.69 an hour for workers in Pittsburgh and West Chester, Ohio, to $13.22 an hour in Woodbridge, Va., not too far outside of the Washington Beltway.

The wage increase will increase the pay for about half of Ikea's 13,120 U.S. employees. The average wage in Sweden, by the way, is about $52 an hour, the highest in Europe, according to a 2013 report from Germany's statistics agency. Statistics Sweden puts the average hourly wage a little lower, at about $23.25 an hour.

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.