With the intention of creating “a better everyday life” for its employees, Ikea, the Swedish furniture company, is revising its wage structure, according to Rob Olson, Ikea’s acting president for the U.S. and its chief financial officer.

Workers at the 38 U.S. stores will get a minimum wage boost of 17%, as announced last month. The actual figure will vary according to the cost of living in each particular area, but the average will be $10.76 per hour. That works out, for example, from a low of $8.69 an hour at stores in Pittsburgh and West Chester, Ohio, to $13.22 an hour at the store in Woodbridge, Va. The average wage is $3.51 above the current federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour.

Ikea is the latest large retailer to raise its minimum pay across the board; Gap Inc. (which includes Banana Republic and Old Navy) raised its wage to a $9 minimum earlier this year. Ikea’s minimum wage affects about half of its 13,120 U.S. employees.

Ikea is known for offering competitive benefits, including matching contributions for 401(k) plans, and a bonus program that feeds a new retirement fund.

Read the whole story in the New York Times.