How much the typical worker makes at 30 top retailers, from Amazon to Walmart

Costco keeps topping the list of retailers whose median employees earn the most.Jay L Clendenin/Getty ImagesWorkers are earning more than they used to as retailers invest in wages to attract and keep staff.Still, limited hours and seasonal schedules often mean lower annual earnings than full-time roles.Here's the median wage for workers at 30 retail companies, listed from lowest to highest.When it comes to retail jobs, most Americans fall into one of two camps: they've either done the job themselves or they know someone who has.More than 15 million people work in the retail trade sector, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. That's nearly one-tenth of the US workforce. And a 2022 study from the Urban Institute found that nearly two-thirds of Americans had worked in retail at some point in their careers.But retail is changing in big ways.With the Federal minimum wage unchanged since 2009 at $7.25 an hour, many retailers are doubling or tripling it to attract and retain staff.And Walmart, the largest private employer in the US (and the world), recently shook up the way it pays frontline hourly workers. Instead of simply offering pay increases based solely on years of service with the company, the retail giant is evaluating worker and store performance as well to nudge raises up or down by as much as one percentage point.Still, hourly wages are one part of the pay equation.An individual's total earnings also depend greatly on the number of hours they work in a given period, which can vary considerably, especially in more seasonal businesses.Many of the employers in this list said their median employee was a part time worker who averaged 20 hours or less a week. It's also very common in retail for workers to hold multiple jobs.To get a picture of what the typical worker makes in a year at various large retail brands (with market capitalization of more than $10 billion), Business Insider used AlphaSense to search the most recent proxy filings that publicly traded companies must file with the US Securities and Exchange Commission.All public companies must calculate their median worker's annual salary to compare it to the CEO's compensation.In terms of compensation, half of a company's workers earn more and half earn less than its "median employee."Scroll through below to see where 30 of the largest companies rank, from lowest to highest annual pay.30. Ross Stores: $9,602Kevin Carter/Getty ImagesMore than 85% of Ross Stores employees work in one of the company's retail locations, and the number fluctuates seasonally.Last year's median worker was a part-time hourly associate who earned $9,602.29. Dick's Sporting Goods: $11,513Scott Olson/Getty ImagesTo identify its median employee, Dick's said it considered about 56,014 workers, of whom 18,507 were full-time and 37,507 were part-time.Last year, the median worker was a part-time retail operations associate who had been with Dick's since 2022 and averaged 13 hours a week in 2024, earning a total of $11,513 in a year.28. Starbucks: $14,674Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty ImagesStarbucks said it has more than 361,000 employees and over 21,000 company-operated stores around the world. In fact, some 150,000 of its workers are located outside the US, which the company said affects its median pay calculations.The median employee in the US was a part-time barista who earned $14,674 last year, including salary and restricted stock units. CEO Brian Niccol, meanwhile, is the highest paid CEO in this list and received total compensation of more than $97.8 million for the year — a pay ratio of 6,666:1.27. GameStop: $14,726Michael M. Santiago/Getty ImagesGameStop said it had 6,500 full-time salaried and hourly employees and a part-time hourly workforce that fluctuates between 11,000 and 17,000.The median employee in the US was a part-time hourly employee who worked an average of 22 hours a week, the company said.That person's total annual compensation was $14,726.26. TJX: $15,002Scott Olson/Getty ImagesTJX Companies — the owner of T.J. Maxx, Marshalls, and other off-price retail chains — said its median employee was a part-time hourly retail store associate who earned $15,002 last year.CEO Ernie Herrman was the third-highest paid executive on this list, with a compensation package of nearly $23.5 million and a pay ratio of 1,565:1.25. Dollar Tree: $15,602Dominick Reuter/Business InsiderDollar Tree said it considered a population of 209,517 employees, of whom 140,001 were part-time employees and 5,892 were temporary or seasonal workers.Its median employee was a part-time hourly store associate in the US who earned $15,602 last year.24. Chipotle: $16,666Chipotle's CEO has made it compulsory for staff to smile as customers.Justin Sullivan/Getty ImagesChipotle said its median employee was an hourly part-time employee who worked roughly 20 hours a week at a restaurant in Nevada. Their compensation last year was $16,666 last year.23. Yum Brands: $17,160Mike Kemp/In Pictures via Getty ImagesYum Brands said it had about 25,000 employees in the US and 10,000 internationally. The median employee was a part-time Taco Bell restaurant employee in the US who earned $17,160 last year.22. McDonald's: $17,492Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty ImagesMcDonald's said its media employee for 2024 was a restaurant crew worker in Poland who earned $17,492 last year.The company said it didn't exclude any employees in its calculation of the median employee, though some exceptions were allowed under SEC rules.21. Restaurant Brands: $18,801Mike Kemp/In Pictures via Getty ImagesRestaurant Brands said it identified 21 middle employees in its global workforce, which it then re-ranked as a group by total compensation to find the middle-most one.The resulting median employee was a restaurant crew member at a company-owned Burger King location in the US who earned $18,801.20. Casey's General Stores: $18,148Casey's via Business WireGas station slash pizza chain Casey's says its median worker was a part-time store team member in Mobile, Alabama, who earned $18,148 last year.19. Dollar General: $18,951Dominick Reuter/Business InsiderDollar General said it had an even number of employees last year, which meant it ended up with two median workers. The company reported on the person who had worked at Dollar General for longer.That staffer was a part-time store associate who earned $18,951 last year.18. Texas Roadhouse: $20,391Dominick Reuter/InsiderMore than three-quarters of Texas Roadhouse workers are part-time employees. The company said the average schedule is about 22 hours a week.The median employee was a server in Louisville, Kentucky, who worked an average of about 15 hours a week, the company said.That server's total earnings last year were $20,391.17. Williams-Sonoma: $26,078Justin Sullivan/Getty ImagesThe median Williams-Sonoma employee is a design studio specialist located in Florida who was paid $26,07 last year, the company said.The housewares chain, which owns brands like Pottery Barn and West Elm, said it hires a "substantial" number of temporary and seasonal workers during the holiday sales period, which sharply lowers its median figure.If only full-time workers are considered, the median employee would earn $51,838, the company said.16. BJ's Wholesale Club: $26,507Lane Turner/The Boston Globe via Getty ImagesBJ's Wholesale Club said its median employee earned $26,507 last year.15. Target: $27,090Justin Sullivan/Getty ImagesTarget's median worker is a part-time employee who was paid $27,090 last year.Meanwhile, Target CEO Brian Cornell, who is leaving his post next year, was the fourth-highest paid executive on this list, with a compensation package worth $20.4 million and a pay ratio of 753:1.14. Walmart: $29,469Jay L Clendenin/Getty ImagesWalmart is the largest private employer in the world, with more than 2.1 million workers globally. More than half a million people work as frontline hourly associates in its 4,600 US stores.The median worker earned $29,469 last year. CEO Doug McMillon was the second-highest-paid CEO in this list with a compensation package worth $27.4 million — a pay ratio of 930:1.13. Lowe's: $30,606Justin Sullivan/Getty ImagesHome improvement retailer Lowe's employed about 273,000 workers, including full-time, part-time, and temporary employees.The company's median worker earned $30,606 last year.12. AutoZone: $30,637Jakub Porzycki/ReutersAutoZone said its median employee was paid $30,637 last year.11. Best Buy: $31,141Business Wire/APElectronics retailer Best Buy had roughly 75,170 US employees and 9,710 non-US employees last year. The median worker received $31,141 in compensation.10. Sprouts Farmers Market: $31,784Kevin Carter/Getty ImagesSprouts said it employed 34,992 total team members other than CEO Jack Sinclair, and the median worker was paid $31,784 last year.9. O'Reilly Automotive: $31,854Geri Lavrov/Getty ImagesAuto parts retailer O'Reilly said its median employee was paid $31,854 last year.8. Albertsons: $32,057Katherine Jones/Idaho Statesman/Tribune News Service via Getty ImagesGrocery chain Albertsons said its median employee was a non-exempt, full-time hourly employee who was paid $32,057 last year.7. Domino's Pizza: $33,744Brandon Bell/Getty ImagesDomino's identified its median employee as a part-time delivery driver who worked less than 30 hours a week and was paid on an hourly basis.That driver earned $33,744 last year.6. Kroger: $34,213Brandon Bell/Getty ImagesMore than half of Kroger's employees are part-time, and the company says its median worker is a full-time associate in the Central region who earned $34,213 last year.5. Home Depot: $35,196A Home Depot in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.Dominick Reuter/Business InsiderHome Depot had more than 470,000 workers last year, of whom about 419,600 were in the US.The median worker was an hourly employee in the US who earned $35,196 last year.4. Tractor Supply Co: $36,352Dominick Reuter/InsiderTractor Supply Co. said its workforce of more than 50,000 people is roughly half full-time and half part-time, with seasonal workers added in the spring and fall.The company's median employee earned $36,352 last year.3. Amazon: $37,181Miguel J. Rodriguez Carrillo/Getty ImagesThe median employee across Amazon's global workforce earned $37,181.The e-commerce giant also calculated the numbers for its US full-time workforce and found that the median worker earned $47,990 last year, up from $45,613 the year before.The company also said its average base wage for front-line employees was $22 per hour — more than triple the US minimum wage.2. Genuine Parts Company: $38,901Don and Melinda Crawford/UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty ImagesThe SEC rules allow a company to use the same individual worker that was identified as the median employee in the prior year, but Genuine Parts Company (which owns NAPA), said that person got a promotion last year, which changed their compensation significantly.A "substantially similar" employee was paid $38,901 for the most recent year.1. Costco: $47,092PATRICK T. FALLON/AFP via Getty ImagesCostco once again tops this year's list with a median annual pay of $47,092. The wholesale club said it had about 328,000 employees worldwide, of whom about 216,800 were in the US, last year.The company said about 39% of that workforce was part-time, seasonal, or temporary, which lowered the median. When considering only year-round full-time workers, the median jumped to $64,318.No wonder a job at Costco is widely considered to be one of the best in retail.Read the original article on Business Insider

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