In the United States, few industries touch the lives of as many people as the retail sector. When one begins a conversation about retail employment, most Americans can immediately relate in one of two ways: either they have personally held a position behind a register, on a sales floor, or in a stockroom, or they personally know a friend, family member, or neighbor who has. Retail work, in its countless forms—from small boutiques to nationwide chains—represents a near-universal experience within the American workforce. According to data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, more than fifteen million individuals currently earn their livelihood through the retail trade, a figure that accounts for nearly ten percent of the country’s entire employment base. A 2022 analysis by the Urban Institute further underscores retail’s ubiquity, revealing that roughly two-thirds of Americans have, at some stage in their professional lives, worked in some capacity within the retail arena.
However, this vast economic landscape is undergoing a profound transformation. The entire industry is contending with evolving expectations, new labor dynamics, and intensified competition to attract and retain skilled employees. Although the federal minimum wage has remained stagnant at $7.25 per hour since 2009, a growing number of retailers have chosen to take matters into their own hands by substantially increasing their base hourly pay. Many leading brands now double or even triple that federal rate in order to better compete for workers and mitigate staff turnover. For instance, Walmart—the largest private employer not only in the United States but also globally—has reimagined the structure of its compensation system for frontline hourly workers. Rather than relying solely on tenure-based pay increases, the company has incorporated additional elements into its evaluation process, including both individual performance at the store level and broader operational success. Through this approach, adjustments to employee raises can fluctuate by as much as one percentage point based on how both the worker and the store perform, reflecting a more nuanced connection between effort, efficiency, and reward.
Even so, hourly wages are only one facet of a much more complex income equation. The total amount earned by a retail employee depends as much on the number of hours they are scheduled to work as on the actual rate of pay they receive. This variable can differ dramatically, as retail tends to be subject to seasonal surges and slowdowns that dictate when workers are most in demand. Many companies acknowledge that their median employee is not a full-time staff member but instead a part-time worker who averages fewer than twenty hours per week. It is also quite common for individuals in retail to juggle more than one job—either within multiple locations of the same brand or across entirely different employers—just to secure a stable income across unpredictable schedules.
To better understand what an average retail employee actually earns in a single year, Business Insider conducted an extensive analysis of proxy filings—financial disclosures that every publicly traded company is required to submit to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. These filings, examined through the research platform AlphaSense, contain an essential figure: the median worker’s annual compensation. This number serves as the midpoint of a company’s pay scale, meaning half of all employees earn more than that amount while the other half earn less. By comparing that median employee income to executive pay, particularly that of the CEO, one can visualize the disparity between frontline wages and top-level remuneration.
The resulting data paints a detailed portrait of compensation across thirty of the nation’s largest and most recognizable retailers, each with a market capitalization exceeding $10 billion. The ranking moves from the companies with the lowest median annual wages to those at the very top of the spectrum. These figures do not merely reflect cold financial calculations—they offer insight into the priorities, structures, and workforce compositions of some of the most influential employers in the modern economy.
For example, Ross Stores, which heavily relies on seasonal staff to meet fluctuating demand, reported that its median employee—typically a part-time associate—earned just $9,602 annually. At the other end of the spectrum, Costco stood out dramatically, maintaining its long-standing reputation for providing exceptional pay and benefits. The company employed about 328,000 people worldwide, approximately 216,800 of whom were based in the U.S., and reported a median salary of $47,092. This figure climbed even higher, to $64,318, when counting only full-time year-round employees, reinforcing Costco’s image as a gold standard in retail employment.
Between these two poles lie many familiar names that form the backbone of American consumer life. Dick’s Sporting Goods, for instance, managed a blended workforce numbering over 56,000 employees and identified its median worker—a part-time retail operations associate averaging just thirteen hours per week—as earning $11,513 annually. Starbucks, with a global workforce of more than 361,000 and operations spanning over 21,000 company-run stores, calculated its U.S. median employee earnings at $14,674, including both cash pay and restricted stock units. GameStop’s typical worker, also part-time and logging about twenty-two hours a week, brought in $14,726.
Other household names shared similar profiles: TJX Companies, parent to T.J. Maxx and Marshalls, listed its median employee, a part-time store associate, at $15,002, while Dollar Tree—employing over 209,000 people—reported median compensation of $15,602. Slightly higher up the chart, Chipotle’s Nevada-based part-time restaurant worker earned $16,666 annually, Yum Brands’ Taco Bell employee earned $17,160, and McDonald’s global calculation centered on a restaurant crew member in Poland who earned $17,492. From Dollar General and Casey’s General Stores to Texas Roadhouse and Williams-Sonoma, the medians continue to rise gradually, revealing patterns that illustrate the relationship between store size, business model, and seasonal employment pressures.
By the time one reaches companies such as Target ($27,090), Walmart ($29,469), Lowe’s ($30,606), and Home Depot ($35,196), it becomes evident that established retail giants with significant scale can often afford to deliver somewhat higher average wages—though these amounts remain modest compared with executive compensation. At the upper end, specialized or wholesale-oriented businesses like Tractor Supply Co. ($36,352), Amazon ($37,181), Genuine Parts Co. ($38,901), and finally Costco ($47,092) showcase the growing diversity of pay structures and the strategies each organization deploys to balance fiscal responsibility with workforce stability.
Taken collectively, these figures underscore the continually evolving nature of American retail work. The industry stands at an intersection where policy, corporate culture, and consumer expectations converge. Although many employees remain part-time and seasonal, the gradual rise in wages—on top of innovations in employee assessment and incentive programs—signals meaningful change. For millions of workers, retail is not merely a temporary job; it is a cornerstone of their economic livelihood and a reflection of how the broader labor market values essential service roles today. As wage trends continue to shift, comparisons such as these provide not only a snapshot of current realities but also a blueprint for how companies can compete more equitably in an increasingly transparent economy.
Sourse: https://www.businessinsider.com/how-much-retail-jobs-pay-at-amazon-costco-walmart-2025-11
