How Much Money Does a Store Clerk Make?

Store clerks, also known as cashiers, take cash, credit cards and debit cards from customers in exchange for goods. They may also bag customer purchases and provide general customer service. More than 3 million Americans were cashiers in 2011, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, or BLS. Wages for store clerks are relatively modest and vary a bit across the country.

National Average

The mean hourly wage for a cashier was $9.73 in 2011. This translates to a mean annual wage of $20,230. The bottom 10 percent of wage-earners made an average of $7.80 per hour, or $16,230 per year. The top 10 percent of cashiers made an average of $12.94 per hour, or $26,920 per year.

Highest-Paying States

The highest paying states for cashiers are Washington, Alaska and California, with mean hourly wages of $12.19, $11.73 and $11.28, respectively. This translates into annual mean wages of $25,350 in Washington, $24,400 in Alaska and $23,450 in California. The fourth- and fifth-highest paying states for cashiers are Oregon and Hawaii, which both had average hourly wages of $11.21 and annual wages of $23,320 in 2011.

Highest-Paying Metropolitan Areas

The highest-paying metropolitan areas for store clerks, or cashiers, are San Francisco-San Mateo-Redwood City, California; Santa Rosa-Petaluma, California; and Seattle-Bellevue-Everett, Washington. Cashiers in these areas made $13.13, $12.86 and $12.86 per hour, respectively, in these areas in 2011. This translates into $27,300, $26,750 and $26,740 per year, respectively.

Highest-Paying Non-Metropolitan Areas

The highest paying non-metropolitan areas for cashiers are North Central Colorado, Railbelt/Southwest Alaska and Southeast Alaska. Cashiers in these regions made an average hourly wage of $12.46, $12.41 and $12.37, respectively, or annual wages of $25,920, $25,810 and $25,720 in 2011.