Average Salaries at Walmart
The average salary of typical Wal-Mart employees, which Wal-Mart calls "associates," is fairly representative of discount stores. As the largest retailer on the planet, Wal-Mart has more employees than any other U.S. employer other than the United States government, and runs more than 8,000 stores in 15 countries. The company, which also owns the Sam’s Club stores, sells everything imaginable. Additionally, banking on the success of their “Super Centers,” which also stock groceries, the chain recently created small neighborhood-style markets to compete with established grocery stores chains.
Wal-Mart Average Salaries by Position
A Wal-Mart employee in a professional position makes an average of $51,000 per year, while Wal-Mart hourly employees can expect $30,000. These salaries do vary greatly depending on the store’s location, the employee’s experience, and type of employee benefits. The following average wages were reported by employees to GlassDoor from stores around the country:
Store Workers:
- Cashier: $8.43/hr
- Sales Associate: $8.78/hr
- Customer Service Associate: $8.98/hr
- Electronic Sales Associate: $9.09/hr
- Associate: $9.15/hr
- Assembler: $9.24/hr
- Overnight Receiving Associate: $9.29/hr
- Wireless Sales Associate: $9.50/hr
- Photo Specialist: $9.59/hr
- Inventory Associate: $9.61/hr
- Overnight Stocker: $9.67/hr
- Deli Sales Associate: $9.98/hr
- Customer Service Manager: $10.36/hr
- Asset Protection Associate: $10.55/hr
- Department Manager: $11.18/hr
Professional Positions:
- Assistant Manager: $43,263/yr
- Co-Manager: $61,312/yr
- Programmer Analyst: $66,557/yr
- Store Manager: $86,802/yr
- Pharmacist: $117,138/yr
Other Compensation
Wal-Mart offers employees and their families both health and financial benefit packages. Their health coverage has no lifetime maximum and includes yearly wellness check-ups as well as pharmacy and dental benefits. By industry standards, their health insurance package is considered pricey, but other health benefits mentioned on the company website are impressive, including coverage for dependents until age 26; no limits due to pre-existing conditions for those under age 19; and their Mayo Clinic Nurse Line where employees can “speak to a registered nurse 24/7.”
Wal-Mart’s financial benefits include: a “Retirement Account Rollover;” matching contributions to an employee 401(k) up to 6 percent, and paid holidays, vacation, and personal time. Another benefit is their “Associate Stock Purchase Plan” in which the company matches 15 percent of the first $1,800 of stocks purchased during each year.
Industry Comparisons
The average salary of Wal-Mart employees does tend to be a bit lower than others in the cut-rate store business, such as the average salary for a Costco cashier of $8 to $15.50 per hour, and a Costco stocker at $9 to $20 per hour.
Some critics assert that Wal-Mart’s staunchly anti-union pay scale consigns employees with families to living beneath the poverty line and also point out that one third of Wal-Mart's part-time positions are not eligible for any benefits, according to Store Wars: When Wal-Mart Comes to Town, a PBS report. Yet that report also notes, “Forbes magazine, polling business executives (not employees) has ranked Wal-Mart among the best 100 corporations to work for.” According to that report, Wal-Mart is also the leading U.S. employer of people of color, with some 125,000 African Americans and over 74,000 Latinos working at Wal-Mart and Sam's Club stores nationwide.
