PayCrunch Research · National BLS OEWS May 2025 pay, with the state table still to come

PayCrunch · Services · SOC 41-2011

The cashier who keeps the lane moving when the scanner fails

$40,410national 90th percentile · middle $32,880 / yr
Self-checkout changes the lane

Cashiers in the United States earn a median of $32,880 a year. Pay starts near $24,530. The national 90th percentile is $40,410. This page does not publish a state top-of-range figure.

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 (Cashiers, SOC 41-2011). Employment 3,089,410. Last checked 22 September 2026. National percentiles via the BLS OEWS release as republished on O*NET OnLine wage tables.

Entry level · national 10th
$24,530
National 90th percentile
$40,410
Typical entry education
No formal educational credential
Lower disruption Higher exposure Self-checkout changes the lane
Entry · $24,530 National 90th · $40,410 Middle $32,880

Wages — U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, OEWS, May 2025 (Cashiers). Entry is the national 10th percentile. The top chip is the national 90th percentile, not a state. The middle half of workers earns $28,720 to $36,330. Hourly equivalents: $11.79, $15.81, and $19.43. BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook lists no formal educational credential as the typical entry-level education for cashiers. The marker on the exposure bar is PayCrunch editorial context, not a BLS statistic. Updated 22 September 2026.

Receive and disburse money in stores and other establishments that are not banks. Scan items, take cash or cards, and handle the exceptions the self-checkout machine stops on.

AI tools that fit Cashier work September 2026

A short list of general tools. This is not a sponsored placement, not a weekly crawl, and not a product review with prices. Use whatever your employer already allows.

ChatGPTSee the vendor

A general assistant for plain-language procedure notes.

How a Cashier uses it: Turn a till-variance rule into steps a new cashier can follow, then match them to the store's own sheet.

Microsoft CopilotSee the vendor

AI inside Excel and Outlook.

How a Cashier uses it: Summarize a week of till notes or draft the message to a supervisor about a repeating scan error.

Google GeminiSee the vendor

Google's assistant in Search and Workspace.

How a Cashier uses it: Check a published payment-network rule only from a source you can name, not from a guess.

Cashier: the till, the exception, and SOC 41-2011

Cashiers are SOC 41-2011. The locked chips are entry $24,530, median $32,880, and a national 90th percentile of $40,410. BLS counted 3,089,410 wage-and-salary cashiers in May 2025. This is not the retail salesperson page and it is not a bank teller. The work is taking payment and clearing the exceptions.

The published band is tight

The middle half of cashiers earns $28,720 to $36,330. From the median $32,880 to the national 90th percentile $40,410 is $7,530 a year. That step is real and it is not a management salary. Head cashier, service desk, and trainer duties are how people move inside this band. This page does not invent a state where the 90th percentile is higher.

What the lane actually audits

A clean close names the variance, the transaction, and what you did. A scanner that rejects a coupon is an exception with a code, not a reason to override every time. Cash handling follows the store's count, not a shortcut from a chat window.

Outlook

O*NET reports projected growth for 2024–2034 as a decline (minus 1 percent or lower). O*NET still projects about 542,600 openings a year over 2024–2034 because people leave the job. A decline in employment is not the same thing as no hiring.

Locked wage chips on this page: entry $24,530, median $32,880, national 90th percentile $40,410. SOC 41-2011. If a sentence disagrees with those three figures, the figures win.

How to do the work that sits inside this pay band

These steps stay inside the published national range. They are not a promise that you will be paid the 90th percentile.

1
Close the till so the variance has a name

A number without a cause gets counted again tomorrow.

1
Record the over or short.
2
Attach the transaction or the pickup it belongs to.
3
Stop when you do not know. Do not fill the gap with a guess.
Prompt
Rewrite this till note so a supervisor can see the amount, the likely transaction, and what is still unknown.
What changesThe close is something a lead can audit.
2
Treat an override as an exception, not a habit

Every override is a record.

1
Read the prompt the register actually shows.
2
Use the override only when the store's sheet says to.
3
Tell the lead which prompt is repeating.
Prompt
List the questions I should ask before I override this register prompt. Do not invent a store policy I did not paste.
What changesYou stop training the lane to skip the check.
3
Move the line without skipping the count

Speed that loses the cash drawer is not speed.

1
Greet and scan in the same order every customer.
2
Park a problem transaction instead of holding the whole line inside it.
3
Call for the item-check the sheet requires.
Prompt
Turn this rush note into a three-step lane routine that does not drop the ID or age check the store already requires.
What changesThe line moves and the required check still happens.

Careers related to Cashier

Similar pay, same field

Where this can lead

Wages in this list are the national medians printed on those pages. Every new page in this batch uses BLS OEWS May 2025.

Never used AI before? Start here (2 minutes).

Paste only facts you already have: a tag, a count, a calendar constraint, a file name. If the draft adds a number, a policy, or a product you did not provide, delete it.

Do not paste account numbers, full customer records, or anything your employer has told you to keep inside its own system.

Gear for this job

TODO: PC_GEAR is not filled in this batch. No product links and no ASINs until a reviewed list exists. Do not invent ASINs.

What Cashiers earn by state

TODO: state-wage table is not filled in this batch. The chips above are national OEWS May 2025 percentiles only. State medians are not estimated here.

Questions
How much does a cashier make?
The national median is $32,880 a year ($15.81 an hour). The 10th percentile is $24,530. The national 90th percentile is $40,410. Source: BLS OEWS May 2025, SOC 41-2011.
Do self-checkout machines end the job?
O*NET classifies 2024–2034 growth as a decline. It also projects about 542,600 openings a year because people leave. The machines change the lane. They do not set the wage on this page.
Why is there no state table?
State medians are a TODO on this page. The figures above are national percentiles only.

Sources

  • Salary (10th, 25th, median, 75th, 90th) — national BLS OEWS May 2025.
  • Employment — national OEWS May 2025 wage-and-salary employment, 3,089,410.
  • Outlook — O*NET reports projected growth for 2024–2034 as a decline (minus 1 percent or lower). Projected openings: about 542,600 a year.
  • Not on this page — state wages, metro wages, and product recommendations.

Check another occupation

These five pages are the highest-employment OEWS lines that were missing from the directory.