Cashiers Salary in the United States (2026)

Cashiers process payments at checkout, scan or ring up items, issue receipts, handle returns and exchanges, and balance their cash drawer at the end of a shift. They work in grocery stores, general merchandise stores, gas stations, pharmacies, and many other retail settings.

How to become one

No formal education is usually required, and training takes place on the job. It is a common entry-level job, and many cashiers work part time.

Pay for Cashiers is influenced by geographic location, years of experience, employer type, and educational background. Location alone is a large factor: District of Columbia pays an average of $42,370, while Mississippi pays $26,200 — a gap of $16,170 per year.

Pay closely tracks state and local minimum wages, which explains most of the gap between the highest- and lowest-paying states. Grocery chains with union contracts and large retailers with higher starting wages tend to pay toward the top of the range, and moving into a head cashier or front-end supervisor role raises pay.

These figures are the wages employers report to BLS: base pay plus commissions, production bonuses and tips. They exclude overtime pay, shift differentials, year-end bonuses, benefits and self-employed workers, so total compensation can be higher than the numbers shown.