Cashier: what the job is, what it pays, and how to get hired.
The work, the skills that matter, the tools in demand and the pay range, from U.S. government data, plus every TryHired page for the role.
10% of cashiers earn less than this amount.
- Annual
- $24,530
- Hourly
- n/a
- Source
- BLS May 2025
25% of cashiers earn less than this amount.
- Annual
- $28,720
- Hourly
- n/a
- Source
- BLS May 2025
Half of cashiers earn more than this and half earn less.
- Annual
- $32,880
- Hourly
- $15.81
- Source
- BLS May 2025
75% of cashiers earn less than this amount.
- Annual
- $36,330
- Hourly
- n/a
- Source
- BLS May 2025
90% of cashiers earn less than this amount.
- Annual
- $40,410
- Hourly
- n/a
- Source
- BLS May 2025
Cashiers receive and disburse money in establishments other than financial institutions. The median pay is $32,880 a year ($15.81 an hour) (BLS, May 2025). The most commonly reported education requirement is a high school diploma or equivalent (44% of workers surveyed by O*NET).
- Median pay
- $32,880
- BLS May 2025
- Employed in the U.S.
- 3,089,410
- BLS May 2025
- Preparation
- Job Zone 2 of 5
- some preparation
- Most common education
- High School Diploma or the equivalent (such as a GED)
- 44% of workers
Every page for Cashiers
What cashiers do day to day
Data Core tasks rated most important by workers in the role (O*NET).
- Receive payment by cash, check, credit cards, vouchers, or automatic debits.
- Greet customers entering establishments.
- Issue receipts, refunds, credits, or change due to customers.
- Assist customers by providing information and resolving their complaints.
- Monitor checkout stations to ensure they have adequate cash available and are staffed appropriately.
- Establish or identify prices of goods, services, or admission, and tabulate bills, using calculators, cash registers, or optical price scanners.
- Answer incoming phone calls.
- Answer customers' questions, and provide information on procedures or policies.
Ranked by importance to the job
Data O*NET importance ratings. The first three are core.
Knowledge areas: Customer and Personal Service, English Language, Sales and Marketing.
Software cashiers use
Data Examples reported for the role; employer demand flags from O*NET.
- AFEXDirectPoint of sale POS software
- Electronic medical record EMR softwareMedical software
- Apple SafariInternet browser softwareHot technology
- Microsoft EdgeInternet browser softwareHot technology
- Microsoft ExcelSpreadsheet softwareHot technology
- Microsoft Office softwareOffice suite softwareHot technology
- Microsoft WindowsOperating system softwareHot technology
- Mozilla FirefoxInternet browser softwareHot technology
- Bookkeeping softwareAccounting software
- Database softwareData base user interface and query software
- Handheld computer device softwareOperating system software
- ReliaSoft PrismData base user interface and query software
Also called: Cage Cashier, Center Aisle Cashier, Central Aisle Cashier, Checker, Customer Assistant.
How this page is built
Tasks, skills, tools, education and related roles come from O*NET 31.0. Pay and employment come from the BLS OEWS May 2025 national estimates. The skill-match score is our calculation: Skill match is the correlation between the two occupations' skill profiles: for each of 35 O*NET skills (10 essential, 25 transferable) we multiply importance by level, subtract the average across all occupations, and correlate the two profiles. 100 means identical shape; 0 or below means unrelated. Only occupations that O*NET itself lists as related are compared.
- How a specific employer defines the job.
- Pay for self-employed workers (OEWS covers employees).
- Your own chances: data describes the occupation, not you.
- O*NET 31.0 Database, U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under the CC BY 4.0 license. TryHired selected, ranked and combined the data; O*NET is not responsible for these pages.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 estimates (public domain).