Cashiers

Cashiers process payments and disburse money in retail settings using cash registers, point-of-sale systems, or related equipment.

Duties

Cashiers typically do the following:

• Greet customers
• Scan customers’ purchases
• Process payment from customers and give change and receipts
• Bag or wrap customers’ purchases
• Process returns and exchanges of merchandise
• Answer customers’ questions and provide information about store policies
• Help customers sign up for store rewards, credit cards, or other programs
• Count the money in their register at the beginning and end of each shift or tally transaction receipts from point-of-sale systems

Cashiers are responsible for processing sales transactions in retail stores, which also may include overseeing self-checkout stands. When selling age-restricted products, such as alcohol or tobacco, cashiers must verify the age of the purchasing customer.

In addition, cashiers may have duties related to customer assistance or store upkeep. For example, they may need to retrieve customers’ orders for in-store pickup or to stock shelves. They are usually required to keep their workspace neat and may have to do light custodial tasks, such as mopping floors or taking out the trash.

Cashiers held about 3.2 million jobs in 2024. The largest employers of cashiers were as follows:

The work is often repetitive, and cashiers spend most of their time standing behind counters or checkout stands. Dealing with dissatisfied customers can be stressful.

Work Schedules

Cashiers’ work schedules may vary to include early mornings, late evenings, weekends, and holidays. In establishments that stay open 24 hours a day, such as gas stations, they may need to work overnight. Cashiers may pick up additional shifts in certain stores during holidays or other peak sales periods.

Part-time work is common.

Cashiers typically have no formal education requirement to enter the occupation. They are trained on the job.

The median hourly wage for cashiers was $14.99 in May 2024.

Employment of cashiers is projected to grow 10 percent from 2024 to 2034, decline.

About 542,600 openings for cashiers are projected each year, on average, over the decade. Many of those openings are expected to result from the need to replace workers who transfer to different occupations or exit the labor force, such as to retire.