Weigh produce and scan groceries
At a grocery register, you weigh loose produce, scan packaged goods, and bag the order when needed.
Career profile
Cashier
Cashiers ring up items, take payment from shoppers, and help them through checkout.
The job is part keeping track of cash, part chatting with shoppers, with an occasional price question or returned item to sort out.
A day in the life
Take payment and make change
Take the shopper's cash or card, give back the correct change, and hand over the receipt.
Call over the head cashier
When a price needs checking, call over the head cashier, who helps you settle it with the shopper.
Balance the cash drawer
Count the money you took in and compare it with the sales totals the register recorded.
Quick facts
Learn on the job
United States
$15.81/hour
United States · May 2025
6% decline
United States · 2025–2035
Quick orientation
Preparation, pay & outlook
Preparation
Learn on the jobTypically no formal education requirement; training may take a few weeks.
Pay
$15.81/hourNational median for cashiers.
Outlook
6% declineEmployment is projected to shrink, with replacement openings continuing.
Fit, tradeoffs & changing tools
You might like this if…
- You like short conversations with many different people.
- You can repeat a routine while still checking details.
Things to weigh
- Standing and repeating scanning motions can be tiring.
- Evenings, weekends, and unhappy customers can be part of the job.
Where AI may help
Self-checkout lets customers scan and pay; register software totals purchases.
What people still lead
Cashiers help with checkout problems, returns, and questions that interrupt a transaction.
What we can’t predict yet
Self-checkout and online shopping reduce staffing needs. How much checkout becomes troubleshooting will vary by store.
Pay in context
Earnings
Compare hourly pay and scheduled hours: part-time work is common.
The midpoint and spread
The median was $15.81/hour, or $32,880 annualized. The lowest 10% earned below $11.79/hour; the highest 10% exceeded $19.43. These are not starting and senior pay rates.
Pay differs by setting
Hourly medians were $16.87 in building-material and garden-supply stores, $16.45 in food and beverage retail, and $14.68 at gasoline stations.
Openings despite decline
About 521,300 openings annually are projected, all from replacing workers who leave the occupation or workforce.
Getting started
Start at a grocery checkout
- What the route involves
- Apply for a cashier role and learn the store's scanning, weighing, and payment routines.
- What it can lead to
- You become ready to handle grocery transactions and help shoppers at the register.
- What to check
- Publix lists a minimum age of 14 and requires reading, writing, simple math, and following instructions. Check each employer's requirements.
Enter through a broader customer-service role
- What the route involves
- Look for roles such as Target's Guest Advocate, which includes cashier work and employer-provided training.
- What it can lead to
- You build experience answering customer concerns and adapting to different service situations alongside checkout work.
An experienced worker usually teaches you the register. Some employers prefer a high school diploma.
After entry
Career paths
This starts where the entry routes leave off: early work, growing capability, and advancement or specialization.
Get established
Build a reliable routine for payments, receipts, and balancing your drawer.
Handle more situations
Learn returns and self-checkout support so you can help when a routine purchase becomes complicated.
Lead the checkout area
A head cashier role can add coaching new cashiers, organizing coverage, and resolving escalated customer problems.
Where you can work
Grocery stores
Produce weighing and bagging join scanning at the front of the store. You repeatedly move products while talking with shoppers.
- Indoors
- Physical demands
Home-improvement stores
Customers may ask about products and projects. Checkout can include returns and self-checkout support, with a head cashier helping resolve problems.
- Indoors
Try it
See whether the job clicks before you commit to the path.
Set up a pretend checkout with five household items, handwritten prices, and paper money. Have a friend ask a price question midway through paying. Check your total and change afterward. Notice whether conversation makes you lose your place.
Sources
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Cashiers — Occupational Outlook Handbook. Accessed 2026-10-02.
- O*NET OnLine. 41-2011.00 — Cashiers. Accessed 2026-10-02.
- Publix. Cashier. Accessed 2026-10-02.
- The Home Depot. Cashier — Mesa, AZ. Accessed 2026-10-02.
- Target. Guest Advocate (Cashier or Front of Store Attendant/Cart Attendant) (T1375). Accessed 2026-10-02.