Barista Hourly Pay, Skills & Requirements (2026)
Advertised pay, starting pay, skills and experience from 16,527 US job postings by 1,029 employers. Data as of October 2026.
What US employers post for baristas: advertised pay, the skills and experience they ask for, and the job titles they use, from 16,527 open job postings (October 2026).
- The median advertised pay for baristas in US job postings is $17.28 an hour (1,559 postings from 285 employers, October 2026).
- The middle half of those postings offer $14.50 to $20.00 an hour.
- The skills that most set barista postings apart are learn quickly, handle multiple duties, customer service.
- Postings that state a minimum ask for a median of 1 year of experience.
Barista job postings in the US, October 2026
- $17.28/hr
- Median advertised pay (1,559 postings)
- $14.50–$20.00
- Middle 50% of postings
- 16,527
- US job postings from 1,029 employers
- 1 year
- Median experience asked
How much does a barista make an hour?
The median advertised pay is $17.28 an hour, from 1,559 US job postings by 285 employers that state pay. That is about $36,000 a year at 2,080 hours.
Advertised pay in 1,559 US barista job postings: median $36,000 a year ($17.28 an hour), middle half $30,000 to $42,000.
- Median: $36,000 ($17.28/hr)
- 25th percentile: $30,000
- 75th percentile: $42,000
The figures as a table
| Annual pay | Share of postings |
|---|---|
| $10K–$20K | 0.8% |
| $20K–$30K | 22.8% |
| $30K–$40K | 45.5% |
| $40K–$50K | 26.2% |
| $50K–$60K | 2.3% |
| $60K–$70K | 1.0% |
| $70K–$80K | 1.1% |
Midpoint of each posting's pay range, hourly pay × 2,080 hours; at most 20 postings per employer; US, October 2026.
| Median | Middle 50% | Postings | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Postings that state an hourly rate | $17.28 | $14.50–$20.00 | 760 |
| All pay postings, annualised | $36,000 | $30K–$42K | 1,559 |
For comparison, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics puts the national median annual wage of Baristas (35-3023) at $31,000 (May 2025). Postings advertise pay; the BLS measures what people earn, across all employers and levels.
What is the starting salary for a barista?
Figure withheld: fewer than 250 US postings list pay. How we decide.
Highest-paying barista jobs
Specializations with at least 250 postings that state pay.
| Specialization | Median pay | Postings with pay | Employers |
|---|---|---|---|
| Barista (general) | $17.18/hr | 1,510 | 267 |
Barista pay by state
Single-location US postings; states with at least 100 postings that state pay. States with pay-transparency laws (such as California, Colorado, New York and Washington) are over-represented among postings that state pay.
| State | Median pay | Middle 50% | Postings with pay | Share of postings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| California | $20.00/hr | $19.00–$21.00 | 254 | 16.4% |
| New York | $18.50/hr | $17.75–$21.00 | 125 | 4.6% |
Skills employers ask for in barista job postings
| Skill | Share of postings |
|---|---|
| Customer service | 29% |
| Communication | 20% |
| Attention to detail | 12% |
| Interpersonal skills | 11% |
| Positive attitude | 10% |
| Learn quickly | 9% |
| Friendly | 8% |
| Energetic | 8% |
| Pos system | 8% |
| Work cooperatively | 6% |
Skills named in the posting text; at most 20 postings per employer; US, October 2026. Methodology.
Skills that set baristas apart
- Learn quickly41× as often as in all postings · 9%
- Handle multiple duties450.9× as often as in all postings · 5%
- Customer service3× as often as in all postings · 29%
- Passion for people141× as often as in all postings · 6%
- Pos system31.3× as often as in all postings · 8%
- Work cooperatively31.6× as often as in all postings · 6%
- Energetic9.1× as often as in all postings · 8%
- Cash handling18.9× as often as in all postings · 6%
- Friendly6.3× as often as in all postings · 8%
- Dependability7.1× as often as in all postings · 6%
- Positive5.5× as often as in all postings · 6%
- Reliable3.6× as often as in all postings · 6%
Skills named in at least 5% of these postings and at least 3 times as often as in job postings overall.
Have a barista job posting in front of you? See which of its skills your resume is missing.
What does a barista do?
Employers post these jobs as Starbucks Barista, Lead Barista, Part-Time Barista, Cashier/Barista, Cafe Barista and other titles.
The closest official occupation is Baristas (35-3023.01). Its most important tasks:
- Clean or sanitize work areas, utensils, or equipment.
- Receive and process customer payments.
- Prepare or serve hot or cold beverages, such as coffee, espresso drinks, blended coffees, or teas.
- Take customer orders and convey them to other employees for preparation.
- Clean service or seating areas.
Source: O*NET 31.0 Database, U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (CC BY 4.0).
How much experience do you need to be a barista?
Among 388 postings that state a minimum, the median is 1 year. 0% say 0 years and 76% ask for 1 year or less.
Minimum experience asked in 388 US barista job postings: median 1 year, and 76% ask for 1 year or less.
The figures as a table
| Minimum experience asked | Share of postings |
|---|---|
| 0 yr | 6% |
| 1 yr | 70% |
| 2 yrs | 21% |
| 3-4 yrs | 3% |
| 5-7 yrs | under 1% |
| 8-9 yrs | 0% |
| 10+ yrs | 0% |
Postings that state a minimum (required or preferred); at most 20 postings per employer; US, October 2026.
We do not show a degree figure: in our checks, degree requirements in posting text were found too rarely to publish one. Why.
Part-time 62%, Full-time 38% of the 442 postings that state working hours.
Other names for a barista: job titles employers use
| Job title | Employers using it |
|---|---|
| Barista | 793 (77.1%) |
| Starbucks Barista | 70 (6.8%) |
| Lead Barista | 36 (3.5%) |
| Part-Time Barista | 24 (2.3%) |
| Cashier/Barista | 24 (2.3%) |
| Cafe Barista | 22 (2.1%) |
| Cafe Supervisor | 21 (2.0%) |
| Coffee Barista | 20 (1.9%) |
| Barista/Cashier | 18 (1.8%) |
| Coffee Shop Barista | 15 (1.5%) |
| Starbucks Supervisor | 12 (1.2%) |
| Brewista | 9 (0.9%) |
| Seasonal Barista | 9 (0.9%) |
| Part Time Barista | 8 (0.8%) |
| Shift Lead | 8 (0.8%) |
| Barista I | 7 (0.7%) |
| Full-Time Barista | 6 (0.6%) |
| Barista Shift Lead | 6 (0.6%) |
| Barista Lead | 5 (0.5%) |
| Smoothie Barista | 5 (0.5%) |
Titles read in our audit and used by at least 3 employers.
Barista job titles compared
The titles people search for most, from the US job postings that use each exact title (October 2026).
| Job title | Open postings | Employers | Median pay | Median experience | Skills named most |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Starbucks Barista | 913 | 70 | – | – | customer service, attention to detail, suggestive selling techniques |
Barista compared with similar careers
| Career | Median pay | Median experience | Postings | Shares N of top 25 skills |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Barista | $17.28/hr | 1 year | 16,527 | – |
| Bartender | $16.85/hr | 1 year | 12,786 | 17 |
| Server | $16.90/hr | 1 year | 28,843 | 15 |
| Cashier | $16.50/hr | 1 year | 36,744 | 18 |
| Retail Sales Associate | $17.24/hr | 1 year | 141,396 | 15 |
Similar careers
| Career | Shares N of the top 25 skills | Median pay |
|---|---|---|
| Bartender | 17 | $16.85/hr |
| Server | 15 | $16.90/hr |
| Cashier | 18 | $16.50/hr |
| Retail Sales Associate | 15 | $17.24/hr |
| Team Leader | 13 | $18.00/hr |
| Host | 16 | $16.58/hr |
Applying for barista jobs?
- Barista resume examples: one-page examples for these roles
- Match your resume to a job: paste a posting and see the skills your resume is missing
- Check your resume: see how an applicant tracking system reads it
- Find barista jobs: search open postings
Source and method
Open US job postings collected from employers' applicant tracking systems, de-duplicated, counted only when their job title was read in our audit. Shares count at most 20 postings per employer, and franchise locations of one brand count as one employer. Pay uses hourly and annual figures only; a figure is shown when leaving out the largest employer moves it by 10% or less. Every figure states its number of postings. Methodology and measured accuracy.
Accuracy check: we read 20 randomly chosen postings counted on this page in full; 19 of them were this career or a closely related one (October 2026).
Download the figures on this page (CSV): every number above with its count of postings. Aggregate figures are licensed CC BY 4.0; cite the page when you reuse them.