Starbucks barista is mentioned in Chicago magazine's "Salaries" issue

Kate Wimbiscus, a barista at the Michigan Ave./Huron St. Starbucks in Chicago, makes $17,680 a year. Chicago magazine says that's based on $7.50/hour and $1/hour in tips. (Also featured in the "Salaries" issue is Yana Dubinsky, a cocktail waitress at Rockit Bar & Grill in Chicago. She makes $43,680 a year. That's based on $3.80/hour. $200 to $300/night in tips, three nights a week.)

Comments

[Andrew]

Did that include her health benifits she recieves or her stock options or her retirement that starbucks provides for her? also $1 an hour seams low for tips

[James the barista]

How many hours? Barista are lucky to get 30, but the average is about 25 hours a week...I get about 20-25 hours. I have to keep my stock and health benefits.

[jennifer]

I used to work at this very store. Tips never broke $2/hr, usually something like $1.25.

Kate W., by the way, is awesome!

[JJ]

Eh...I live in California and am a supervisor and I barley make 16,000 a year including tips.

[Marty]

Starbucks offers great health insurance but besides that it's wages are pretty low. You can make a lot more working for Target, Wal-Mart, or other retail and food service places.

[S.]

It's true that Starbucks' benefits package is very generous, especially for part-time employees. It's the main reason I was attracted to work for Starbucks in the first place, despite the low wages. Fringe benefits are cool too, like free drinks while you work and free pound of coffee/box of Tazo tea a week, but I had to accept a higher-paying job to begin paying my bills, even if this new job won't be nearly as flexible, laidback, and fun as working at Starbucks.

[Sirens Die (eventually)]

I love Starbucks benefits. Unfortunately when I go to my landlord at the end of every month and say, "I'll pay you when my Bean Stock starts vesting" he gets upset.

My health insurance is great. Lucky for me I don't live in New Orleans where apparently some partners lost health coverage due to store closures after Hurricane Katrina.

Tuition reimbursement is great when your manager respects your school schedule enough to allow you to get to class on time.

The stock purchase plan would be great if it didn't require taking money out my already miniscule paycheck.

Tips are great however I do not consider them part of the "Starbucks Total Pay Package." I see them as another excuse Starbucks uses to pay low wages and more importantly keep hours low.

I'm not into Starbucks bashing especially by people who don't work for the company or who have something to gain by the company's misfortune. But let me say this.. partner, help thyself.

Start using your mind! Its not cool living your parents house paying a hundred bucks rent for the room you grew up in. What you gonna tell your girlfriend when you bring her home??? Sad situation my friend. Unless you are going to impress her with your health plan.

All ridiculousness aside. Baristas, (shifts too) we need to do something about our situation. I'm not talking about comparing our situation to that of the McDonalds worker or the Wal-Mart worker or for you real wackos out there the Indonesian sweat shop worker. Theres nothing to be gained in comparing.

What I'm talking about is figuring out what we are really worth. I know this is a foreign concept because throughtout most of our working lives we are going to be told what we are worth by our employers and we're going to simply, accept it. But for those baristas with the capacity to go outside the box do this for me. Compare what you ACTUALLY put in to what you ACTUALLY get back.

So yeah, meditate on that for a minute when you stop shaking from all of the espresso drinks you've been downing all day to stay somewhat coherent and alert. What are you worth to you?

[flyovershift]

Damn, JJ. I work in Flyoverville and make about 19K yearly plus tips. I think you are trying to pull a fast one.

[shab]

Anyone have a link to the article?

what are you worth?

it's an interesting concept.

a love a job is a fountunate thing that most people don't have.

how many of your customers fantastize about working at your store, because it's fun and relaxed and has an awesome atmosphere?

where else will you get paid a decent wage for realively unskilled labour?

[Fairly Paid]

I make about 31k as a shift per year (including the $3/hr in tips), which doesn't make that much sense, considering an ASM friend of mine got promoted and is making 28k.

[JustSomeBarista]

Fairly Paid,

How long have you been with the company? I thought there was a cap on hourly wages in the $11/hr range.

[FAIRLY PAID]

About 3 years. The Cap in my region is $12/hr. I live in the NorthEast, so my payscale is right in the center of the average I feel like.

[A]

I am a shift in the Dallas area. I make $9/hr which, at 30 hrs a week, adds up to around 15k/yr plus $1.50/hr in tips. I am moving to NY and hoping to get a decent increase.

[kondor]

Well, someone has to serve the coffee and muffins, but I don't see how anyone lives off that salary. Perhaps a great job for a college student but as a real career choice for long term? Doesn't sound that appealing to me.

I do make your life easier though, by just ordering the blend of the day, venti black. Save time, markers and your voice. :-)

[neil]

Fiairly paid, you are moving to NY? If you are moving to the city and planning on living alone or within an hour of Manhattan, the starbucks salery aint going to cut it.
In Manhattan, if you work for Starbucks, you better live with mom.

kondor:
i don't think starbucks ever intended people chosing to be a barista or a shift as a long term carrer choice...

[L in Cali]

I have given 6 years of my life to Starbucks in hopes that it would pay off. I only make 8.75 and hour and I am so broke I am about to file bankruptcy.

Benefits are wonderful and should remain....but unfortunately they do not pay the bills of life. Starbucks needs to realize this, and increase the base pay. I think In and Out burger starts at $10.00...with benefits also...so take the reings Starbucks, an actual living wage is what the partners need. I think the company can afford it.....unless of course Akeelah and the Bee bombs.

[Love]

I am a shift lead in Northern California and have my interview for ASM tomorrow. Since I like to think I am a pretty sharp cookie I did some investigating on how much one should make, for what they do and where they live. Go to this website and search for your job title and add your zip code. you might have to do a little searching but it's worth it. Click on base Salary (free) click through the tabs when you get your adjusted table. If you have any questions about why your pay is higher or lower than the calculated number, please read the methodology section at the top of the page.

http://salary.nytimes.com/salarywizard/layoutscripts/swzl_keywordsearch.asp

Good Luck and I hope this helps.

Love you should expect to make a whopping 25k as an ASM in Northern Cali..........hope you are wearing your seatbelt my friend you are in for a ride

[C]

I have worked for the company for over 10 years and I love it. The company doen't plan on having baristas stay baristas forever but to move up and help us grow from within. The problem is we aren't paying them enough to stick around or even motivate them to want to grow in the company. We really need to work on the hourly wage. I'ts sooo low.

[Jenny]

What's ASM?

[ms martin]

Starbucks needs to get real. quality coffe needs qulity baristas which mean a quality wage.. which make quality attitudes.. its that simple

[Chops]

Kate W. Rocks the Kasbah!!!

[Frustrated in TX]

I am a store manager for Starbucks and agree with you all. I make $37k a year. Yeah that sucks as a manager. I have a bachelors degree and working on my masters, and all I get from this pay increase was an extra $10 a pay check. I think it sucks around the board. I don't get tips, and the way the budgets are set rarely ever acheivable so no bonus. They need to do more than this little itty bitty pay increase if they want to keep the creme of the crop!

[This Guy]

My wife has worked for StarBucks for 1 1/2 years has been a shift for 8 months to a year. Well she was next in line for ASM and 2 weeks ago the DM gave ASM to a lady with no interviews for anyone else. Now there is 2 ASM openings and my wife gets told you need to interview for this, now having 6 months to a year on everyone else this is crap. Not only that the last 6 promotions was givin just by saying here you got the job. On top of all this My wife ran the store she works at as acting SM for 4 months while the SM didnt even know how to order supplies. Then the SM had a breakdown and quit. My wife the trooper she is, ran the store and everyone loved her and called it her store. After DM hired a SM he told my wife that he would give her a $500 bonus for her deeds and said he couldn't give her a pay increase due to her 1 yr coming up. Now there is 5 people wanting one of the 2 ASM, and she is affraid her past deeds will not be remembered.

[Cheboygan]

I work in a small Starbucks located inside a regional chain supermarket called Meijer. I dont know why everyone is complaining? I make $7.15 an hour, which is minimum wage in my state, and i get no benefits... no free drinks, no stocks, no health benefits, no pound of coffee per week, no tips and still a small paycheck. Granted i am a full-time college student, i usually end up with 22 hrs per week, but even then it doesnt cover my small financial needs.

I used to live on my own, then i started working (for Starbucks) and i had no choice but to move back home because i could not even afford my rent. I too would appreciate a raise like everyone else in the world, cause you can never have too much money, but face it, its probably not going to happen.

i love my job, i love the work, i love the drinks (that i pay full price for), and i love my co-baristas (lead barista-not so much).

Anyways just wanted to say, you may not be in a good financial situation, but theres always other jobs that will pay more, so be more gracious for what you do get. Some of us get NO benefits.

[zerocool]

3 months ago , i was working 40 hours as a shift supervisor per week at $11.08 an hour. thats $17940 take home. the tips at that store were usually about $2 an hour. thats $80 a week in tips. thats $4160 last year. thats $22,100 for last year. that isnt much, but im considered high paid for a shift supervisor, and ive been denied 7 raises in 5 years. very difficult to achieve full raises without absolute maximum effort.

[Baristadm]

I feel like if Starbucks would increase pay business would profit generously. I know at more store 90% of the people have to work two jobs in order to pay the bills, some while going to school. This makes for tired,grumpy Baristas who don't want to listen to peoples shannanigans all day. If this job was more secure people would not have to live paycheck to paycheck then would in turn be happier and Provide better service.

[usorthem3]

@Frustrated in Tx You wrote this at the time I started. Wish I would have read it then. Not much change in the wages area since then or will in the future I think.
@Baristadm Howard wrote in his 1st book about the need to spend a higher amount on labor than most thought necessary to provide for excellence but that is gone with the cuts in labor. Now it is all about numbers and not the nurturing of coffee passion, that changed when they changed the mission statement.

[Anon]

I get way less that $1/hour for tips.

[Neil]

My last paycheck, I made 1908.45 after taxes, and I am hoping to get around 1600 this two weeks. It is hard to scrape by in Vancouver on such a modest paycheck.