How Much Does Dollar General Pay? Hourly Wages by Role

Pay at Dollar General depends on the job, the store and the state, and the reported data shows a wide spread. Most titles sit in the lower half of the retail pay scale, and the largest reported step is the one up to store manager. That makes the question of how much it pays as much about which role you take as about the company.

The numbers below come from Payscale, where employees report their own pay, and from BLS medians shown through O*NET OnLine. The BLS figures describe each occupation across all employers, not Dollar General. Dollar General does not publish a current hourly range that this page can cite. Rates vary by store, role and state, and the job posting is the reliable source.

Employees report an average of $12.62/hr. Across job titles, reported averages run from $9.67/hr to $16.87/hr. Those are averages of what people say they earn, so a new hire's start rate can fall below or above them.

Treat the number as a rough guide. It may include distribution center and other non-store jobs, and it can lag behind recent raises.

Cashier is the lowest-paid reported hourly title, at $10.88/hr. That is well below the national median for cashiers across all employers, $15.81/hr, so Dollar General's own cashier average is lower than what the wider market pays for the same occupation.

The state you work in shifts that comparison a lot. The table shows what cashiers across all employers earn in four states.

In a state like California or New York, even the low end of the reported range is higher than the typical cashier wage in Mississippi. Look up your own state's range before judging whether a posting is competitive.

The highest-paid hourly title in the Payscale data is retail store manager, at $18.46/hr.

That is a self-reported hourly average, and it may not include bonuses or other compensation that managers can receive. If you are weighing a promotion path, ask for the total pay structure, hours expected and any bonus rules in writing. For context, the BLS national median for first-line supervisors of retail sales workers across all employers is $23.33/hr, which is well above the reported store manager average.

The table gives national medians for common store occupations across every employer. They show where a Dollar General average of $12.62/hr falls in the broader market.

The retail salesperson median is $17.03/hr. Dollar General's reported average is lower than every occupation in the table. That does not make an offer a bad one, since hours, location and schedule matter, but it is a fair reason to compare it with nearby retailers.

Self-reported averages are one input among several. Reports pile up over time, so older entries may reflect rates from before local raises. Reports also mix part-time and full-time workers, and different states. Your own offer will be specific to one store and one position, which is why the posting and the written offer matter more than any average.

If an offer looks low against the comparison tables above, ask whether the rate changes after a probation period or a first review, and compare it with other retail postings in your area.

• What is the starting hourly rate for this store?
• How many weekly hours does a new employee usually get?
• Is the rate the same for opening and closing shifts?
• When is the first pay review?
• What does the path to key holder or assistant store manager look like?