Retail Salespersons
Sell merchandise, such as furniture, motor vehicles, appliances, or apparel to consumers.
A wage reference for United States.
Published wage percentiles describe a distribution within the source occupation group. They provide context for a career decision; employer packages and job offers have their own terms.
This wage group may include multiple detailed occupations. The figures are for the source group, which may be broader than Retail Salespersons. They are not an exact-title, employer, experience or seniority match.
May 2025 · USD · United States. Annual and hourly figures are shown only when the source publishes them; neither is calculated from the other.
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics occupational wage data, distributed through the O*NET® OnLine service.
Annual wage thresholds
USD per year
Hourly wage thresholds
USD per hour
| Percentile | Annual wage (USD/year) | Hourly wage (USD/hour) |
|---|---|---|
| 10th | $27,210 | $13.08 |
| 25th | $29,900 | $14.38 |
| 50th · Median | $35,410 | $17.03 |
| 75th | $38,670 | $18.59 |
| 90th | $47,890 | $23.02 |
“≥” means at least the published amount; “≤” means at most that amount. These are bounds, not exact values. “Not published” means the source did not provide that figure. Occupational wages follow the source definition and do not establish an employer’s base salary, equity or total compensation.
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Compare an entered wage with the published thresholds for United States. Your entry stays on this page.
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What this career involves.
Occupation definitions describe common work. Responsibilities and requirements vary by employer and specific job.
Selected title examples
Expand more title examples (48)
Typical tasks
- Greet customers and ascertain what each customer wants or needs.
- Recommend, select, and help locate or obtain merchandise based on customer needs and desires.
- Compute sales prices, total purchases, and receive and process cash or credit payment.
- Prepare merchandise for purchase or rental.
- Answer questions regarding the store and its merchandise.
- Maintain knowledge of current sales and promotions, policies regarding payment and exchanges, and security practices.
Expand more tasks (18)
- Demonstrate use or operation of merchandise.
- Describe merchandise and explain use, operation, and care of merchandise to customers.
- Ticket, arrange, and display merchandise to promote sales.
- Inventory stock and requisition new stock.
- Exchange merchandise for customers and accept returns.
- Watch for and recognize security risks and thefts and know how to prevent or handle these situations.
- Place special orders or call other stores to find desired items.
- Clean shelves, counters, and tables.
- Maintain records related to sales.
- Open and close cash registers, performing tasks such as counting money, separating charge slips, coupons, and vouchers, balancing cash drawers, and making deposits.
- Prepare sales slips or sales contracts.
- Estimate and quote trade-in allowances.
- Bag or package purchases and wrap gifts.
- Help customers try on or fit merchandise.
- Sell or arrange for delivery, insurance, financing, or service contracts for merchandise.
- Estimate quantity and cost of merchandise required, such as paint or floor covering.
- Rent merchandise to customers.
- Estimate cost of repair or alteration of merchandise.
Skills used in this work
- Persuasion
- Persuading others to change their minds or behavior.
- Active Listening
- Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
- Service Orientation
- Actively looking for ways to help people.
- Speaking
- Talking to others to convey information effectively.
- Negotiation
- Bringing others together and trying to reconcile differences.
- Social Perceptiveness
- Being aware of others' reactions and understanding why they react as they do.
Expand more skills (29)
- Critical Thinking
- Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions, or approaches to problems.
- Active Learning
- Understanding the implications of new information for both current and future problem-solving and decision-making.
- Coordination
- Adjusting actions in relation to others' actions.
- Monitoring
- Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.
- Reading Comprehension
- Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work-related documents.
- Time Management
- Managing one's own time and the time of others.
- Writing
- Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.
- Instructing
- Teaching others how to do something.
- Judgment and Decision Making
- Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one.
- Complex Problem Solving
- Identifying complex problems and reviewing related information to develop and evaluate options and implement solutions.
- Learning Strategies
- Selecting and using training/instructional methods and procedures appropriate for the situation when learning or teaching new things.
- Mathematics
- Using mathematics to solve problems.
- Management of Personnel Resources
- Motivating, developing, and directing people as they work, identifying the best people for the job.
- Management of Financial Resources
- Determining how money will be spent to get the work done, and accounting for these expenditures.
- Management of Material Resources
- Obtaining and seeing to the appropriate use of equipment, facilities, and materials needed to do certain work.
- Operation and Control
- Controlling operations of equipment or systems.
- Operations Monitoring
- Watching gauges, dials, or other indicators to make sure a machine is working properly.
- Quality Control Analysis
- Conducting tests and inspections of products, services, or processes to evaluate quality or performance.
- Systems Analysis
- Determining how a system should work and how changes in conditions, operations, and the environment will affect outcomes.
- Systems Evaluation
- Identifying measures or indicators of system performance and the actions needed to improve or correct performance, relative to the goals of the system.
- Technology Design
- Generating or adapting equipment and technology to serve user needs.
- Troubleshooting
- Determining causes of operating errors and deciding what to do about it.
- Operations Analysis
- Analyzing needs and product requirements to create a design.
- Programming
- Writing computer programs for various purposes.
- Equipment Maintenance
- Performing routine maintenance on equipment and determining when and what kind of maintenance is needed.
- Equipment Selection
- Determining the kind of tools and equipment needed to do a job.
- Installation
- Installing equipment, machines, wiring, or programs to meet specifications.
- Repairing
- Repairing machines or systems using the needed tools.
- Science
- Using scientific rules and methods to solve problems.
Explore wages by location.
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Find the next step that fits.
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