Side by side
National figures. Pay is BLS OEWS, May 2025. Shares are workers who told O*NET this describes their job (updated 2026, read October 31, 2026).
Scroll horizontally to view every column.
| Cashiers (41-2011) | Retail salespersons (41-2031) | Customer service reps (43-4051) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median pay | $15.81 | $17.03 | $21.53 |
| Low end (10th percentile) | $11.79 | $13.08 | $15.27 |
| Average weekly hours, production workers | 30.7, retail trade | 30.7, retail trade | 35.8, telephone call centers |
| Work under 40 hours | 57% | 53% | 17% |
| Injuries and illnesses per 100 workers, 2024 | 3.0, retail trade | 3.0, retail trade | 0.4, telephone call centers |
| Standing, continually or almost | 51% | 46% | Not shown. 19% stand about half the time |
| Sitting, continually or almost | Not shown. 49% never sit | Not shown. 33% never sit | 61% |
| Repetitive motion, continually or almost | 23% | 19% | 75% |
| Time pressure, every day | 13% | 20% | 73% |
| Angry or rude people, every day | 26% | 22% | 42% |
| Regular, set schedule | 83% | 85% | 88% |
| Typical education | None required | None required | High school diploma or equivalent |
| Training | Up to a few weeks | A few days to a few months | 2 to 4 weeks |
| Projected change, 2025 to 2035 | Down 6.5% | Down 0.3% | Down 5.3% |
| Openings a year | 521,300 | 520,600 | 289,500 |
Hours are preliminary, September 2026 for retail and August 2026 for call centers (BLS). Injury rates are from BLS SOII, against 2.3 for all private industry. Store type matters: warehouse clubs ran 5.0 and clothing stores 1.5. Training is from BLS OOH, and projections from BLS Employment Projections.
Two things surprise people. Customer service reports more daily anger than the sales floor, not less. And it reports far more daily time pressure. The body gets a rest, and the attention does not.
Screens, clocks and scorecards
Customer service. All reps report phone calls every day, and 83% report email every day (O*NET). A CVS Health remote posting read October 31, 2026, names the measures behind your raise: "Average Handle Time," "Unavailable time," "Quality Metrics" and "Schedule Adherence," which it defines as keeping your arrival, departure, lunch and break times (posted September 25, 2026). Moving up takes at least 6 months and 3 straight months of "Exceptional" scores there, and targets can change with 30 days' notice. More: customer service jobs guide.
Retail. You are measured too, in other ways. Kohl's posts "individual goals (e.g., credit, loyalty)." Target asks workers to speak to its loyalty programs "with every guest." Best Buy tracks "Customer Metrics (NPS and Mystery Shops)." Your drawer gets counted. No source measures hours spent on a screen in either job, so this page gives no figure. But your eyes are on a screen for a phone job, and on people and shelves in a store.
Schedule and where you work
Both can run nights and weekends. Cashiers may work "early mornings, late evenings, weekends, and holidays" (BLS OOH). Reps "often need to work during busy times, which may include evenings, weekends, and holidays" (BLS OOH). So the old idea that customer service is mostly 9 to 5 is not safe to count on. CVS's contact center is "open 24/7," with assigned schedules of 40 hours, and "some schedules may include one weekend shift."
Your hours can move in both. Federal law lets an employer change hours without notice (U.S. DOL, read October 31, 2026). Retail is where short weeks show up most: part-time retail jobs.
Remote is real, but it is not most jobs. A store job cannot go home with you. BLS says for reps that working from home "is also possible in some companies." In September 2026, 13.1% of office and administrative support workers teleworked all their hours, 10.5% some, and 76.5% none (BLS Table A-42). Scammers copy this job title, so read remote customer service jobs with no experience first. It also covers contractors and equipment. CVS asks for a hardwired connection, a private room and dependent care during work hours.
What you need to get in
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| Requirement | Retail | Customer service |
|---|---|---|
| Experience | Kohl's, Decatur, AL: "No retail experience required." Some ask: Best Buy, Portland, OR, wants 3 months | CVS: "1 year of customer service experience." BLS lists no experience as typical for the job, so read each posting |
| Education | None typical. Dollar General, NJ: diploma "preferred" | CVS: diploma "required" |
| Age | Publix 14. Kohl's and Trader Joe's 16. Aldi 18: jobs that hire at 16 | See each posting |
| Physical | Lifting. Aldi: up to 45 pounds. Target: up to 44 | Sitting, typing and hearing |
| Computer | Basic. Lowe's: "using a computer" | "Proficient PC skills" at CVS |
So retail can be the way in. CVS's bar is customer service experience, not call center experience, which it lists only as "preferred." Keep your wording honest: retail resume tips.
What you would take home
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| Example | Hours | Gross | SS and Medicare | Federal tax | Take-home |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cashier at the median, $15.81 | 25 | $395.25 | $30.24 | $8.56 | $356.45 |
| Salesperson at the median, $17.03 | 30 | $510.90 | $39.08 | $20.13 | $451.69 |
| Salesperson at full time, $17.03 | 40 | $681.20 | $52.11 | $39.82 | $589.27 |
| First rep job, $17.00 (low end at CVS) | 40 | $680.00 | $52.02 | $39.68 | $588.30 |
| Rep at the median, call center hours, $21.53 | 36 | $775.08 | $59.29 | $51.09 | $664.70 |
| Rep at the median, full time, $21.53 | 40 | $861.20 | $65.88 | $61.42 | $733.90 |
Assumptions: single filer, standard W-4, paid weekly, IRS Publication 15-T (2026), Social Security and Medicare at 7.65% (IRS Topic 751). No state income tax, as in Texas; most states take more. Hours follow the averages above. More: your first paycheck explained.
Compare rows three and four. At full time, a first rep job and a median salesperson take home about the same. Much of the weekly gap comes from hours, so ask about hours first.
Medians by metro (BLS OEWS, May 2025). More: pay benchmarks.
Scroll horizontally to view every column.
| Metro | Cashiers | Retail salespersons | Customer service reps |
|---|---|---|---|
| Atlanta | $14.43 | $15.79 | $20.54 |
| Chicago | $16.83 | $17.22 | $22.65 |
| Dallas-Fort Worth | $14.38 | $16.06 | $21.63 |
| New York | $17.28 | $18.40 | $23.84 |
The honest downsides
- Retail. On your feet, often for the whole shift. Lower pay and fewer hours. Weekends and holidays are when stores need you most. Warehouse clubs and supercenters have injury rates about twice the private average. Cashier jobs are shrinking as self-checkout spreads (BLS). Deep guide: what retail work is really like.
- Customer service. Hours of sitting and typing, with 75% in repetitive motion almost all the time. More daily anger, and no walking away. Your bathroom break may count against you, so ask how. Simple tasks are moving to self-service, and BLS projects a 5% decline. No federal source read here measures burnout. More on breaks: break laws by state.
If you ... choose ...
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| If you | Choose | Because |
|---|---|---|
| Have never had a job and are under 18 | Retail | Stated ages start at 14 and 16. CVS's posting asks for a diploma and a year of experience |
| Have no customer experience yet | Retail first | Kohl's takes beginners. CVS asks for 1 year of customer service |
| Need the most dollars a week | Customer service, if you qualify | Higher median and hours closer to 40 |
| Have a back, knee or foot problem | Customer service, after asking | 61% sit almost all the time. Sitting has its own costs |
| Hate being timed | Retail | 73% of reps report daily time pressure, against 13% of cashiers |
| Need to move around | Retail | 61% of reps sit almost all the time, and 49% of cashiers never sit |
| Need to step away when life calls | Neither is easy. Ask first | CVS measures assigned break times. Stores schedule breaks too (JobPin's read) |
| Want to skip the commute | Remote customer service, carefully | Check for scams. CVS also requires dependent care during work hours, so remote is not child care |
| Have no quiet room or wired internet | Retail or an on-site center | Remote postings can require both |
| Want a next step without a degree | Either | Both can lead to supervisor. Medians: $23.33 retail, $33.41 office (BLS, May 2025): growing into retail management |
| Need weekends off | Ask, in either | Both name evenings and weekends |
Current openings
Retail: retail jobs, retail jobs with no experience and retail pay by store. By city: Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, Miami, New York and Orlando. Customer service: customer service jobs. By city: Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas and New York.
Source-linked openings
Current source-linked listings could not be confirmed in this sample. Check the category search and each original posting for availability.
How to verify a listing
Every opening on JobPin links to its source posting. For customer service, check whether you are an employee or a contractor, and find the same job on the employer's own careers site. For retail, check the address and hours. More: job scam warning signs and how JobPin verifies listings.
How JobPin dates and sources listings: How JobPin verifies listings and events. Report a listing.