Popular Grocery Store Chain Raises Its Starting Pay To $23 An Hour

People don't eat without grocery stores (by the way, here's how much of your income you should be spending on groceries), and food isn't replenished on the shelves unless workers are there to keep the supply chain moving. Grocery store employees were deservedly labeled as essential workers during the COVID-19 pandemic years, however, after an initial wave of both raises and protective policies, many grocery store chains began walking back such measures.

According to Zippia, the average annual income for grocery employees today (September 2024) is $15.64 per hour or $32,529 yearly. (On that note, here are the states that pay a minimum wage of $15 or more.) As a comparison, the national average salary for the fourth quarter of 2023 was about 82% more at $59,384, per data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

But some retailers have striven to provide living wages to their employees, and some stores have moved to implement new beneficial policies even with the pandemic in the rearview mirror. One is Aldi. In September 2024, Aldi announced in a press release that it was raising its starting pay for warehouse workers to $23 an hour.

Aldi, the fast-growing grocery chain in the U.S. (which said in March 2024 that it would be adding 800 new stores in the U.S. by 2028), announced its new wage increases during National Hiring Week (September 9-15). In its press release, Aldi said it aimed to hire 13,000 workers ahead of the 2024 holiday season.

Note that the $23-per-hour starting wage only applies to those working in Aldi warehouses, and it depends on the location, too. As for Aldi store workers, they also will see a bump in pay, to $18 per hour. The company said that the pay raises were part of Aldi's commitment to "competitive starting wages;" it may have had Walmart in mind. In February 2024, Walmart implemented pay increases of its own that raised the average hourly pay for its workers to over $18 an hour (in 2023, the average was already $17.50, per NBC News).

But better pay isn't the only benefit Aldi has announced in recent years. For example, in 2023, Aldi began offering flexible scheduling, plus six weeks of 100% paid parental leave for full-time workers. As for health insurance and employee perks like paid time off, the company offers both to workers with weekly schedules of 30 hours or more.

In its press release, Aldi credited its success to its ability "to attract and retain talent," of which increased pay and benefits play a significant role. A discount grocer, Aldi's low prices help draw in customers, but the store cannot function without capable and willing staff. And according to Aldi, many of its workers have grown with the company over the years, with "70% of assistant store managers and over 30% of store managers" beginning their Aldi careers as store associates.

Included with the press release was a testimonial from an Aldi employee who had been with the company 16 years. She spoke highly of the opportunities afforded her by the company and the sense of meaning in her daily work. Looking outside of company-selected statements, anecdotal reviews volunteered on job sites like Indeed and Glassdoor show employees to be moderately satisfied with Aldi on average. Pay and benefits were often named among the biggest perks to working there.