Baked goods are always a welcoming addition to the table any day. That is why, once the cooking is done, bakery associates are known for presenting excited customers with yummy food to indulge in. It may seem a simple job, but it pays an average of $15.25 an hour.

Whenever you need a delicious treat, you opt for the bakery, and the associate in charge is responsible for assisting you. As one yourself, you will have to organize the workspace and sell the products.That means taking orders from impatient customers, answering any incoming questions or complaints. Moreover, the position also requires good communication skills, as you will be the link between the baker and customers.

With an expected growth of 8% in the next ten years, you can become a bakery associate with just a high school degree. But around 11% of the associates also carry a bachelor's degree. As a bakery associate, your time will revolve around cakes, pastries, and assorted breads.

What Does a Bakery Associate Do

There are certain skills that many bakery associates have in order to accomplish their responsibilities. By taking a look through resumes, we were able to narrow down the most common skills for a person in this position. We discovered that a lot of resumes listed listening skills, dexterity and near vision.

Learn more about what a Bakery Associate does

How To Become a Bakery Associate

If you're interested in becoming a bakery associate, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 21.2% of bakery associates have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 1.1% of bakery associates have master's degrees. Even though some bakery associates have a college degree, it's possible to become one with only a high school degree or GED.

Learn More About How To Become a Bakery Associate

Bakery Associate Career Paths

Average Salary for a Bakery Associate

Bakery Associates in America make an average salary of $28,963 per year or $14 per hour. The top 10 percent makes over $47,000 per year, while the bottom 10 percent under $17,000 per year.
Average Bakery Associate Salary
$28,963 Yearly
$13.92 hourly

What Am I Worth?

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Roles and Types of Bakery Associate

There are several types of bakery associate, including:

Sandwich Artist

Role:

Look out Jared the Subway Guy, there's a new sandwich artist in town (we're talking about you!) This position welcomes creativity, and requires you know your way around a sandwich. I mean, you obviously want to put the lettuce first to prevent your bread from getting soggy from the sauce.

Seriously though, don't forget the sauce. No one enjoys a dry sandwich. Unless you have no tastebuds. Or are a picky child. Nonetheless, the majority of your customers are going to want a beautiful sandwich creation. From the meats to the cheeses, and even the veggies, you're allowed to be creative and show off your sandwich making skills.

The majority of sandwich artists only work part-time, but there are quite a few full-time positions open. Also, there are other sandwich places to work for, aside from Subway, so you have options. Or you could go your own route and open your own sandwich artistry shop. Or food truck. Whichever fits your creative side.

  • Average Salary: $23,564
  • Degree: High School Diploma

Food Service Worker

Role:

Food service workers are employed in restaurants, cafeterias, grocery stores, and any other institution that offers dining services, such as schools, hospitals, or prisons. If you want to learn everything about food preparation and what it takes to be a restaurant manager or a top-notch chef, taking on a job as a food service worker is a great place to start.

Your job will be to assist kitchen staff in preparing meals. Your responsibilities include helping to keep the kitchen spotless, prepping ingredients, slicing, dicing, rinsing, and peeling while making sure all safety regulations are respected.

No experience is needed to be hired as a food service worker; you just have to be attentive and organized and respect the authority of your superiors, which in this case is basically everyone in the kitchen.

  • Average Salary: $28,753
  • Degree: High School Diploma

Deli Clerk

Role:

Working at a deli, whether it's located in a grocery store or just in a stand-alone shop, takes a lot of patience. As a deli clerk, you'll be dealing with customers throughout your shift. It doesn't matter if they come in with a really big order that takes forever to fill or they're rude to you, your employer will be impressed as long as you wear a smile the entire time.

But good customer service isn't the end-all be-all for this position. Not every order is going to suck and not every customer is going to take patience. You might even develop a friendly relationship with those who become your "regulars." It's those orders and customers that make your job fun.

Deli clerks receive training after they're hired so that they understand how to measure deli items and price them correctly. Depending on where you're working you may even have to help customers check-out.

  • Average Salary: $32,240
  • Degree: High School Diploma

States With The Most Bakery Associate Jobs

Mouse over a state to see the number of active bakery associate jobs in each state. The darker areas on the map show where bakery associates earn the highest salaries across all 50 states.

Average Salary: Job Openings:

Number Of Bakery Associate Jobs By State

RankStateNumber of JobsAverage Salary
1California682$32,994
2North Carolina446$22,419
3Texas357$23,256
4Virginia310$25,496
5New York263$31,643
6Ohio259$24,756
7Pennsylvania258$25,865
8New Jersey236$26,202
9Arizona218$26,003
10Florida201$23,986
11Washington187$33,808
12Massachusetts174$33,185
13Michigan173$25,265
14South Carolina156$24,778
15Illinois152$23,934
16Maryland134$28,152
17Wisconsin133$25,727
18Missouri121$22,006
19Connecticut117$29,790
20Tennessee114$19,709
21Indiana113$21,809
22Georgia110$20,482
23Minnesota72$29,927
24Kentucky71$23,245
25Iowa70$22,210
26New Hampshire65$27,779
27Maine63$29,654
28Utah45$26,688
29Colorado43$27,833
30New Mexico37$21,941
31Delaware36$28,171
32Oklahoma36$21,369
33Alabama33$18,907
34Oregon32$30,070
35Nebraska32$23,842
36Louisiana32$19,327
37West Virginia31$23,055
38Nevada30$25,058
39Kansas27$24,201
40Idaho22$23,827
41Vermont17$30,576
42Rhode Island17$32,838
43South Dakota17$25,742
44Arkansas17$22,075
45North Dakota14$28,383
46Mississippi14$21,440
47Alaska9$32,202
48Montana9$25,817
49Wyoming5$23,006
50Hawaii3$32,127

Bakery Associate Education

Bakery Associate Majors

16.3 %

Bakery Associate Degrees

High School Diploma

43.3 %

Bachelors

21.2 %

Associate

19.9 %

Top Skills For a Bakery Associate

The skills section on your resume can be almost as important as the experience section, so you want it to be an accurate portrayal of what you can do. Luckily, we've found all of the skills you'll need so even if you don't have these skills yet, you know what you need to work on. Out of all the resumes we looked through, 45.4% of bakery associates listed customer service on their resume, but soft skills such as listening skills and dexterity are important as well.

Choose From 10+ Customizable Bakery Associate Resume templates

Zippia allows you to choose from different easy-to-use Bakery Associate templates, and provides you with expert advice. Using the templates, you can rest assured that the structure and format of your Bakery Associate resume is top notch. Choose a template with the colors, fonts & text sizes that are appropriate for your industry.

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Bakery Associate diversity

Bakery Associate Gender Distribution

Female
Female
78%
Male
Male
23%

After extensive research and analysis, Zippia's data science team found that:

  • Among bakery associates, 77.5% of them are women, while 22.5% are men.

  • The most common race/ethnicity among bakery associates is White, which makes up 59.9% of all bakery associates.

  • The most common foreign language among bakery associates is Spanish at 68.6%.

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Best States For a Bakery Associate

Some places are better than others when it comes to starting a career as a bakery associate. The best states for people in this position are Washington, Massachusetts, California, and Rhode Island. Bakery associates make the most in Washington with an average salary of $33,808. Whereas in Massachusetts and California, they would average $33,185 and $32,994, respectively. While bakery associates would only make an average of $32,838 in Rhode Island, you would still make more there than in the rest of the country. We determined these as the best states based on job availability and pay. By finding the median salary, cost of living, and using the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Location Quotient, we narrowed down our list of states to these four.

1. Washington

Total Bakery Associate Jobs: 187
Highest 10% Earn:
$45,000
Location Quotient:
1.26

2. Maine

Total Bakery Associate Jobs: 63
Highest 10% Earn:
$44,000
Location Quotient:
2.33

3. Massachusetts

Total Bakery Associate Jobs: 174
Highest 10% Earn:
$54,000
Location Quotient:
0.93
Full List Of Best States For Bakery Associates

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Top Bakery Associate Employers

Most Common Employers For Bakery Associate

RankCompanyAverage SalaryHourly RateJob Openings
1Costco Wholesale$35,476$17.06119
2Safeway$32,911$15.8254
3Hy-Vee$32,873$15.8084
4Hannaford Supermarkets$32,706$15.72117
5H-E-B$32,573$15.6665
6ShopRite Supermarkets Inc.$32,317$15.5472
7Albertsons Companies$32,027$15.40102
8Wegmans Food Markets$32,008$15.3992
9Publix$31,974$15.37123
10Whole Foods Market$31,957$15.3698

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