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The differences between cashiers and clerks can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a clerk has an average salary of $31,163, which is higher than the $28,144 average annual salary of a cashier.
The top three skills for a cashier include front end, cash handling and basic math. The most important skills for a clerk are basic math, math, and data entry.
| Cashier | Clerk | |
| Yearly salary | $28,144 | $31,163 |
| Hourly rate | $13.53 | $14.98 |
| Growth rate | -10% | -5% |
| Number of jobs | 456,110 | 80,311 |
| Job satisfaction | 4.2 | - |
| Most common degree | High School Diploma, 45% | Bachelor's Degree, 33% |
| Average age | 34 | 47 |
| Years of experience | - | 2 |
A cashier is one of the most visible positions in the retail industry. Cashiers are the last direct point of contact with customers and play a key role in service, retail, and wholesale establishments. They leave a long-lasting impression, which helps encourage the customers to go back. The most common tasks for cashiers are to scan items, conduct price checks, and collect payments. They may deal with a great amount of money on a daily basis, so this position requires them to be honest, reliable, and trustworthy employees. They also need to have great skills in customer service as they may handle customer complaints from time to time, assist in answering questions, and process refunds or exchanges.
Clerks are responsible for many of the general administrative tasks in the office. They are in charge of manning office telephone lines, managing incoming and outgoing mails, filing paperwork and other needed records, scheduling and documenting meetings, typing out documents when needed, disseminating memos and other official announcements, and keeping an inventory of office equipment and supplies. Clerks should have good office skills, communication skills, business writing skills, and time management skills. They should also be able to treat any document or paperwork they handle with confidentiality.
Cashiers and clerks have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Cashier | Clerk | |
| Average salary | $28,144 | $31,163 |
| Salary range | Between $21,000 And $36,000 | Between $24,000 And $39,000 |
| Highest paying City | Washington, DC | Washington, DC |
| Highest paying state | Massachusetts | New Hampshire |
| Best paying company | Deloitte | University of Massachusetts Boston |
| Best paying industry | Retail | Health Care |
There are a few differences between a cashier and a clerk in terms of educational background:
| Cashier | Clerk | |
| Most common degree | High School Diploma, 45% | Bachelor's Degree, 33% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | - | Western Carolina University |
Here are the differences between cashiers' and clerks' demographics:
| Cashier | Clerk | |
| Average age | 34 | 47 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 27.1% Female, 72.9% | Male, 34.1% Female, 65.9% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 9.9% Unknown, 5.2% Hispanic or Latino, 20.7% Asian, 7.5% White, 55.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.9% | Black or African American, 9.9% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 21.1% Asian, 7.7% White, 55.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.1% |
| LGBT Percentage | 5% | 6% |