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The differences between food clerks and sales clerks can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a food clerk has an average salary of $29,967, which is higher than the $25,739 average annual salary of a sales clerk.
The top three skills for a food clerk include wine, basic math and customer service. The most important skills for a sales clerk are customer service, stock shelves, and sales floor.
| Food Clerk | Sales Clerk | |
| Yearly salary | $29,967 | $25,739 |
| Hourly rate | $14.41 | $12.37 |
| Growth rate | 2% | - |
| Number of jobs | 113,838 | 372,651 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | High School Diploma, 40% | Bachelor's Degree, 34% |
| Average age | 37 | 41 |
| Years of experience | - | - |
Food clerks are skilled employees who work either in grocery stores or supermarkets to assist customers with their food needs. In grocery stores, food clerks are required to scan food items for their customers and process their purchases as well as ensure that they have found everything they needed. They must assist in the store's inventory management by organizing and storing food merchandise in the backroom. Food clerks must also use their product knowledge to assist customers with questions and maintain customer satisfaction.
A sales clerk is responsible for assisting customers in purchasing products, responding to customer inquiries, and providing product recommendations. Sales clerks require excellent customer service and communication skills to offer the best services to the customers and maintain good customer feedback for the business. They also check inventories, request supplies as needed, and organize product displays on the appropriate shelves. A sales clerk must have strong verbal communication skills to manage customer concerns and excellent time-management skills to perform tasks within the fast-paced work environment.
Food clerks and sales clerks have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Food Clerk | Sales Clerk | |
| Average salary | $29,967 | $25,739 |
| Salary range | Between $14,000 And $63,000 | Between $16,000 And $39,000 |
| Highest paying City | New York, NY | Washington, DC |
| Highest paying state | Rhode Island | New York |
| Best paying company | ShopRite | Hawaii Pacific Health |
| Best paying industry | Retail | Energy |
There are a few differences between a food clerk and a sales clerk in terms of educational background:
| Food Clerk | Sales Clerk | |
| Most common degree | High School Diploma, 40% | Bachelor's Degree, 34% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | - | - |
Here are the differences between food clerks' and sales clerks' demographics:
| Food Clerk | Sales Clerk | |
| Average age | 37 | 41 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 52.6% Female, 47.4% | Male, 35.3% Female, 64.7% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 11.2% Unknown, 5.4% Hispanic or Latino, 20.0% Asian, 7.7% White, 54.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.1% | Black or African American, 10.2% Unknown, 5.1% Hispanic or Latino, 19.7% Asian, 6.8% White, 57.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5% |
| LGBT Percentage | 6% | 7% |