What is a Store Associate?

Store associates work in retail businesses assisting customers in making their purchases. They help you find the right size or color of whatever you are looking for and tell you it fits perfectly, or that they have the same kind at home. And this still works like a charm after years of regular use.

They know the answers to all your questions, as far as the products of the store are concerned anyway. They manage stock, reorder shelves, and arrange the displays in shop windows.

This is an entry-level position where a high school diploma is more than enough to get hired. You just have to be friendly and patient, promptly at the service of customers to provide support and resolve any request or complaint.

What Does a Store Associate Do

There are certain skills that many store 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 interpersonal skills, math skills and selling skills.

Learn more about what a Store Associate does

How To Become a Store Associate

If you're interested in becoming a store associate, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 32.3% of store associates have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 1.9% of store associates have master's degrees. Even though some store 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 Store Associate
Top Store Associate Jobs Near You

Store Associate Career Paths

In addition to switching up your job search, it might prove helpful to look at a career path for your specific job. Now, what's a career path you ask? Well, it's practically a map that shows how you might advance from one job title to another. Our career paths are especially detailed with salary changes. So, for example, if you started out with the role of crew member you might progress to a role such as technician eventually. Later on in your career, you could end up with the title operations manager.

Store Associate

Average Salary for a Store Associate

Store Associates in America make an average salary of $29,543 per year or $14 per hour. The top 10 percent makes over $36,000 per year, while the bottom 10 percent under $24,000 per year.
Average Store Associate Salary
$29,543 Yearly
$14.20 hourly
See More Salary Information

What Am I Worth?

salary-calculator

States With The Most Store Associate Jobs

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

Average Salary: Job Openings:

Number Of Store Associate Jobs By State

RankStateNumber of JobsAverage Salary
1California16,547$32,159
2Florida11,968$27,051
3Texas11,404$26,170
4Illinois7,794$30,693
5New York7,172$34,497
6Pennsylvania6,797$28,700
7Georgia6,504$25,605
8Michigan5,965$28,716
9Ohio5,781$28,315
10Massachusetts5,556$33,469
11North Carolina5,381$26,677
12New Jersey5,158$30,365
13Virginia4,991$27,168
14Indiana4,659$28,428
15Colorado3,835$30,318
16Tennessee3,711$26,493
17Maryland3,565$29,460
18Washington3,559$33,609
19Wisconsin3,399$28,826
20Arizona3,391$29,131
21Minnesota3,055$32,057
22Missouri2,945$27,971
23Alabama2,877$25,085
24South Carolina2,636$26,360
25Kentucky2,533$26,238
26Connecticut2,438$31,998
27Louisiana2,266$25,266
28Iowa1,994$28,596
29Utah1,914$27,078
30Oregon1,853$31,739
31Arkansas1,774$26,095
32Kansas1,648$27,546
33Oklahoma1,423$25,801
34New Hampshire1,304$31,426
35Mississippi1,219$25,010
36West Virginia1,133$26,173
37Maine1,089$33,231
38Nebraska867$29,249
39Nevada863$26,371
40Idaho863$26,254
41Delaware848$29,148
42New Mexico745$23,461
43Rhode Island625$32,196
44Hawaii483$30,607
45Montana474$26,851
46North Dakota472$31,853
47Vermont384$33,472
48South Dakota318$29,798
49Alaska296$24,432
50Wyoming288$25,308

Store Associate Education

Store Associate Majors

Business
22.3 %
General Studies
10.3 %
Psychology
7.2 %

Store Associate Degrees

High School Diploma

35.1 %

Bachelors

32.3 %

Associate

19.8 %

Top Skills For a Store 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, 24.8% of store associates listed sales floor on their resume, but soft skills such as interpersonal skills and math skills are important as well.

Choose From 10+ Customizable Store Associate Resume templates

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

Store Associate Resume
Store Associate Resume
Store Associate Resume
Store Associate Resume
Store Associate Resume
Store Associate Resume
Store Associate Resume
Store Associate Resume
Store Associate Resume
Store Associate Resume
Store Associate Resume
Store Associate Resume
Store Associate Resume
Store Associate Resume
Store Associate Resume
Store Associate Resume

Store Associate diversity

Store Associate Gender Distribution

Female
Female
51%
Male
Male
49%

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

  • Among store associates, 51.2% of them are women, while 48.8% are men.

  • The most common race/ethnicity among store associates is White, which makes up 56.6% of all store associates.

  • The most common foreign language among store associates is Spanish at 67.5%.

Online Courses For Store Associate That You May Like

Advertising Disclosure  

1. Make the Sale: Build, Launch, and Manage E-commerce Stores

coursera

Make the Sale: Build, Launch, and Manage E-commerce Stores is the sixth of seven courses in the Google Digital Marketing & E-commerce Certificate. This course explores how businesses and individuals sell products online, including using popular platforms like Shopify. You’ll go through the process of creating a mock e-commerce store. To do this, you’ll build a Shopify store, add the necessary information, and create product listings. You’ll explore how to reach customers online through...

2. Customer Service, Customer Support, And Customer Experience

udemy
4.5
(907)

Customer service, customer support, and customer experience training. Loyal clients through world-class customer service...

3. Customer Service

udemy
4.6
(6,953)

How to Approach New Customers and Maintain Existing Ones...

Show More Online Courses For Store Associate
Job type you want
Full Time
Part Time
Internship
Temporary

Best States For a Store Associate

Some places are better than others when it comes to starting a career as a store associate. The best states for people in this position are New York, Washington, Vermont, and Massachusetts. Store associates make the most in New York with an average salary of $34,497. Whereas in Washington and Vermont, they would average $33,609 and $33,472, respectively. While store associates would only make an average of $33,469 in Massachusetts, 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. Maine

Total Store Associate Jobs: 1,089
Highest 10% Earn:
$38,000
Location Quotient:
1.39

$33,231

Avg. Salary

View 1,089 Store Associate Jobs In ME

2. New Hampshire

Total Store Associate Jobs: 1,304
Highest 10% Earn:
$36,000
Location Quotient:
1.26

$31,426

Avg. Salary

View 1,304 Store Associate Jobs In NH

3. Massachusetts

Total Store Associate Jobs: 5,556
Highest 10% Earn:
$38,000
Location Quotient:
1.02

$33,469

Avg. Salary

View 5,556 Store Associate Jobs In MA
Full List Of Best States For Store Associates

How Do Store Associates Rate Their Jobs?

Working as a Store Associate? Share your experience anonymously.
Overall Rating*
Career Growth
Work/Life balance
Pay/Salary

Top Store Associate Employers

Most Common Employers For Store Associate

RankCompanyAverage SalaryHourly RateJob Openings
1UPS$33,215$15.97334
2CVS Health$32,322$15.54332
3Big Lots$30,492$14.661,068
4Walmart$30,138$14.491,595
5In-N-Out Burger$30,084$14.46389
6The Home Depot$29,979$14.41558
7Kohl's$29,706$14.28543
8Family Dollar$29,680$14.27321
9Party City$29,569$14.22395
10Lidl US$29,505$14.19343
Show More

Store Associate Videos

Sherwin Williams - A Day in the Life

Becoming a Store Associate FAQs

How Long Does It Take To Become A Store Associate?

It takes 2 years of professional experience to become a store associate. That is the time it takes to learn specific store associate skills, but does not account for time spent in formal education.

Do You Need Experience To Be A Store Associate?

No, you don't need experience to be a store sales associate. Having prior work experience in a similar role will definitely improve your chances, but many companies also provide on-the-job training.

How Can I Be A Good Store Associate?

To be a good store sales associate, you'll need skills and competencies that will help sales associates sell products and services to customers.

These skills, such as personality, attitude, and experience, can help sales associates build relationships with customers while increasing store revenue. They're also valuable skills and characteristics to have for other jobs and opportunities later in life.

What Are The Skills Required Of An Associate?

The skills required of an associate are those that will help sales associates sell products and services to customers. These skills include, but are not limited to, customer service skills such as communication, interpersonal capabilities, and experience.

Have more questions? See all answers to common sales questions.

Search For Store Associate Jobs

Store Associate Related Careers

Store Associate Related Jobs

Store Associate Jobs By Location

Store Associate Jobs By Company

Updated April 6, 2023