Being a barista has many perks and benefits. As it turns out, you can also make pretty good money at being a barista too. Maybe we are just a little biased here at Barista Training Academy, but we think being a barista might be the best job ever!
Let’s take a quick look at the benefits of being a barista:
- You can work anywhere in the world (where people like coffee!)
- Flexible scheduling
- High demand for baristas nearly everywhere
- Salary + Tips can increase your income
- Availability of great coffee (sometimes!)
These are just a few great reasons to be a barista. In fact, once you’re trained as a barista, you have a world of opportunity in high demand industry in nearly every city and every country.
Coffee is one of the leading commodities in the world. That is, it is one of the most widely traded products except for oil. The coffee industry employs hundreds and hundreds of thousands of people throughout the world. From farmers to shippers, to coffee roasters, to baristas, you’ll find this amazing beverage impacts just about every country!
A Robust Job Outlook for Baristas
It turns out the demand for baristas is only going to grow over the next decade. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the Food and Beverage Serving Industry is projected to grow by 14% between 2018 and 2028.
The numbers suggest that the industry will grow about 3 times the overall economy rate in the same period. In other words, there are lots of jobs available. And it’s going to be in even greater demand in the coming decade.
From cafes to restaurants, schools, to coffee shops, you'll find baristas slinging coffee just about everywhere!
How Much Money Does a Barista Make?
On average, baristas can make a good hourly salary when you include the potential tips made when working as a barista.
Every state, every country, and every city will have a hand in setting the minimum pay rate. Therefore, there is no one clear answer to just how much money a barista makes.
However, to better answer this question, we can get a closer idea of an average barista salary by measuring several important data points.
However, these data points are ultimately flawed in giving you the perfect picture of how much money you expect to make as a barista. Nevertheless, they are vital starting points to answering the question.
Existing Laws and Minimum Wage in the U.S.
The U.S. national minimum wage is $7.25 an hour (Though 29 U.S. States and cities have a higher minimum wage than the federal rate in early 2019).
State and city minimum wage laws vary from $7.25 to $16.30 (with San Francisco and Seattle leading the way).
While large urban areas in populous states often see higher wages, larger swaths of the country use $7.25 as the minimum wage.
The Top 10 States Minimum Wage in 2019
- Washington D.C.: $15.00
- Washington State: $13.50
- California: $13.00
- Massachusetts: $12.75
- Arizona: $12.00
- Colorado: $12.00
- Maine: $12.00
- New York: $11.80
- Oregon: $13.25
- Vermont: $10.96
This minimum wage list is fluid and always changing, but it does give us a starting point at how much baristas make. Additionally, individual cities have increased their minimum wage levels beyond their state’s wage. These include the cities of Seattle, San Francisco, and Long Beach, California.
The minimum wage is the first number you need to consider when calculating how much baristas make. Let’s move on to our next data point, some other government stats.
What We Know About The General Food Service Industry
According to the Bureau of Labor Stats, an average food and beverage worker gets about $10.45 per hour in 2019. Of course, this is the average among low-wage states and low-wage positions like custodians and dishwashers.
Additionally, the numbers do not reflect the tips or gratuity earned in addition to these hourly wages, but rather only what businesses report as hourly rates. This is an important point because gratuity income is where much of the money is made for baristas. In some cities, you will have the opportunities to make more money. However, while you might make more money, the costs may be higher too. The same goes for opening a coffee shop. For example, the costs of opening a coffee shop vary from place to place. For example, opening a coffee shop in New York may cost more than opening a coffee shop in Arizona.
Barista Job Posting Information and Income
Aggregate information from job listing sites is another way to determine how much baristas are making.
According to the job listing website, Indeed, the average base salary in the U.S. is $11.66 per hour. This, of course, is the average base salary. In cities like Seattle, the base salary is $15.00 and $16.00, where tips are not included. According to anonymously submitted data, baristas average about $17 per day.
Please note: We find this gratuity average data rather low according to our experience and observations over the last seven years.
Indeed lists the most common benefits like employee discounts, flexible schedules, tuition reimbursement, food provided (such as breakfast, lunch, or dinner), and parental leave. Other noted benefits are vision insurance, retirement plans, dental insurance, paid time off, paid sick time, health insurance, and stock purchasing plans.
Indeed indicates that a barista earns, on average, $ .01 more than a bartender.
Further Barista Income Details
Zip recruiter, another online job posting and recruiting website, posts similar but higher results. The average base salary in the U.S. is $12 per hour, with the average base pay at $24,043 per year.
They have seen higher base salaries starting at about $3,000 per month and as low as $1600 per month. These are base salaries without the infusion of gratuity or tip income. This is an important point because, as stated previously, tips can help generate much of the barista income in some cafes and coffee businesses.
Barista tipping varies from coffee shop to coffee shop. Throughout the Seattle area, we have seen that tips are adding anywhere from $4.00 per hour to $23.00 per hour to a barista’s base pay at independent coffee shops.
The fluctuation means that you should carefully select which coffee business to work for when doing a barista job search. However, other benefits and considerations may play a big part in your ultimate barista job choice. The coffee shop’s reputation and key barista position benefits, like those listed above, are important.
Benefits like paid sick leave, dental and vision insurance, tuition reimbursement, and others play an important role in your financial health. However, other factors may include proximity to your home or school as well as the company culture, schedule needs, etc.
Money Vs. Benefits? You Decide
In addition to cash, there are often other perks emerging for baristas. States, cities, and even independent coffee businesses understand the importance of maintaining great employees and are doing their part to keep them. Training and hiring reliability can be costly, and avoiding high-turnover rates is important for many businesses.
As noted earlier, in addition to hourly wages, many coffee shops offer benefits such as health care insurance, paid vacation days, paid sick days, tuition reimbursement, public transportation cards, etc.
As you may already know, health care can be costly. Having your health care benefits can reduce your monthly out-of-pocket expenses and lead to tremendous savings for the year. Your financial health goes well beyond your average pay wages.
There is no question that we all need to take a day off once in a while. Having paid vacation days or paid sick days can be an essential benefit for you and your family. This is especially true if you have children or parents that you may need to care for.
When you search for a barista job, you will have to balance the benefits between your hourly wages versus the totality of the benefits offered to you when you get hired.
Ways to Improve The Money You Make a Barista
The money you make as a barista starts with your interview for your barista position. When you apply for your barista job, you should consider how much money per hour your potential employer will offer you.
Considering your own barista experience, the opportunity to make tips, additional benefits, primary job responsibilities, you should consider negotiating a higher wage, if it’s applicable.
If earning tips is an option, you will have the opportunity to make variable amounts of money every shift. These tips offer you the opportunity to improve your income – every day.
Additionally, you can improve your chances of getting a better tip income by offering great coffee. And of course, you can do this by offering exceptional service. Doing both will increase your long-term salary prospects.
Offering exceptional service can mean various things, but essentially it requires you to exceed customers’ expectations. Being polite, courteous, and engaging is important. Additionally, helping people learning about their coffee choices can also be helpful.
Let Barista Training Academy Help You
Barista Training Academy has been helping new and aspiring baristas for the last six years. We are the premier online resource for learning about the topics important for new coffee service professionals. For more information, visit and read our barista blog and get our Beginning Barista Guide.
Brought to you by Barista Training Academy, “The Beginning Barista,” Your Ultimate Prep Guide to Getting Your First Job as a Barista” is an ultimate resource that is available online. It is affordable for anybody who is looking to start a career in the coffee industry. For more information, visit our blog.
