Lowes starting pay for entry-level store jobs begins at $15.00 an hour and runs to about $17 in most states that post it, based on 303 Lowe’s store postings with a pay range that we pulled on November 7, 2026. California stores typically start at $16.90, and Seattle-area cashier jobs start at $21.30.
There’s a catch. Only 13 states showed a range at all. If you’re applying in Texas, Florida, Pennsylvania or North Carolina, the posting won’t tell you the number, and you’ll have to ask for it.
What Lowe’s postings list as starting pay
Lowe’s store postings print a “Pay Range” line in the job description, and the bottom of that range is the starting rate for the store. Lowe’s says the starting rate “may vary based on factors including, but not limited to, position offered, location, education, training, and/or experience.”
In practice the range is narrow. A full-time sales associate posting at the Menifee, California store lists $16.90 to $17.20 per hour, a 30-cent spread. Across our sample, the top of a range sat about 5% above the bottom, and 19 postings listed a single rate with no range at all. How much room is there to grow inside a range? Not much: there isn’t a lot of space between where you start and where the posting tops out.
That’s very different from the aggregator figures you’ll see quoted. Self-reported averages for Lowe’s cashiers still sit around $13 an hour on PayScale, but no posting in our sample listed less than $15.00.
Lowes starting pay by state
Lowes starting pay ranges from $15.00 an hour in Virginia and Illinois to $17.50 in Hawaii, with Seattle-area stores far above the rest at $21.30 or more. California, where we found the most postings, typically starts at $16.90.
| Where you’d work | Typical bottom of the posted range | What the postings showed |
|---|---|---|
| Virginia, Illinois | $15.00 | 12 of 13 Illinois postings and 33 of 39 Virginia postings started at $15.00 |
| Maine, Maryland | $15.00 to $16.00 | Few postings; Maine stores most often started at $15.50 |
| New Jersey, New York, Minnesota | $15.92 to $16.00 | New Jersey stores commonly posted $15.92 to $16.75 |
| Colorado, Massachusetts | $16.00 to $16.50 | Colorado bottoms ranged from $15.16 to $17.00 |
| California, Connecticut | $16.90 to $16.94 | 92 of 133 California postings listed $16.90 to $17.20 or $16.90 to $17.85 |
| Hawaii | $17.50 | All 7 Hawaii postings listed $17.50 to $19.60 |
| Washington outside Seattle | $17.13 to $18.00 | Federal Way posted $18.00 to $19.45 for a sales associate |
| Seattle area | $21.30 to $21.65 | Seattle cashier postings listed $21.30 to $22.40; Tukwila $21.65 |
Method: on November 7, 2026, we opened 814 entry-level Lowe’s store postings one at a time from the company’s careers search: sales associates, cashiers, receivers and stockers, merchandising, fulfillment, and loader or lot associates. Specialist, supervisor, lead and head cashier jobs were left out. 303 postings carried a pay range. California makes up 133 of them, so read the table state by state, not as a national average, and treat states with three or four postings, such as Maryland or Connecticut, as a few stores rather than a rule.
Where Lowe’s postings leave pay out
Lowe’s postings in 37 states showed no pay range at all in our sample, including every posting we opened in Texas (52), Pennsylvania (46), North Carolina (42), Ohio (40) and Florida (33). No state mixed the two: a state either showed ranges on every posting we opened or on none.
So what do you do in Texas? Ask. The rate exists, it just isn’t printed. The best time is when the recruiter or store manager calls to set up the interview, or at the end of the interview itself.
Say this: “What’s the starting rate for this position at this store, and is it the same for part time and full time?”
Not this: “What do you usually pay people?”
The first version gets a number, because it names the job and the store, and a manager can’t answer it with a shrug.
If you want a sense of what the store’s interview will cover first, the Lowe’s interview questions by role page walks through it.
Does the job you apply for change the rate?
The job you apply for usually doesn’t change the starting rate at a Lowe’s store. Among the 62 stores where we found two or more ranged postings, every one used a single range for all its entry roles, from cashier to sales associate to loader. The 31 stores with both part-time and full-time postings used the same range for both.
Want proof from one store? The Glen Carbon, Illinois store is a clean example: its sales associate and cashier postings both list $15.00 to $15.60. Picking freight over the register doesn’t buy you a higher start at the same store. Picking a different store can. The step up comes with specialist and supervisor titles, which we left out of this sample.
Lowe’s vs Home Depot starting pay
Home Depot postings started higher in our two pulls. Our Home Depot starting pay sample of 554 store postings on November 5, 2026 had a typical low end of $18.50 an hour, against a Lowe’s floor that sits between $15.00 and $17 in most states that post it.
Does that mean Home Depot always pays more? Not necessarily. The two samples don’t cover the same mix of states, so don’t treat the gap as exact. If both stores are hiring in your town, the honest comparison is the two postings side by side. And if one of them leaves the range blank, ask that store before you choose.
What the rate adds up to
At $15.00 an hour, a Lowe’s associate makes about $1,300 a month at 20 hours a week and $1,950 at 30 hours, before taxes. A California associate at $16.90 working 30 hours makes about $2,197 a month, and a full-time Washington associate at $18.00 makes about $3,120.
Raises after you start are a sore point. In an r/Lowes thread about pay, one associate compared their raise with Amazon’s:
“Amazon just got a raise of a 1.50 but we got 26 cents. I thought people were whining but we are really cooked as employees for this company 😂”
– r/Lowes (46 upvotes)
Is that company policy? We can’t tell from one thread, so treat it as one store’s experience. It still tells you to judge the job on the starting rate you’re offered, not on raises you hope for. Your first paycheck can also take a while. Associates describe a pay period of two full Saturday-to-Friday weeks, paid after the period closes:
“You’re getting paid for the time you worked in the two FULL work weeks before Payday. For example, the next PAYDAY is 6/26, the two FULL work weeks before that date are 6/6 through 6/12, and 6/13 through 6/19. Lowe’s FULL work weeks are Saturday through Friday.”
– r/Lowes (12 upvotes)
Plan on a gap of a couple of weeks between your first shift and your first check, and budget for it.
Frequently asked questions
How much does Lowe’s pay by the hour?
Lowe’s pays entry-level store associates from $15.00 an hour in states like Virginia and Illinois to $16.90 in California and $17.50 in Hawaii, according to the pay ranges on 303 Lowe’s postings we checked in November 2026.
Is Lowes starting pay different for part-time jobs?
Lowes starting pay was the same for part-time and full-time entry roles at all 31 stores where we could compare them, because each store used one range for all its entry postings. Part time changes your hours, not your hourly rate.
What positions pay the most at Lowe’s?
Lowe’s specialist and department supervisor jobs pay more than entry roles, but cashier, stocker, fulfillment and sales associate jobs at the same store started at the same rate in our sample. The store’s location moves entry pay more than the job title does.
Why doesn’t my Lowe’s posting show pay?
Lowe’s postings in 37 states, including Texas, Florida and Pennsylvania, showed no pay range in our November 2026 sample. The rate is set, it just isn’t printed, so ask the recruiter or store manager for the starting rate at that store.
If your state’s postings are blank, use the nearest state that does post as a rough guide, and get the real number from the store before you accept.