The median hourly wage for the federal job category that covers baristas is $15.00 per hour as of May 2025, the most recent BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics release. The top 10 percent of that category earns $20.51 or more, the bottom 10 percent earns under $10.98, and the mean annual wage works out to $32,150. Where you live matters more than almost anything else: the state median runs from $20.33 in California down to $10.87 in Mississippi. Chain matters too. Starbucks told reporters in late 2025 that its average hourly wage is $19, a claim we break down below.
The government does not actually track "barista"
Here is the quirk behind every barista salary article you have ever read: the Bureau of Labor Statistics has no standalone barista occupation. Baristas are counted inside code 35-3023, "fast food and counter workers," a bucket of about 3.85 million people that also includes the person handing you fries at a drive-thru window. So the $15.00 median is the honest, sourced number for the category, not a barista-only figure. Cafe-heavy states and specialty shops tend to sit above it, and these are employer-reported wages, so whatever cash tips never touch payroll are not fully reflected here.
The spread inside the category, straight from the May 2025 data: 10th percentile $10.98, 25th percentile $13.32, median $15.00, 75th percentile $17.34, 90th percentile $20.51 per hour. If you are pulling shots in a city with a high minimum wage and a decent tip pool, you are likely living in the top half of that range.
Barista pay by state, May 2025
These are the 15 highest state medians for occupation 35-3023, pulled from the BLS OEWS May 2025 estimates. Every figure is the median hourly wage for that state.
| Rank | State | Median hourly wage |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | California | $20.33 |
| 2 | Washington | $18.13 |
| 3 | District of Columbia | $18.00 |
| 4 | Colorado | $17.44 |
| 5 | Vermont | $17.32 |
| 6 | Massachusetts | $17.24 |
| 7 | Connecticut | $17.01 |
| 8 (tie) | Hawaii | $16.95 |
| 8 (tie) | New York | $16.95 |
| 10 | Oregon | $16.85 |
| 11 | Maine | $16.69 |
| 12 | Arizona | $16.46 |
| 13 | New Jersey | $16.42 |
| 14 | Illinois | $16.30 |
| 15 | Maryland | $16.18 |
| - | US national median | $15.00 |
The bottom of the same table is a different world. Mississippi ($10.87), Louisiana ($10.96), Oklahoma ($11.27), and Alabama ($11.40) all have medians under $11.50. The pattern is not subtle: states with minimum wages well above the federal $7.25 dominate the top of the list, and states still at the federal floor cluster at the bottom. On state medians alone, moving from Mississippi to Washington is roughly a 67 percent raise before tips.
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What the chains pay
Starbucks is the only major chain that regularly puts company-wide pay numbers on the record, mostly because it keeps getting asked about them during contract fights with its union. In December 2025 reporting from Nation's Restaurant News, Starbucks said its average hourly wage is $19 and that pay plus benefits averages over $30 per hour for hourly partners. Workers United, the union, countered that starting wages are $16 an hour and that the average barista is scheduled for only 19 hours a week, which limits both take-home pay and benefit eligibility. Both things can be true at once: a long-tenured shift supervisor in Los Angeles and a new hire in Tulsa are living very different paychecks under the same average.
Most other big coffee names are harder to pin down for a reason. Dunkin' locations are almost entirely franchised, so pay is set store by store by the local owner, and there is no company-wide wage to report. Independent cafes are the same story at smaller scale. If you are comparing offers, ask about the tip system before the base rate; a $15 base with strong card tips routinely beats a $17 base with an empty jar.
Worth reading next
If you are trying to get into the industry rather than just benchmark your paycheck, start with our guide on how to become a barista, which covers the realistic hiring path with no certification myths. If you want to out-earn the wage table entirely, the repair side of the business pays multiples of bar work; see whether an espresso machine technician course is worth it. And if you are studying the menu before an interview, our Starbucks caffeine guide covers every drink you will be asked to make.
FAQ
How much do baristas make per hour in 2026? The latest federal data (BLS OEWS, May 2025) puts the median at $15.00 per hour for the fast food and counter workers category that includes baristas, with the 90th percentile at $20.51. State medians range from $10.87 in Mississippi to $20.33 in California, and tips add to those figures.
Which state pays baristas the most? California, with a median of $20.33 per hour for the occupation category covering baristas as of May 2025. Washington ($18.13) and the District of Columbia ($18.00) are next, per BLS OEWS data.
How much does Starbucks pay baristas? Starbucks said in December 2025 that its average hourly wage is $19, and that pay plus benefits averages over $30 per hour. Its union says starting pay is $16 an hour and that the average barista is scheduled for 19 hours a week, so actual paychecks vary widely by market and tenure.