Costco Is Raising Hourly Wages for Employees, According to an Internal Memo from the CEO

Hourly workers at Costco received a raise on Monday.

CEO Ron Vachris informed employees that all service assistants, service clerks, and meat cutters in the U.S., Puerto Rico, and Canada would receive a $1 per hour pay bump, per an internal memo viewed by Business Insider .

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The increase brings the lowest wage for hourly workers to $19.50 per hour, something Vachris said was part of the company's "continuing efforts to ensure our hourly wages remain highly competitive in the industry."

The new rates will be effective on July 22 and will affect all hourly workers regardless of where they land on the company's pay scale.

As of the end of 2023, the median annual income for a Costco employee was $50,202. According to ZipRecruiter , the average hourly pay for a Costco employee in the U.S. is currently $22.20 an hour.

The popular warehouse chain hiked hourly wages by $0.50 in March, making this the second major increase in 2024.

"Since January, my time has been focused on working closely with the teams around the world to ensure we continue to deliver the best quality merchandise at our best value for our members," Vachris said in praise of the company's employees during a call with investors in May. "I'm incredibly proud of our employees, and I believe our consistency of results is a reflection of their commitment to our members and to each other."

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Costco reported strong fiscal Q3 2024 earnings with net sales of $57.39 billion, a 9.1% increase from the period last year.

The warehouse chain was up 67% year over year as of Wednesday morning.