Sam's Club workers to receive raise, higher starting wages, but pay still behind Costco

Walmart announced that it would be raising pay for its Sam's Club employees Tuesday as a part of what the company called "deliberate and meaningful investments" in its workers.

The big-box giant said in a press release that it would increase employee pay between 3% and 6% starting Nov. 2, depending on how long the employee had worked at the members-only store .

"Until now, retail compensation has largely been about hourly wages, and it’s almost unheard of to talk about frontline associate compensation in terms of a predictable financial future," Chris Nicholas, president and CEO of Sam’s Club, wrote in a LinkedIn post Tuesday .

The post also announced that the starting wage at the warehouse store would rise to $16 and the company would shorten the amount of time required to reach the highest pay tier.

The company touted previous worker improvements in the press release, including an 11% increase in full-time associates and allowing for block scheduling.

Sam's Club vs. Costco pay

The raise appears to be in an effort to keep up with Costco , who raised their starting wage to $19.50 per hour and provided a $1 per hour raise to its employees in July, according to an internal memo obtained by Business Insider .

In the announcement, Walmart said that its frontline employees' average pay would be $19 per hour after the raise. Costco's average hourly pay is $22 per hour, according to ZipRecruiter.

Walmart reported a 24.4% gross profit rate on over $169 billion in revenue for the second quarter of fiscal year 2025 in its most recent earnings report released in August .

Sam's Club saw a 4.7% year-over-year growth in sales for the quarter led by food and health and wellness product sales.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Sam's Club workers to receive raise, higher starting wages, but pay still behind Costco