Fast facts:
- Walmart offers five different manager positions in its stores, each with its own duties and pay range.
- Walmart raised both the base salary range and bonus pay range for store managers in early 2024.
- Walmart store managers can now make anywhere from $90,000 to over half a million dollars annually in total compensation, including base salary and incentive awards.
Walmart (WMT) — whose superstores sell everything from home goods to groceries to electronics to auto parts — is the largest company in the world by revenue and one of the top 30 companies in the world by profit. With over 4,600 stores and around 1.6 million employees in the U.S. alone, America’s biggest retailer is also a massively prolific employer.
Walmart job opportunities exist in all 50 states (and D.C.), but the states with the most stores — and thus the most jobs — are Texas, Florida, California, North Carolina, and Georgia.
While some job seekers avoid Walmart due to its less-than-favorable employer reputation — an entire Wikipedia page subsection exists dedicated to criticisms of the brand’s labor practices — others flock to the superstore chain due to its benefits, flexible working hours, and upward mobility.
This last factor — upward mobility — is particularly important. According to Walmart, 75% of the company’s salaried managers began their careers as hourly associates, and once an associate reaches the managerial level, hefty compensation packages are achievable. Compensation averaged over $113,000 across all managerial positions in 2023, according to the company, and in early 2024, Walmart increased the base pay range (and bonus pay range) for all store managers.
Here are the manager positions the company offers and what they can pay, including base salaries and performance incentives.
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What manager jobs do Walmart stores offer?
Walmart stores have five different types of manager roles that vary in terms of scope.
A specialty area manager, for instance, is responsible for a specialty department in a single Walmart store, while a market manager is responsible for leading a group of multiple Walmart stores across a particular geographic area.
Here’s a list of Walmart’s store management positions in order of increasing seniority:
- Specialty area manager: Specialty area managers at Walmart oversee either a store’s auto center or its asset-protection (i.e., loss prevention) department.
- Coach: Coaches oversee multiple departments within a store and manage those departments’ leads.
- Store lead: Store leads are essentially assistant store managers (or store managers in training) — they assist the store manager in overseeing the functionality of an entire Walmart location.
- Store manager: Store managers oversee the day-to-day operations of an entire Walmart and manage the store lead, coaches, and specialty area managers.
- Market manager: A market manager oversees the operations of a regional group of Walmart stores and manages each location’s store manager.
How much do Walmart specialty area managers make?
Walmart’s specialty area managers are responsible for overseeing one of two departments — a store’s auto care center or its loss-prevention department.
According to Walmart, specialty area managers are paid an annual salary of between $65,000 and $80,000.
Careers data site Glassdoor, which creates salary estimates based on employee reports and job listings, pegs the total compensation range for this role even higher at $80,000 to $117,000 per year including stock and bonus incentives.
According to Glassdoor, annual bonus pay for the role ranges from $9,000 to $17,000 with a median of $12,000, and annual stock awards range from $5,000 to $10,000 with a median of $7,000.
How much do Walmart coaches make?
Walmart’s coaches are responsible for overseeing several different store departments, managing those departments’ leads, and helping those department leads manage their own associates.
According to Walmart, coaches are paid an annual salary of between $65,000 and $80,000.
Glassdoor lists the total compensation range for a Walmart coach at $59,000 to $87,000 per year, including base pay and bonuses. This range is likely out of date, as the position’s base salary alone starts at a low end of $65,000 according to the company’s own website.
According to Glassdoor, annual bonuses for coaches typically range from $8,000 to $15,000, with a median of $11,000.
How much do Walmart store leads make?
Walmart’s store leads help their store manager run an entire Walmart. They serve as the assistant store manager and help the store manager maintain the functionality of the store’s day-to-day operations while managing coaches, specialty area managers, and other store leaders.
According to Walmart, store leads are paid an annual base salary of between $80,000 and $100,000 before bonuses and stock incentives.
Career data aggregation sites like Indeed and Glassdoor list lower compensation ranges for this position, but these are out of date according to the figures listed on Walmart’s website.
How much do Walmart store managers make?
Walmart store managers are responsible for overseeing an entire Walmart store — each of which is a multi-million dollar business. This includes maintaining the safety and efficiency of the stores day-to-day operations and attempting to meet sales and profit goals.
As of early 2024, Walmart increased the annual base salary range for its store managers to between $90,000 and $170,000. (Before this change, the salary range was $65,000 to $170,000.) Cedrik Clark, the executive VP of Walmart’s store operations said in January 2024 that this change would bring the average store manager base pay to $128,000.
Coincident with the new base salary range came a new bonus structure, through which store managers who hit or exceed all sales and profit targets can earn up to double their salary in bonuses alone (prior to this change, 1.5x a store manager’s salary was the maximum achievable bonus).
Between the new salary range and bonus program, total annual compensation for a Walmart store manager now ranges from $90,000 to $510,000.
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How much do Walmart market managers make?
Walmart market managers manage a regional group of Walmart stores. In doing so, they oversee each store’s manager and help provide the resources and guidance necessary for those managers to achieve the sales and profit goals se for their stores.
According to Walmart, market managers receive an annual base salary of $130,000 plus company equity.
According to Glassdoor, total compensation for a Walmart market manager ranges from $127,000 to $189,000, although this range is likely somewhat out of date, as $130,000 is the salary floor for this position.
Glassdoor’s data states that annual bonuses for market managers typically range from $18,000 to $30,000 with a median of $24,000, while annual stock incentives range from $12,000 to $23,000 with a median of $16,000.
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What employee benefits do Walmart managers get?
Walmart’s salaried managers have access to a full suite of typical employee benefits, including the following:
- A range of employer-sponsored health, dental, and vision insurance plans
- A 401(k) retirement account with employer matching of employee contributions up to 6% of each paycheck
- An employee stock purchase plan
- Paid medical, parental, and bereavement leave
- Paid time off and sick days
- Free higher education through Walmart’s Live Better U
- Employee discount
- Discounted gym memberships, phone plans
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