Walmart

It’s not cashier or stocker: This is Walmart’s best-paying hourly job

The world’s largest retailer has revealed what the highest-paid non-managerial position is at its thousands of stores across the U.S.

Mike Blake

William Allen

British journalist and translator who joined Diario AS in 2013. Focuses on soccer – chiefly the Premier League, LaLiga, the Champions League, the Liga MX and MLS. On occasion, also covers American sports, general news and entertainment. Fascinated by the language of sport – particularly the under-appreciated art of translating cliché-speak.

Update: Jun 15th, 2025 12:14 EDT

Among non-managerial workers at Walmart, it is a group of employees in the retail giant’s bakery section that take home the most dough.

The grocery and department-store chain has confirmed to The Associated Press and USA Today that its roster of cake decorators - who number around 6,200 across the U.S. - enjoy the highest hourly rate.

How much are Walmart’s cake decorators paid?

Walmart, which operates over 5,000 stores and employs more than 1.5 million people nationwide, says its cake decorators are paid an average of $19.25 an hour.

That’s a dollar more than the average hourly figure paid to non-managerial store workers, Walmart told AP.

“I love doing anything artistic”

The news agency spoke to Melissa Fernandez, a 36-year-old who says she makes $24.40 an hour as a Walmart cake decorator. She took up the position after undergoing two months of training in 2021.

“I love baking at home,” Fernandez said. “I love painting. I love doing anything artistic, and I just always wanted to be a part of it.”

Fernandez shows off her handiwork on her profile on the video-sharing platform TikTok. One recent post has accrued nearly 500,000 views:

@melimakescakes
Order your loved one a beautiful Cupcake Bouquet for Valentines Day! Last day to order Feb. 15th! 💐💐💐 #cupcakebouquet #walmartcakedecorator #cupcakes #valentinesday #dozen #walmartcakes #cakedecorating #flowers
♬ Flowers - Miley Cyrus

An “expert” and a “techie”

According to Walmart job listings currently available online, it appears that cake decorators’ hourly wage tends to range from around $18 to $26.

Per the retailer’s description of the position, the company’s cake decorators are expected to have six months’ experience in the “fresh production area”, preferably with a qualification in cake decorating.

Walmart adds that its decorators should develop “expert” ability in “working with a variety of products (for example, decorating bags, tips, nozzles) to create decorative flowers and lettering on bakery items”.

They should also show “techie” capabilities, Walmart says. For example, decorators must be skilled in “utilizing hand held technology to make immediate business decisions related to production, merchandise ordering, training, and product quality”.

How many cakes does Walmart make? How much do they cost?

Walmart decorates more than 150,000 cakes a week, the retailer revealed to USA Today, while a company spokesperson told AP that the chain is responsible for a quarter of all cakes sold in the U.S.

Per the Walmart website, the store’s customizable cakes vary in price from cupcakes costing under $5 each, to two-tier cakes priced at up to $88.

A global retail juggernaut

Founded in Arkansas in 1962, Walmart is the world’s largest company by revenue, having topped the Fortune Global 500 list every year for just over a decade.

In addition to its stores in the U.S, and its e-commerce websites for domestic and international customers, the retailer has a further 5,500 in-person locations outside of America.