Whole Foods Jobs Salary: Store Managers Could Make Over $100,000 Without A College Degree

A summer job at Whole Foods can lead to a position that offers a six-figure salary even without a college diploma. Here’s how people are advancing and making their dreams come true at the supermarket chain.

A Whole Foods store manager can earn an average of $100,000 annually, CEO John Mackey previously shared in an interview on “Freakonomics Radio.” The six-figure annual salary for a Whole Foods store manager is made possible by the restricted stock units (RSU) that come from parent company Amazon, CNBC reported.

Positions at the supermarket chain come with a competitive salary for individuals without a college degree. According to the Whole Foods website, the starting salary is around $30,000 for a “team member,” or an employee who works on the floor of a store, stocks shelves or checks out customers.

The pay moves up to an average of $43,000 for an “associate team leader” and $57,000 per year on average for a “team leader.” The next on the salary ladder is the “associate store team leader,” who is paid $73,000 to help the managers with hiring and training employees, merchandising and logistics, and the “store team leader” or store manager, who is paid at an average of $99,000.

It is a good deal for hard workers and driven individuals. The RSU granted by Amazon after it bought the company in 2017 adds more value to being a Whole Foods employee. It is given to employees based on a structure that takes into account years of employment and performance goals.

The one-time grant of Amazon stock was distributed to employees with more than 6,000 hours of service, according to an email from the CEO leaked to Gizmodo in 2018. The RSUs are not listed in the Whole Foods employee compensation stated on the company's website.

In the same interview, Mackey explained why they decided to use the “wage transparency” policy at the supermarket chain. According to the CEO, allowing everyone to know each position's pay by stating the figures on their website “gives people something to strive for.”

He added that this approach to wage allows employees to dream big and strive to reach that aspiration. Mackey believes this method allows workers to think “‘I really want to be a store team leader, because I had no idea that including their RSUs — the restricted stock units they get from Amazon — I mean, they may be making well over $100,000,’” he said.

“And if you don’t have a college degree, that’s something to aspire to,” the Whole Foods CEO said.