Cashiers vs Counter and Rental Clerks: $33K vs $41K Median Pay

Cashiers vs Counter and Rental Clerks: what changes?

Consider Cashiers if you want to receive and disburse money in establishments other than financial institutions. Consider Counter and Rental Clerks if you would rather receive orders, generally in person, for repairs, rentals, and services. Both list no formal educational credential; compare training and prior experience separately.

Try this next: Compare three local entry-level postings for Cashiers and Counter and Rental Clerks. List the duties, credentials, prior experience, and paid training each employer actually asks for. Try a supervised class or sample project from each field before choosing a program.

BLS 2025 wages and 2025–2035 projections. National medians are not starting offers. Occupation size is not a count of vacancies. View the BLS data.

Compare the practical differences

Cashiers

National median pay (2025): $32,880
Route into the job: No formal educational credential; One month or less of on-the-job training, in addition to any qualifying education or licensing
Prior related experience: No prior related occupation is typically required; employer requirements vary.
Training and licensing: One month or less of on-the-job training, in addition to any qualifying education or licensing.
Work to investigate: Receive payment by cash, check, credit cards, vouchers, or automatic debits.
Annual openings (2025–2035): 521,300

Know before you choose

BLS projects employment to shrink 6.5% from 2025 to 2035. Openings can still occur when existing workers leave.

See the full Cashiers brief

Counter and Rental Clerks

National median pay (2025): $41,300
Route into the job: No formal educational credential; One month or less of on-the-job training, in addition to any qualifying education or licensing
Prior related experience: No prior related occupation is typically required; employer requirements vary.
Training and licensing: One month or less of on-the-job training, in addition to any qualifying education or licensing.
Work to investigate: Compute charges for merchandise or services and receive payments.
Annual openings (2025–2035): 46,100

Know before you choose

Review the full career brief for day-to-day working conditions.

See the full Counter and Rental Clerks brief

How the national numbers differ

Counter and Rental Clerks has the edge on projected growth

Counter and Rental Clerks is at 3% projected growth, compared with -6.5% projected growth for Cashiers.

Counter and Rental Clerks has the edge on median pay

Counter and Rental Clerks is at $41,300, compared with $32,880 for Cashiers.

Cashiers has the edge on annual openings

Cashiers is at 521,300 annual openings, compared with 46,100 annual openings for Counter and Rental Clerks.

44.2/ 100

Cashiers

55/ 100

Counter and Rental Clerks

Each available metric is ranked from 0 to 100 against the careers on ChooseField. The weighted average uses this profile: pay 30%, growth 25%, openings 30%, preparation level 15%. Missing values are not scored as zero; their weights are redistributed across available metrics. Occupation size has zero weight: employment is not accessible vacancies. Preparation categories do not measure admission difficulty or years without earnings. The score summarizes national measures; local opportunities and personal fit still need separate consideration.

Detailed evidence