The Store Manager Salary Myth: Why That 100K Isn’t What You Think

Let’s talk about this store manager “golden ticket” — you know, that $70K to $100K salary that’s supposed to be the reward for grinding your way up in retail. Sounds great, right? Until you do the math. And once you really break it down, the shine wears off real fast.

Let’s say you’re lucky — you're at the top of the pay band, pulling in $100K a year. That’s about $1,900 a week. Good money… until you count the 60 to 70-hour workweeks (which are more common than not). Now you're technically working the equivalent of 85 hours when you factor in time-and-a-half pay for those extra hours. That drops your take-home value to around $22/hour.

Still feel like you're winning?

Now add in your daily commute — let’s say an hour and a half round trip. Tack on another hour every morning to get dressed, eat, get mentally ready. You're giving away another 12+ hours a week just prepping for work. Now your real wage? $19.70/hour.

And if you're on the lower end at $75K? You’re making less than $15/hour when all is said and done. That’s barely more than your full-time hourly employees.

And here’s the kicker: if you don’t have kids or family obligations, guess who gets stuck covering every sick call, every no-show, every holiday shift? Yep — you. Because if you don’t have a reason to say no, you’re expected to say yes. Every time.

I love retail. I love leading teams. I love solving problems. But let’s stop pretending that store management is the career dream it’s sold as. It's not sustainable, and it’s not balanced. And no, that “six-figure” salary doesn’t mean much when you break it down hour by hour, health by health, and life by life.

So here’s the real question:
Are you building a life — or just surviving your schedule?