Walmart pay rates 2020

1. What Walmart announced in 2020: targeted raises, not a across‑the‑board minimum increase

On Sept. 17, 2020 Walmart publicly announced pay changes affecting roughly 165,000 employees that were framed as targeted raises tied to new roles and higher‑skill jobs: bakery and deli starting wages rose to $15 from $11, many auto care roles gained $1/hour, and new “team leader” roles were listed at $18–$21/hour with some progression up to $30/hour ^[1]. USA Today’s coverage describes the same move as introducing leadership roles and cross‑training that led to pay increases for those specific associates ^[3]. Walmart presented this as career‑path and skills‑based restructuring rather than a uniform across‑the‑board minimum wage hike ^{[1] [3]}.

2. How that compares to average pay levels in 2020

Independent reporting that aggregated Walmart’s own corporate data found the average hourly wage for a Walmart store field worker in 2020 was about $14.76—equating, for a full‑time worker, to roughly $25,000–$30,000 a year—indicating the company’s median/average pay at the time sat below many of the top headline increases offered to select roles ^[2]. That average suggests the September targeted raises affected a minority of workers and were concentrated in certain functions and leadership tracks rather than shifting the companywide mean dramatically ^{[1] [2]}.

3. How companies and observers framed the move—and competing interpretations

Walmart framed the September action as investing in higher‑skill roles and accelerating raises that normally would have come later in the year, positioning it as workforce development and retention ^[3]. Critics and labor advocates at the time typically argued such targeted raises fall short of a companywide living wage; available reporting in these search results emphasizes the selective nature of increases rather than a universal floor rise ^{[1] [2]}. Both frames are present: corporate messaging on skills and leadership ^[3] and reporting that underscores the limited scope relative to the total U.S. workforce at Walmart ^{[1] [2]}.

4. Timeline and subsequent context hinted in later reporting

Later reporting (beyond 2020 in these results) shows Walmart continued to adjust pay and compensation structures: by early 2021 the company announced broader wage steps for hundreds of thousands of workers to push average pay above $15/hour for many roles (noted in a 2021 CNBC piece), indicating the September 2020 moves were part of a multi‑stage evolution rather than a one‑time change ^[4]. Also, separate 2025 pieces discuss substantial pay and equity changes at managerial and corporate levels, showing compensation adjustments continued across years ^[5].

5. What the datasets and salary sites show—and their limits

Salary aggregators and crowdsourced sites in the provided results (Indeed, Glassdoor, Payscale, 24/7 Wall St.) give a wide range of reported wages and averages reflecting role diversity: Glassdoor shows large variation by job type and reports typical part‑time associate figures around $14/hour in later summaries ^[6]; Payscale and Indeed likewise report broad ranges depending on specific roles and locations ^{[7] [8]}. These sources are useful for role‑specific context but are based on user submissions or corporate summaries and therefore vary in methodology and completeness ^{[7] [6] [8]}.

6. Bottom line and caveats for anyone using “Walmart pay rates 2020” data

If you mean companywide minimums, the September 2020 announcement did not set a new universal Walmart minimum; it raised pay for specific groups and created higher pay bands for leadership/skill roles ^{[1] [3]}. If you mean average hourly pay in 2020, corporate and aggregating reports put the average field/store hourly wage near $14.76 in mid‑2020—about $25k–$30k annually full‑time—so headline raises affected some roles but did not by themselves transform that overall average ^[2]. Remember that later announcements (2021 and beyond) further altered pay structure, so 2020 figures should be read as a snapshot within an ongoing multi‑year adjustment ^{[4] [5]}.

Limitations: the sources above are a mix of corporate announcements, journalism, and crowd‑sourced salary sites; they report different measures (starting pay, targeted raises, averages) so comparisons require care ^{[1] [2] [6]}. Available sources do not mention every internal detail such as exact statewide implementation dates or the full headcount breakdown by role for the 165,000 employees affected (not found in current reporting).