Incentive-based and time-based pay for retail salespersons in 2017

Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and other end-of-year sales make November and December the busiest months for the retail industry. Two types of pay are common for retail salespersons: time-based pay and incentive-based pay. Retail salespersons who receive incentive-based pay earned higher average hourly wages than those receiving time-based pay in 2017.

Retail salespersons in Savannah, Georgia, with incentive-based pay earned an average of $19.64 an hour, compared with $11.06 for those with time-based pay. In Danbury, Connecticut, retail salespersons with incentive-based pay earned an average of $22.99 per hour, while those with time-based pay earned an average of $13.74 per hour.

These estimates are from the Modeled Wage Estimates derived from the National Compensation Survey and the Occupational Employment Statistics survey. Incentive-based pay is wages and salaries that are at least partially based on productivity payments. These include production bonuses, commissions, piece rates, or other incentives based on production, sales, or output. Modeled Wage Estimates are available for detailed occupations, geographic areas, and job characteristics, including full- and part-time status, work levels, and bargaining status. Relative standard errors also are available to allow users to assess the reliability of estimates.