Costco shift hours, pay & how to apply (2026)
Real Costco shift hours, pay, hiring age and how to apply for 2026 — every fact cited, nothing invented, plus live Costco openings you can apply to now.
Reported Costco pay — Cashier: Avg ~$20.89/hr; reported range $10.55-$31.70/hr (Indeed estimate from past/present job postings; the page cites both 17 and 129 postings in different spots). Below are the real, cited shift, pay, hiring-age and apply facts, plus live openings when we have them. Data from indeed.com.
| Metric | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Minimum hiring age | 18 (all positions) | indeed.com |
| Reported pay | Avg ~$20.89/hr; reported range $10.55-$31.70/hr (Indeed esti | indeed.com |
| Where to apply | Online at careers.costco.com | careers.costco.com |
Costco shift hours (what employees and official pages report)
Every shift fact below is quoted from a dated source — Costco does not publish a single company-wide clock schedule, so times vary by site, department, and season. We cite each one so you can check it yourself.
Stocker part-time shifts are commonly reported as 4-9 AM (early morning) or 7-11 PM (evening), and new hires usually start part-time, per a Costco employee answering Indeed's company FAQ.
Source: indeed.com, 2026-07-15How much does Costco pay?
- Cashier: Avg ~$20.89/hr; reported range $10.55-$31.70/hr (Indeed estimate from past/present job postings; the page cites both 17 and 129 postings in different spots) Source: indeed.com, 2026-07-15
- Company-wide hourly minimum / average: Minimum wage raised to $20/hr; average wage over $31/hr in US & Canada; an immediate $1 top-of-scale increase (March 2025), with further $1 increases scheduled for March 2026 and March 2027 Source: fortune.com, 2025-03-11
For reference, the U.S. median wage for Cashier is $32,880/year (about $16/hour), per BLS OEWS (May 2024 vintage) — a government benchmark, not a company figure.
How to apply to Costco, step by step
Apply on the official careers site: careers.costco.com. Or let Jobeezy apply for you.
- Apply online at careers.costco.com to your desired warehouse location(s).
- Costco evaluates transferable skills, prior experience and member-service skills; for some positions candidates may be asked to demonstrate skills or complete a business-related assessment.
- Interview stage: commonly an initial/phone screen followed by one or two interviews (in-person or virtual), per aggregated employee reports.
- A pre-employment background check and drug test are commonly reported by applicants.
- New-hire orientation typically runs about one full day, covering Costco culture, member-service standards, and safety.
How old do you have to be to work at Costco?
Minimum age: 18 (all positions)
Multiple employee answers on Indeed's company FAQ state you must be at least 18 to work any position at Costco, part-time or full-time, with no exceptions noted; the 18-year minimum is described as applying uniformly across cashier, stocker, tire center and other warehouse roles. Source: indeed.com, 2026-07-15
Workers under 18 are subject to state child-labor law: many states require a minor work permit (age/employment certificate) and cap hours on school days. Confirm your state's rules and the store's policy before you apply.
Does Costco hire people with a criminal record?
Jobeezy does not have a Costco-specific, sourced background-check policy, so we won't invent one. What we can tell you is the law that applies. 16 states plus D.C. have 'ban-the-box' laws that cover private employers — they delay the criminal-history question until later in hiring (often after a conditional offer): CA, CO, CT, DC, HI, IL, MA, MD, MN, NJ, NM, NY, OR, RI, VT, WA. Under the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act, most non-conviction records older than seven years generally can't be reported on a standard background check (some exceptions apply for higher-paid roles and certain regulated jobs). Safety-sensitive and regulated roles — healthcare, working with minors, financial services, driving — usually require disclosure regardless of state. See our full fair-chance hiring guide for your state.
What we could not verify about Costco
Being straight with you matters more than filling the page. These are things job seekers often ask that we could not confirm from an official Costco source — so we're not going to make them up:
- Jobeezy could not verify Exact morning-stocker start and end times (e.g. 4 or 5 AM start, 12-1 PM finish) - the cited Indeed FAQ only shows '4-9 am part time, or 7-11pm part time', which does not confirm those specific times.
- Jobeezy could not verify Whether a 4:30 AM shift exists for every department, and whether after-store-close/overnight stocker shifts exist - not stated on the cited Indeed FAQ page.
- Jobeezy could not verify Peak/busy-season earlier stocking start times (12 AM or 2 AM) - not stated on the cited Indeed FAQ page.
- Jobeezy could not verify Whether careers.costco.com tells applicants to expect nights/weekends and early-morning stocking - the careers page does not contain this text.
- Jobeezy could not verify The $30.20 top-of-scale figure - the Fortune article confirms a $1 top-of-scale bump but does not state $30.20.
- Jobeezy could not verify 90-day application expiration and 'hire year-round, not seasonal' - not confirmed on careers.costco.com (which only notes new-location applications open ~12 weeks before opening).
- Jobeezy could not verify Exact schedule-posting lead time (days in advance shifts are posted).
- Jobeezy could not verify Whether a resume is required vs. optional.
- Jobeezy could not verify Precise, currently-verified hourly pay for 'Cashier Assistant' / front-end assistant specifically.
- Jobeezy could not verify Location/state-specific starting wages (California and Washington are often cited as higher, but no dated employer source confirms specific numbers).
- Jobeezy could not verify Specific pre-employment drug-test format (oral/saliva swab) and consent-form/refusal policy details.
- Jobeezy could not verify Overall application-to-hire timeline (commonly cited as ~1-3 weeks, up to ~6 weeks) - not confirmed by a primary source.
Costco shifts, pay & hiring — FAQ
How old do you have to be to work at Costco?
The reported minimum hiring age is 18 (all positions). Multiple employee answers on Indeed's company FAQ state you must be at least 18 to work any position at Costco, part-time or full-time, with no exceptions noted; the 18-year minimum is described as applying uniformly across cashier, stocker, tire center and other warehouse roles.
What are Costco's shift hours?
Costco does not publish one company-wide schedule; hours vary by location, department, and season. Stocker part-time shifts are commonly reported as 4-9 AM (early morning) or 7-11 PM (evening), and new hires usually start part-time, per a Costco employee answering Indeed's company FAQ.
How much does Costco pay?
Cashier: Avg ~$20.89/hr; reported range $10.55-$31.70/hr (Indeed estimate from past/present job postings; the page cites both 17 and 129 postings in different spots) For reference, the U.S. median wage for Cashier is $32,880/year (about $16/hour), per BLS OEWS.
How do I apply to Costco?
Apply online at careers.costco.com to your desired warehouse location(s).
Does Costco hire people with a criminal record?
Jobeezy has no Costco-specific sourced policy, so we don't invent one; 16 states plus D.C. have ban-the-box laws covering private employers, and FCRA limits reporting most non-conviction records older than seven years.
Reviewed by Dalton Metzler · Jobeezy. Every shift, pay, hiring-age and apply fact on this page is quoted from a dated, linked source; anything we could not confirm is listed above as unverified rather than guessed.
Facts last checked: . Employer policies change — confirm specifics with Costco before you rely on them.