Starbucks shift hours, pay & how to apply (2026)
Real Starbucks shift hours, pay, hiring age and how to apply for 2026 — every fact cited, nothing invented, plus live Starbucks openings you can apply to now.
Reported Starbucks pay — Barista (national average): About $17.49/hr average, reported as ~16% above the U.S. national average (Indeed self-reported). 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 | 16 in most U.S. states (varies by state) | indeed.com |
| Reported pay | About $17.49/hr average, reported as ~16% above the U.S. nat | indeed.com |
| Where to apply | Online at apply.starbucks.com | apply.starbucks.com |
Starbucks shift hours (what employees and official pages report)
Every shift fact below is quoted from a dated source — Starbucks 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.
Opening (barista) shifts start roughly 30 minutes before the store opens; one store opening at 4:30 AM had opening shifts begin at 4:00 AM, per employee reports.
Source: indeed.com, 2026-07-15Closing shifts run until about 30 minutes after the store closes (employees describe 'about 30 minutes for both' opening and closing); standard cafes/roasting plants operate daytime-to-evening (e.g. ~6am-8:30/9pm), with no overnight/graveyard shift.
Source: indeed.com, 2026-07-15Weekly hours vary widely in employee reports (some said they 'always got at least 32 hours,' others reported full-time positions offering only ~20 hours). Weekends are typically mandatory for part-timers, though shifts can be chosen 'to a degree.'
Source: indeed.com, 2026-07-15Early opening shifts (e.g. 5 AM starts) are reportedly not assigned to minors ('too dangerous') and tend to go to more senior staff ('reserved for people who have been with the company the longest').
Source: indeed.com, 2026-07-15How much does Starbucks pay?
- Barista (national average): About $17.49/hr average, reported as ~16% above the U.S. national average (Indeed self-reported) Source: indeed.com, 2026-07-15
For reference, the U.S. median wage for Fast Food Worker is $31,200/year (about $15/hour), per BLS OEWS (May 2024 vintage) — a government benchmark, not a company figure.
How to apply to Starbucks, step by step
Apply on the official careers site: apply.starbucks.com. Or let Jobeezy apply for you.
- Search and apply online at apply.starbucks.com (the official Starbucks careers/Career Hub portal); create a candidate account.
- Complete the online application with personal details (name, phone, email, address) and availability; a resume can be uploaded but is generally not required for entry-level barista roles.
- Some roles include an online assessment/situational-judgment screen.
- Interview: typically one or two rounds, usually a one-on-one with a store/hiring manager using behavioral questions.
- After a conditional job offer, complete a background check (not initiated until after the conditional offer).
- Complete new-hire paperwork including federal I-9 employment-eligibility verification, then begin training/orientation.
How old do you have to be to work at Starbucks?
Minimum age: 16 in most U.S. states (varies by state)
Indeed employee Q&A reports 16 as the minimum hiring age 'in most states,' with 18-year-olds facing 'no restrictions.' The same source indicates it varies by location - reports that Washington hires as young as 15 and that Montana differs - so 16 is not applied uniformly. Shift Supervisor/management age requirements and minor work-permit rules were not confirmed by this source. 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 Starbucks hire people with a criminal record?
Starbucks is listed as a signatory of the Fair Chance Business Pledge, a public commitment to give people with a record a fairer shot at a job.
Jobeezy does not have a Starbucks-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 Starbucks
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 Starbucks source — so we're not going to make them up:
- Jobeezy could not verify Exact current company-published starting wage floor by market (no single official per-hour figure confirmable from an employer source at access time).
- Jobeezy could not verify Glassdoor-modeled barista hourly ranges and geographic (CA/NYC) figures - the cited Glassdoor pages returned HTTP 403 and could not be verified.
- Jobeezy could not verify Whether tips are included in the quoted hourly pay figures.
- Jobeezy could not verify Precise employer-published schedule-posting lead time (employee reports vary; not confirmed by an official source).
- Jobeezy could not verify Exact minimum-hours guarantee for part-time vs. full-time partners (employee reports conflict, ~20 to 32+ hours).
- Jobeezy could not verify Whether Shift Supervisor/management roles require age 18, and role/state-specific work-permit rules for 16-17 year olds (not stated by the cited source).
- Jobeezy could not verify Whether barista applicants must provide a minimum weekly availability (e.g. 18 hours) - not reliably verifiable from the careers portal for the U.S.
Starbucks shifts, pay & hiring — FAQ
How old do you have to be to work at Starbucks?
The reported minimum hiring age is 16 in most U.S. states (varies by state). Indeed employee Q&A reports 16 as the minimum hiring age 'in most states,' with 18-year-olds facing 'no restrictions.' The same source indicates it varies by location - reports that Washington hires as young as 15 and that Montana differs - so 16 is not applied uniformly.
What are Starbucks's shift hours?
Starbucks does not publish one company-wide schedule; hours vary by location, department, and season. Opening (barista) shifts start roughly 30 minutes before the store opens; one store opening at 4:30 AM had opening shifts begin at 4:00 AM, per employee reports.
How much does Starbucks pay?
Barista (national average): About $17.49/hr average, reported as ~16% above the U.S. national average (Indeed self-reported) For reference, the U.S. median wage for Fast Food Worker is $31,200/year (about $15/hour), per BLS OEWS.
How do I apply to Starbucks?
Search and apply online at apply.starbucks.com (the official Starbucks careers/Career Hub portal); create a candidate account.
Does Starbucks hire people with a criminal record?
Starbucks is a Fair Chance Business Pledge signatory. Jobeezy has no Starbucks-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 Starbucks before you rely on them.