Sales and Related
Cashiers
Receive and disburse money in establishments other than financial institutions. May use electronic scanners, cash registers, or related equipment. May process credit or debit card transactions and validate checks.
Also called: Cage Cashier, Cashier, Center Aisle Cashier, Central Aisle Cashier, Checker, Customer Assistant
- Median pay in Greater Boston
- $36,040
- $17.33/hr
- Jobs in Greater Boston
- 42,920
- Massachusetts 2024–2034
- −7.1%
- 10,980 openings a year
- Typical U.S. entry requirement
- No formal educational credential
- plus Short-term on-the-job training
Greater Boston: Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH metro area, May 2025. Growth and openings: Massachusetts statewide projection.
Pay range in Greater Boston
| 10th | 25th | Median | 75th | 90th |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $32,180 | $34,390 | $36,040 | $38,460 | $45,820 |
10% of workers earn less than the first figure and 10% earn more than the last.
What you’d do
- Receive payment by cash, check, credit cards, vouchers, or automatic debits.
- Greet customers entering establishments.
- Issue receipts, refunds, credits, or change due to customers.
- Assist customers by providing information and resolving their complaints.
- Monitor checkout stations to ensure they have adequate cash available and are staffed appropriately.
- Establish or identify prices of goods, services, or admission, and tabulate bills, using calculators, cash registers, or optical price scanners.
AI and this job
AI exposure: how much of this job’s work AI tools can do or help with, based on national research. It is not a forecast of job loss.
Moderate exposure48 of 100
The index averages three national research measures, each shown as a percentile of all jobs:
- AIOE 40
- Language-model AIOE 45
- GPTs-are-GPTs 58
Observed AI use today: Some (Anthropic Economic Index)
AI exposure for cashiers is moderate, and AI is already used in some parts of the work. AI tools can help with payments, receipts, and refunds. Greeting people and solving problems are not tasks AI tools handle well. Federal projections say Massachusetts cashier jobs are likely to shrink mostly because of online sales and self-checkout.
Likely to change
- Taking payments and making change
- Issuing receipts, refunds, and credits
Still relies on people
- Greeting and helping customers in person
- Resolving customer complaints face to face
What federal projections say
“Demand change, capital/labor substitution - share decreases as online sales increase and self-checkout systems become more common.”
Written with AI from the data on this page. Check with a career coach before making a decision.
Next steps from here
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Training near Boston
College and school programs in the Boston metro area that lead to this job, with 2023-24 completions (IPEDS).
No college programs near Boston map to this job. Many people enter through on-the-job training or apprenticeship.
Talk to a career coach at the Office of Workforce Development about apprenticeships and City partner programs.
Related occupations
Talk to a career coach
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