Pay raise paired with Whole Foods discount and First Tech banking benefit
Amazon said Wednesday it is raising the minimum starting wage for its U.S. full-time core operations employees to $20 an hour, a $1-an-hour increase the company said lifts the entry-level pay floor across its domestic operations.
The new $20 starting rate puts average pay for Amazon’s U.S. core operations employees at nearly $24 an hour, the company said. Counting the value of benefits, Amazon said, average total compensation now exceeds $32 an hour. The company said its minimum starting pay has risen more than 17% over the past three years.
The wage announcement came alongside two new benefits for Amazon’s U.S. workforce. Beginning October 1, every Amazon employee in the country will be eligible for a grocery discount: 10% off eligible groceries and other essentials on Amazon.com and at Whole Foods Market online, and 20% off in-store purchases at Whole Foods.
Amazon also disclosed a new banking partnership with First Tech Federal Credit Union. The arrangement will give employees and their families a credit-union membership with $0 overdraft fees and no account minimums on standard checking and savings accounts, plus access to credit cards and loans. The offering is intended to help employees “manage their money and plan for the future,” the company said, and the membership is designed to be portable — workers can keep it for life.
Access to the banking benefit will begin rolling out in late 2026 and become broadly available in 2027, Amazon said.
The starting-wage floor applies to full-time staff in Amazon’s U.S. core operations. The company did not disclose how many of those employees are currently paid at the $20 minimum starting rate versus higher wages, or what share of the workforce would see immediate increases tied to Wednesday’s announcement.
The disclosure was reported by The Wall Street Journal’s Kelly Cloonan, who covers corporate breaking news from the paper’s New York bureau.