May I ask your pay? I'm currently making $12, and I've been here 2 years. Your story is similar to mine. I'm unofficially the shoe person, but am I ever scheduled to be in shoes? Nope. I have 2 carts that need to be put out, and the new store manager won't put anyone else in there to do that or even recover, because "if she needs to talk about the department, she only wants to talk to one person." It's always a mess. Of course, it was a mess when our previous store manager was there too, but this is on another level. Extra hours? Not at my store. Our new manager, whom I do like, came from outside JCPenney, and listens to the corporate dogma about how long tasks should take. Nevermind trying to task with faulty equipment, trying to do so when customers keep interrupting, a larger truck etc. If corporate says 5 hours is all that's needed, that's all we get. A couple weeks ago, the sign team had the Black Friday sale. One of the sign team members didn't show. I had to pitch in (I've done signing before). I finished my department -- barely. The other team members didn't. They ran out of time. I'm also the RFID person. I'm still learning what I'm doing, since I had no training other than videos. The previous person just left a few months ago. I'm great at SOD, but not at regular RFID. I started life at JCPenney as a cashier, so I pitch in there as well, although minimally now. My colleagues are fine. I like everybody, and I think everyone is okay with me. Unfortunately, most retail jobs in area only pay $9. Answer from Timely_News_293 on reddit.com
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Breakroom
breakroom.cc › what’s the pay for 16 year olds at jcpenney?
What’s the pay for 16 year olds at JCPenney? - Breakroom
October 17, 2024 - JCPenney is a department store chain. They sell clothing, home goods, beauty items, and accessories. jcpenney.com ... The average pay for 16 year olds at JCPenney is between $12.00 and $16.46 per hour.
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ZipRecruiter
ziprecruiter.com › all salaries › jcpenney salary
Jcpenney Salary: Hourly Rate December 2025 United States
While ZipRecruiter is seeing annual salaries as high as $64,000 and as low as $25,000, the majority of Jcpenney salaries currently range between $32,000 (25th percentile) to $45,500 (75th percentile) with top earners (90th percentile) making ...
People also ask

How much does JCPenney pay?

JCPenney pays its employees an average of $14.04 an hour. Hourly pay at JCPenney ranges from an average of $10.07 to $20.36 an hour. JCPenney employees with the job title Retail Sales Associate make the most with an average hourly rate of $13.72, while employees with the title Cashier make the least with an average hourly rate of $11.31.

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payscale.com
payscale.com › research › US › Employer=JCPenney › Hourly_Rate
JCPenney Hourly Pay in 2025 | PayScale
How much does JCPenney pay in United States?
The average JCPenney salary in United States can vary greatly by role. Annual salaries typically range from $30,420 (or $15) for a Jcpenney Sales Associate to $318,864 (or $153) for a Vice President. This is based on 16674 salaries submitted on Glassdoor by JCPenney employees in United States as of December 2025.
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glassdoor.com
glassdoor.com › Hourly-Pay › JCPenney-Hourly-Pay-E361.htm
How Much Does JCPenney Pay in 2025? (16,674 Salaries) | Glassdoor
How much does a Jcpenney make?
The average annual pay for a Jcpenney in the United States is $40,674 a year. Just in case you need a simple salary calculator, that works out to be approximately $19.55 an hour. This is the equivalent of $782.192/week or $3,389.5/month.
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ziprecruiter.com
ziprecruiter.com › all salaries › jcpenney salary
Jcpenney Salary: Hourly Rate December 2025 United States
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Reddit
reddit.com › r/jcpenney › anyone else making current starting wage?
r/JCPenney on Reddit: Anyone else making current starting wage?
September 23, 2023 -

is working at jcp a hell hole for anyone else? is everyone else making starting wage even if youve been at the company for a while?

incredibly large rant incoming. I don't expect anyone to read this, I just need to get it off my chest.

TLDR: My workload is tripled compared to my coworkers, but my pay is the same as theirs's. Store is understaffed and that is somehow all my problem. Dealing with a lot of bullying from geriatrics.

I have gotten "raises" which I learned is actually just corporate raising our starting pay for new employees. I have been at JCP for 2 years now. I do almost all positions excluding register/jewlery/rfid, and I rarely do SOD. I have been very frustrated with everything but I'm struggling to find another retail job that matches my pay. I want to know if anyone else's day to day is incredibly chaotic, and if every location has 0 employees.

It'll start off with some b.s. of being expected to get a whole department redone (visual set) on my own in 5 hours. Which is fine whatever. But then my manager will realize no one is doing omni!!! so now i have to do that first. And then, of course, sign people will call out so now I have to preset signs, often alone, or with someone who stands around or is new. Okay, ill turn my 5 hour shift into a 9 hour shift then. And if recovery calls out, then I have to do that too. There's been many times where I'm working 2 positions at once, and when I don't get something done, I have to deal with rude comments. My manager will schedule me to preset signs, but then get mad when christmas decor isnt up... like you didnt schedule anyone for that ofc they arent up??

What is the worst part? I'm entirely in charge of lingerie but I never get scheduled to work in that department, and recovery refuses to go over there. We have bras on the floor, random shit mixed in everywhere, last time I went through I found 3 defectives. Everyone knows I'm in charge of lingerie so when it looks bad, they come complain to me. I've had WOMEN'S RECOVERY tell me that lingerie is a mess, but they wont go and fix it. This behavior is encouraged by a cashier/supervisor who wanted the lingerie position soooo bad but didnt get offered it, so she tells people to not recover or help over there.

All other operations associates have one or two jobs but I have a million. My coworkers (including higher ups) say that I need to be a manager and that the store would fall apart without me. My supervisors tell me that I'm one of the only good employees / tell me they love me etc etc. In fact, when I offered to stay late and close (as I do every week) one of my supervisors hugged me and thanked me. I come in early every single day, stay late, and never call in. Manager also said that I need to be her sidekick and help train people -_-

Salt to the wound, some of my coworkers (like anywhere else) are incredibly mean and make up stuff about me. Our salon manager told my manager that I left early one shift and she "saw me walk out the door" when I literally left when im supposed to. The latest rumor is that I made an associate work on the ground (which OBVIOUSLY never happened) and that I yelled at one of our supervisors (also didnt happen, as much as I wish it did). I've dealt with a lot of mean comments about my appearance and what not as well. I won't even go into the discrimination at my location.

Finding out that I make our starting wage is such a punch to the gut. This is my first retail job, so I'm not sure if this is normal, but my friends and family think I should quit. However, I'm struggling to find places that pay the same or more. Not to mention, I'm in college so I need somewhere that will work with my schedule like JCP does.

Top answer
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May I ask your pay? I'm currently making $12, and I've been here 2 years. Your story is similar to mine. I'm unofficially the shoe person, but am I ever scheduled to be in shoes? Nope. I have 2 carts that need to be put out, and the new store manager won't put anyone else in there to do that or even recover, because "if she needs to talk about the department, she only wants to talk to one person." It's always a mess. Of course, it was a mess when our previous store manager was there too, but this is on another level. Extra hours? Not at my store. Our new manager, whom I do like, came from outside JCPenney, and listens to the corporate dogma about how long tasks should take. Nevermind trying to task with faulty equipment, trying to do so when customers keep interrupting, a larger truck etc. If corporate says 5 hours is all that's needed, that's all we get. A couple weeks ago, the sign team had the Black Friday sale. One of the sign team members didn't show. I had to pitch in (I've done signing before). I finished my department -- barely. The other team members didn't. They ran out of time. I'm also the RFID person. I'm still learning what I'm doing, since I had no training other than videos. The previous person just left a few months ago. I'm great at SOD, but not at regular RFID. I started life at JCPenney as a cashier, so I pitch in there as well, although minimally now. My colleagues are fine. I like everybody, and I think everyone is okay with me. Unfortunately, most retail jobs in area only pay $9.
2 of 5
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My store is also really understaffed and but my manager is really nice, she started as a seasonal associate and worked her way up over 15 years so she’s a lot more understanding of demands and frustrations of the floor worker. Everyone at my store, save for a few of our 80 year old recovery ladies is cross trained to do register, recovery, signing, door to floor, etc, but the only ones expected to do sets are myself as a merchandise super and my assistant, if for some reason both of us are unavailable another supervisor is trained to do them too as a back up, and there’s never a time limit put on it because there’s a good chance I’ll get interrupted and needed elsewhere 20-30 times. To have a regular associate expected to do a set by themself with a time limit and no help is straight up shitty. It’s one thing if you wanted to because you want the assistant position, but even still that’s unrealistic to expect it because as an assistant you’re going to get pulled 20 times to do overrides or help. A lot of stores are really struggling to get staff because the starting wages aren’t great and people assume JCP is going to go under like Sears, but you’re store sounds especially toxic. I have a lot of straight up lazy associates at my store, but there aren’t any that are mean or spiteful, or that won’t do a specific area. They don’t like it and they’ll complain but if they’re asked to recover they will at least try to. You generally get one raise a year during February if your metrics are good or if you get promoted you get a raise, I was told that a starting wage bump technically counted as a raise, but that if someone was a decent employee and had a low apot and their manager would go to bat they would get another one in February (I’m not 100% on that though!) . Honestly, I’m curious what your pay is, because although floor associates are supposed to be cross trained, it sounds like you are being taken advantage of. Starting wage at my store is $12, and that kind of work is not expected at my store for $12 an hour, not by a long shot and although people who refuse to train for register generally don’t advance because as a supervisor or an assistant you have to be register trained and have open availability, I would have a long talk with your manager and see if they really understand everything you are doing and the struggles you are dealing with and let them know you’re frustrated about not being able to recover your own area at all and no one else is either, If they brush you off, find another job, look for leadership positions or go to hotel front desk work, it’s similar to retail but depending on where you live pays way better. Life is too short to be so miserable, everyday at any job isn’t going to be a picnic, but it shouldn’t be as frustrating and overwhelming as you describe either ❤️
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PayScale
payscale.com › research › US › Employer=JCPenney › Hourly_Rate
JCPenney Hourly Pay in 2025 | PayScale
JCPenney pays its employees an average of $14.04 an hour. Hourly pay at JCPenney ranges from an average of $10.07 to $20.36 an hour.
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Quora
quora.com › How-do-you-find-out-how-much-JCPenney-pays-per-hour-for-various-jobs
How to find out how much JCPenney pays per hour for various jobs - Quora
Answer (1 of 2): I worked there for 4 years and left making $9.50/hour. They favored people and refused to give me more hours in my department. They said I could come back later in the day and do busy work in another department for extra hours. Three times there were full time opportunities in a...
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Glassdoor
glassdoor.com › Hourly-Pay › JCPenney-Hourly-Pay-E361.htm
How Much Does JCPenney Pay in 2025? (16,674 Salaries) | Glassdoor
A free inside look at JCPenney salary trends based on 16674 salaries wages for 2383 jobs at JCPenney. Salaries posted anonymously by JCPenney employees.
Find elsewhere
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Quora
quora.com › How-old-do-you-have-to-be-to-work-at-JCPenney-How-does-that-compare-to-other-department-stores
How old do you have to be to work at JCPenney? How does that compare to other department stores? - Quora
Answer (1 of 2): I worked at JC Penney for 19 years in the bedding department, and the online order pickup department. I worked with and trained many employees who were hired, some were just temporary associates hired at Christmas time and some were hired as permanent associates. The hiring age w...
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ZipRecruiter
ziprecruiter.com › all salaries › jcpenney sales associate salary › jcpenney sales associate salary in new york city, ny
Jcpenney Sales Associate Salary New York City, NY
While ZipRecruiter is seeing salaries as high as $74,941 and as low as $20,240, the majority of Jcpenney Sales Associate salaries currently range between $30,600 (25th percentile) to $41,600 (75th percentile) with top earners (90th percentile) ...
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Indeed
indeed.com › jcpenney › salaries › new york state
JCPenney salaries in New York State: How much does JCPenney pay? | Indeed.com
Average JCPenney hourly pay ranges from approximately $16.00 per hour for Commissioner to $27.96 per hour for Retail Sales Associate. The average JCPenney salary ranges from approximately $21,363 per year for Office Manager to $103,445 per year ...
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Indeed
indeed.com › jcpenney › salaries › new york state › brooklyn
JCPenney salaries in Brooklyn, NY: How much does JCPenney pay? | Indeed.com
Average JCPenney hourly pay ranges from approximately $19.15 per hour for Beauty Consultant to $22.11 per hour for Beauty Manager.
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Zippia
zippia.com › companies › texas › plano, tx › jcpenney
JCPenney Salaries: How Much Does JCPenney Pay In 2025? - Zippia
August 27, 2020 - The average JCPenney salary is $28,425. Find out the highest paying jobs at JCPenney and salaries by location, department, and level.
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JobzMall
jobzmall.com › jcpenney › faqs
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) about JCPenney | JobzMall
Yes, JCPenney has an age limit for working. Applicants must be at least 16 years of age to work at JCPenney.
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ZipRecruiter
ziprecruiter.com › all salaries › jcpenney salary › jcpenney salary in jersey city, nj
Jcpenney Salary in Jersey City, NJ: Hourly Rate (Dec, 2025)
While ZipRecruiter is seeing salaries as high as $32.12 and as low as $12.55, the majority of Jcpenney salaries currently range between $16.06 (25th percentile) to $22.84 (75th percentile) with top earners (90th percentile) making annually in ...
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Job Applications
job-applications.com › job applications › department store jobs › jcpenney
JCPenney Application, Jobs & Careers Online
January 27, 2022 - Workers 16 and over can apply for ... others. JCPenney offers the position in both part-time or full-time availabilities and the position pays minimum wage at start....
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JCPenney
jobs.jcp.com
JCPenney Careers
Working at JCPenney means joining a dedicated team of associates who are encouraged to be uniquely themselves in a collaborative and inclusive environment. After all, JCPenney is more than a destination for style and value, it’s a place where careers prosper, accomplishments are celebrated and diversity flourishes.
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ZipRecruiter
ziprecruiter.com › all salaries › jcpenney salary › jcpenney salary in new jersey
Jcpenney Salary in New Jersey: Hourly Rate (December, 2025)
While ZipRecruiter is seeing salaries as high as $64,975 and as low as $25,381, the majority of Jcpenney salaries currently range between $32,500 (25th percentile) to $46,200 (75th percentile) with top earners (90th percentile) making $56,853 ...
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Breakroom
breakroom.cc › what’s the pay for 17 year olds at jcpenney?
What’s the pay for 17 year olds at JCPenney? - Breakroom
October 17, 2024 - The average pay for 17 year olds at JCPenney is between $12.00 and $16.46 per hour.