Indeed finds salaried wages rising faster than hourly pay at Target

The pay gap is widening between Target’s salaried ranks and the hourly workforce that keeps stores, fulfillment and supply chain moving. Indeed Hiring Lab found that wages for salaried jobs rose 2.9% from the first quarter of 2025 to the first quarter of 2026, while hourly wages rose just 1.7%, a split that lands hardest inside a retailer built on both frontline labor and store leadership.

For Target, that matters well beyond a labor-market statistic. Hourly team members are the ones most likely to feel the squeeze if wage growth trails inflation or if nearby employers move faster on starting pay, sign-on incentives or scheduling flexibility. Salaried leaders may still see a more favorable pay track, which can sharpen a familiar retail tension: the higher you climb, the better the compensation can look, but the jump may also come with more responsibility, more pressure and only modest gains in purchasing power.

Target has spent years trying to position itself as one of retail’s stronger wage employers. The company says its starting pay range is $15 to $24 an hour, depending on role and location, and says the average wage for frontline team members is above $18.50. In corporate materials, Target also says it offers day-one benefits including early pay access, a 10% discount, 20% off wellness items, and 24/7 virtual healthcare and mental health support.

Those benefits help, but they do not erase the central question for many workers: does the next rung on the ladder still feel worth it? Target says eligible team members can get medical, vision and dental coverage, 401(k) matching up to 5% with immediate vesting, and tuition-free education assistance. Even so, if hourly raises lag while expectations rise on the sales floor, in fulfillment or in support roles, retention can become harder to manage and morale can slip.

The scale of the issue is large. Target said it had approximately 440,000 full-time, part-time and seasonal team members as of February 1, 2025, and noted that the vast majority of its workforce is hourly. That means even small differences in wage growth can ripple across stores and supply chain facilities, where turnover, staffing gaps and training burdens already affect daily operations.

The timing also adds pressure at the top. Target named Michael Fiddelke chief executive officer effective February 1, 2026, with Brian Cornell moving to executive chair. Fiddelke inherits a workforce model that depends heavily on hourly labor, and the next test is whether Target can keep the promotion path from feeling like a tradeoff instead of an opportunity.