How Much Buc-Ee's Employees Actually Make

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Buc-ee's is a chain of supersized gas stations that offer car washes, barbecue stands, bakeries, and other features far beyond what the average gas station does. They're busy places, too. For instance, officials in Daytona Beach, Florida, found that the city's 53,000-square-foot location saw more than 5 million visits in a year (via the Daytona Beach News-Journal). And that's not even the world's largest Buc-ee's, which is over 70,000 square feet.

But what's it really like to work at Buc-ee's? Most visitors probably don't think about that, instead focusing on the famously clean bathrooms or the freshly-made barbecue. In a company where just about everything is larger than life, it would only make sense for the pay to be similarly oversized. That's actually true, and Buc-ee's has become well-known for its above-average wages.

In the United States, the average gas station worker makes about $15 an hour (via Indeed). That's roughly double the current federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour. Meanwhile, according to Buc-ee's, the pay starts at $17 or $18 an hour for positions like cashiers, janitors, and grocery workers (depending on the location). Folks with more specialized jobs, like food service workers and car wash attendants, make $21 an hour. Some shift managers earn $24 an hour.

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At Buc-ee's, most management positions are paid with a salary instead of an hourly rate. And at the top of the store's hierarchy, a general manager can make a salary of up to $250,000. But if it sounds like an easy, cushy job, not so fast. It requires at least five years of retail management experience, and general managers need to be available 24/7. That's because Buc-ee's locations are open 24/7.

Buc-ee's employees also get three weeks of paid time off annually, along with medical, dental, and vision insurance, plus a 401k match up to 6%. The company also says that opportunities for advancement are available to existing employees. That's part of Buc-ee's strategy, according to company leadership. "It's not just the hourly level that the compensation plan is very generous," General Counsel for Buc-ee's Jeff Nadalo said, in an interview with Chron. "But it actually goes all the way up through to give an incentive to folks to make a career there and that's reflected in our GMs making $225,000-plus."

Buc-ee's pay is not only higher than other similar businesses', but a point of pride for the company. Buc-ee's  posts the wages and benefits prominently on signs in the stores. There's a lot of competition for these jobs, but with around 250 employees per location, there are also a lot of available positions.