When thinking of six-figure salaries, flipping burgers may not come to mind. But In-N-Out, the cult favorite fast food chain, sees its store managers earning over $160,000 on average.
“In-N-Out is just eons above everybody else,” Saru Jayaraman, director of UC Berkley’s Food Research Center, told the California Sun. “On wages and benefits, they really are the best large chain.”
The Sun first reported In-N-Out’s eye-popping figure, which the Irvine, Calif.-based chain confirmed to USA TODAY.
In-N-Out workers can start at $13 an hour (minimum wage is $11 for California’s larger companies), and work their way up to that $160,000-ish salary without a college degree.
Managers oversee only one location each, according to the Bay Area’s KTVU news, and ultimately become responsible for all aspects of the restaurant, from employee training to the cleanliness of counter tops.
The gig’s no cake walk, though: A top review of In-N-Out from an employee on Glassdoor, a jobs listing site, notes a “fast-paced environment” with “very hard” work and “no shortcuts.”
In-N-Out Vice President of Operations Denny Warnick told the Sun that quality service requires quality employees with quality pay — a vision of the company’s founders, Harry and Esther Snyder.
“Paying their associates well was just one way to help maintain that focus, and those beliefs remain firmly in place with us today,” Warnick told the Sun.
