How Much Do Krispy Kreme Employees Typically Make?

The small and innocent appearance of the humble doughnut holds an immense amount of culinary and financial power. In addition to being a delicious sugary treat, found at locations from shopping malls to church sales and street vendors to school lunchboxes, the doughnut has been responsible for massive business successes.

An indisputable titan of doughnut dominance is Krispy Kreme. According to the company's website, Krispy Kreme was launched in 1937 with a single shop in Old Salem, North Carolina. Its founder, Vernon Rudolph, crafted doughnuts using a recipe he had bought from a French chef in New Orleans. That chef must have felt like a complete fool in the following years. The company grew in size and dramatically innovated through the decades, eventually boasting over 1,000 stores worldwide (via Krispy Kreme).

With each store churning out up to 50,000 doughnuts a day (according to Insider), Krispy Kreme needs an army of workers in an array of crucial roles to keep stores filled with its irresistibly tasty glaze. While the company's average pay rate is reported to be $14 an hour (or just over $27,000 annually, according to Talent), what are the actual financial rewards for roles such as team members, sanitation workers, and executives?

As a critical on-the-floor representative of Krispy Kreme, it's no surprise that being a team member is listed by Indeed as one of the most popular roles in the company. According to Krispy Kreme's recruitment website, team members have responsibility for taking orders and payments, ensuring the general cleanliness of stores, and, most importantly, creating fresh doughnuts for customers to devour. Emphasis is also placed on "spreading joy," which includes handing out free samples. 

Krispy Kreme's team members receive an average hourly salary of $11.68, according to Indeed (although Indeed notes that night team members only earn $10.65). This is similar to the research conducted by Payscale, which believes Krispy Kreme cashiers take home around $11 an hour. These wages are just below the national average, which Talent estimates at $12.49 an hour for cashiers, or $24,365 a year.

In addition to salaries, the company offers a wide range of benefits for all roles. Krispy Kreme's website confirms that its employees receive extras including health, vision, and dental plans, support with spending accounts, and assistance with life insurance. The company also offers paid leave, repayment of education expenses, and, of course, free doughnuts. However, not all of the benefits are available to part-time workers.

Even a complete business novice could guess that Krispy Kreme would be nowhere without doughnuts, which is why the firm employs dedicated doughnut makers. As well as mixing dough, the company's recruitment website explains other responsibilities of doughnut makers include preparing icing, fillings, and the legendary doughnut glaze. For this, workers can expect to receive $10.40 each hour, according to Indeed –- lower than the national average of $12.83, via SalaryExpert.

Elsewhere, Krispy Kreme delivery drivers –- the important people who distribute delicious goodies to stores and customers –- make approximately $13 an hour, according to Payscale. However, Talent believes the average pay to be much higher, estimating it at $16 (or over $31,000 a year,) putting it closer to the national average delivery driver pay of $17.27 per hour (via Indeed).

While sometimes overlooked, janitors play a key role in keeping buildings safe and hygienic for people to use. At Krispy Kreme, sanitation specialists are reported by Indeed to take home $11.97 per hour, which is a similar estimate to Payscale's $11. This means that Krispy Kreme's sanitation workers are paid significantly less than the U.S. average of $15 ($29,250 per year,) notes Talent.

With an estimated 9,100 employees (according to Craft), Krispy Kreme requires an effective leadership team to provide support to its staff and customers and continue the company's success. There are various management avenues available at Krispy Kreme, with the customer-facing shift leaders averaging an hourly wage of $13.08 (via Indeed).

Meanwhile, slightly higher up the management level are assistant general managers, with payment for their undoubtedly hard work valued at $46,772 a year, reports Indeed. When reaching the height of general manager, the financial reward is approximately $57,639 annually, according to Indeed. However, it's the executive level where the big bucks start to fly in.

Comparably estimates the compensation of Krispy Kreme's most senior executives to be in the region of $250,000 a year, with the highest-earning boss (possibly CEO Michael J. Tattersfield) receiving $450,000 –- an astonishingly large salary of over 16 times the average annual pay of ordinary Krispy Kreme workers. However, that figure is overshadowed by the average chief executive pay in the U.S.: The Economic Policy Institute reports that CEOs at America's largest firms bank a typical yearly compensation of $13.9m. They probably still claim their free Krispy Kreme doughnut samples though.