The Truth About How Much Money Fast Food Workers Really Make

Who pays fast food workers best, and who pays worst? Just how much money are the people serving you your fast food meal getting paid? And what actions have these companies taken, or been forced to take, in order to improve the wages of their workers? Here's what you need to know about the money fast food workers make.

McDonald's might just be the most iconic fast food chain on the planet, and could make a decent claim to being one of history's most recognizable brands. Nowadays, the company employs around 210,000 workers in 36,000 locations around the world. But how much are those workers getting?

According to the employment review site Glassdoor, the average base pay for a McDonald's worker at the lowest level is $9 per hour. This range is variable, however, mostly because fast food wages tend to be decided by franchise owners rather than the corporations themselves. The average total pay comes to about $19,000 per year. Of course, that wage increases as you work your way up the ranks; shift managers make an average of $11 per hour, while some department managers make an average of $12 per hour.

Recently, McDonald's made headlines after it finally relented and abandoned its long battle against campaigns aimed at raising the minimum wage. The company announced that it will cease lobbying to oppose minimum wage increases at any level, and they will not, quote, "participate in association advocacy efforts designed to defeat wage increases." For campaigners such as the "Fight for $15" movement, this was nothing less than a huge victory.

As the biggest rival to McDonald's, it probably won't come as a huge surprise to find that Burger King's wages aren't too dissimilar. According to Glassdoor, the average hourly pay for a Burger King cashier is $9. Shift and assistant managers, however, can make as much as $11 per hour, and operations managers can even make as much as $67,580 per year, which isn't a bad amount by any measure. Keep watching the video to see the truth about how much money fast food workers really make.

#FastFood

McDonald's | 0:19
Burger King | 1:32
KFC | 2:28
Subway | 3:20
Wendy's | 4:15
Domino's | 5:05
Chipotle | 6:25
Taco Bell | 7:51
Chick-fil-A | 9:07
Starbucks | 10:06
Dunkin' | 11:07
Baskin-Robbins | 12:00