For first time, average pay for supermarket and restaurant workers tops $15 an hour

Other fresh entrants in the $15-an-hour club include butchers and seafood markets, office supply stories, liquor stores, parking-lot attendants, day-care services, janitorial services, and care for the elderly or disabled. There are only a few industries that still pay less than $15 an hour, and some of them are seeing blistering wage growth — convenience-store workers got a 16.9 percent raise during the pandemic, to an average of $13.16, and cafeteria and buffet staff saw a 16.8 percent boost to $14.08 an hour.