Compare dated local starting wages without treating them as a nationwide or current offer.
The strongest pay figure is one with a role, location, unit and date attached. Two company opening announcements provide local starting-wage examples. BLS adds national occupation data with a different reference period and statistical meaning. These sources belong in separate columns, not in a single implied company pay range.
The numbers and their limits
| Source and place | Amount | What the number describes | Source date or period |
|---|---|---|---|
| In-N-Out opening release: Bell, California | $22.00 per hour | Announced associate starting wage at that opening | Published January 27, 2026 |
| In-N-Out opening release: Las Vegas Strip, Nevada | $18.25 per hour | Announced associate starting wage at that opening | Published June 9, 2026 |
| BLS: Fast Food and Counter Workers | $15.00 per hour | National occupation median across employers | May 2025 wage data |
| BLS: Food and Beverage Serving and Related Workers | $15.24 per hour | National median for the broader group on that BLS page | May 2025 wage data |
Accessed September 30, 2026. Accessing a release today does not turn its historical starting wage into a current offer. The BLS page was last modified August 27, 2026; the wage observations still refer to May 2025.
Why these are not matched observations
The two opening releases describe local starts at different times. The BLS medians combine workers at different employers and experience levels nationwide. A median means half the workers earned more and half earned less; it is not an entry rate. Geography, job definition, date and measure differ, so the table cannot establish a precise company-wide premium over the labor market.
The $15.24 category is specifically Food and Beverage Serving and Related Workers. Do not relabel it as the entire food-preparation-and-serving occupational group; that is a different BLS category.
Build a location-level comparison
- Save the exact current employer posting and the date you viewed it
- Record the city, worksite and job title rather than only the company name
- Mark whether the figure is a starting wage, a range, an average or a median
- Keep hourly amounts separate from annual salaries
- Ask about expected paid hours and any conditions on additional compensation
- Read benefit eligibility separately from the cash wage
A rate still needs hours
For a purely hypothetical arithmetic example, $20 per hour for 20 paid hours is $400 gross, while the same rate for 30 paid hours is $600 gross. These are invented inputs to show the calculation, not In-N-Out pay or scheduling promises. Neither amount is take-home pay. Without actual paid hours, annualizing an hourly rate creates more certainty than the evidence supports.
Use the offer-comparison guide for a fuller framework. The part-time and full-time benefits guides explain why a benefit headline should not be treated as a cash addition that every worker receives.