--- title: Hobby Lobby Increases Minimum Wage to $18.50 for Full-Time Employees description: Hobby Lobby will introduce a full-time minimum wage of $18.50 an hour soon. Other retailers to increase wages include CVS and Amazon. authors: - name: Adam Hardy role: Lead Data Reporter url: https://money.com/author/adam-hardy/ bio: Adam Hardy is a lead data journalist at Money, where he frequently reports on financial barriers that affect low-income Americans. Adam’s work has also appeared in Business Insider, Forbes, Nasdaq, The Penny Hoarder, Yahoo! Finance and more than a dozen local and regional newspapers. education: University of South Florida, BA, Magazine Journalism at_money_since: 2021 articles: 501 covers: - Business - Banking - Career Advice - Credit - Credit Cards - Debt - Economy and Politics - Education - Health and Wellness - Housing - Identity Theft - Insurance - Investing - Lifestyle - Loans - Mortgages - Personal Finance - Pets - Professional Services - Retirement - Shopping - Taxes - Technology also_seen_in: - The Penny Hoarder - Forbes Advisor - Creative Loafing - The New York Times - The Washington Post - Bloomberg - Harvard Law School - The Federal Register - National Consumer Law Center - CBS News - Becker's Hospital Review - Business Insider - Mother Jones - The Week - Fortune - The Philadelphia Inquirer - National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators (NAFSAA) - Education Advisory Board (EAB) - The Institute for College Access & Success (TICAS) - This Morning with Gordon Deal - Empower - Reddit social: - https://www.x.com/hardyjournalism - https://www.linkedin.com/in/hardyjournalism/ published: '2021-12-15T19:01:14.000Z' modified: '2024-01-10T12:50:53.000Z' section: Business tags: - Jobs - Minimum Wage - News word_count: 463 canonical: https://money.com/hobby-lobby-jobs-18-hour-wages/ type: NewsArticle source: structured-blocks --- > **Disclosure:** We research all brands listed and may earn a fee from our partners. Research and financial considerations may influence how brands are displayed. Not all brands are included. [Learn more](https://money.com/page/disclaimer/). ![Exterior shot of a Hobby Lobby store in Florida](https://img.money.com/2021/12/News-2021-Hobby-Lobby-Wage-Increase.jpg) Hobby Lobby is the latest major retailer to announce starting wages well above $15 an hour. The arts-and-crafts store unveiled plans on Tuesday to increase its “minimum full-time hourly wage” to $18.50. The wage hike goes into effect Jan. 1. The current minimum wage for full-time workers at the company sits at $17. Come 2022, those workers will see a $1.50 an hour increase. Part-time workers are not eligible for the $18.50 hourly rate, however, as they have separate wage floors. In October, the company bumped its part-time minimum wage to $13. Hobby Lobby's announcement did not mention any new changes to wages for part-time workers, nor did it state what percentage of its employees are full-time. *Money* reached out to Hobby Lobby for more details, and we will update this article if the company responds. According to the announcement, this marks Hobby Lobby’s 12th wage increase in the past 13 years, and the company has had a full-time minimum wage of at least $15 since 2014. The company’s decision to increase wages comes amid a tight labor market that has employers locked in a game of one-upmanship. Throughout the [labor shortage](https://money.com/labor-shortage-holidays-prices-travel-2021/), many well-known employers have been raising pay and sweetening their [perks and benefits packages](https://money.com/target-employees-free-college-tuition/) to attract workers. ## Where jobs pay $15 an hour Here’s a look at major [companies with $15 minimum wages](https://money.com/walgreens-cvs-pay-increase-15-hour/): - Amazon (in effect) - Best Buy (in effect) - CVS (by July 2022) - Southwest Airlines (in effect) - Target (in effect) - Under Armour (in effect) - Walgreens (by November 2022) - Wayfair (in effect) In years past, a $15 minimum wage was a rallying cry for workers. Amid [record-setting inflation](https://money.com/inflation-record-high/), that amount doesn’t seem to cut it anymore — and some companies are going higher. Employers with minimum wages higher than $15 include: - Bank of America ($21, with plans to hit $25 by 2025) - Costco ($17) - PNC Bank ($18) Earlier this summer, Starbucks announced plans to reach a $15 minimum wage over the next three years. Currently, its minimum wage is $12. Walmart’s minimum wage is also $12, but it frequently touts an “average hourly wage” of $16.40. Meanwhile, the federal minimum wage is frozen at $7.25. It hasn’t budged since July 2009. According to the [Department of Labor](https://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/minimum-wage/state#DistrictofColumbia), 30 states and Washington, D.C. currently have minimum wages higher than the federal rate. No state has fully implemented a $15 minimum wage. California will become the first to do so on Jan. 1, and several other states have plans to incrementally reach $15 in upcoming years. ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "@id": "https://money.com/hobby-lobby-jobs-18-hour-wages/#breadcrumb", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://money.com" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Business", "item": "https://money.com/business/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Retail", "item": "https://money.com/retail/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Hobby Lobby Increases Minimum Wage to $18.50 for Full-Time Employees" } ] }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://money.com/#website", "url": "https://money.com", "name": "Money", "publisher": { "@id": "https://money.com/#organization" } }, { "@type": "WebPage", "@id": "https://money.com/hobby-lobby-jobs-18-hour-wages/#webpage", "url": "https://money.com/hobby-lobby-jobs-18-hour-wages/", "name": "Hobby Lobby Increases Minimum Wage to $18.50 for Full-Time Employees", "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://money.com/#website" }, "datePublished": "2021-12-15T19:01:14.000Z", "mainEntity": { "@id": "https://money.com/hobby-lobby-jobs-18-hour-wages/" }, "inLanguage": "en-US", "breadcrumb": { "@id": "https://money.com/hobby-lobby-jobs-18-hour-wages/#breadcrumb" }, "dateModified": "2024-01-10T12:50:53.000Z" }, { "@type": "NewsArticle", "headline": "Hobby Lobby Increases Minimum Wage to $18.50 for Full-Time Employees", "articleSection": "Business", "image": [ { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://img.money.com/2021/12/News-2021-Hobby-Lobby-Wage-Increase.jpg", "width": 2214, "height": 1476, "caption": "News-2021-Hobby-Lobby-Wage-Increase" } ], "author": [ { "@type": "Person", "name": "Adam Hardy", "url": "https://money.com/author/adam-hardy/", "@id": "https://money.com/author/adam-hardy/#author", "description": "Adam Hardy is a lead data journalist at Money, where he frequently reports on financial barriers that affect low-income Americans. Adam’s work has also appeared in Business Insider, Forbes, Nasdaq, The Penny Hoarder, Yahoo! Finance and more than a dozen local and regional newspapers.", "image": "https://img.money.com/2022/01/a_adam-hardy.jpg?quality=85&w=400&h=440&crop=1", "email": "adam.hardy@money.com", "jobTitle": "Lead Data Reporter", "alumniOf": "University of South Florida, BA, Magazine Journalism", "subjectOf": [ { "@type": "WebPage", "url": "https://www.thepennyhoarder.com/", "name": "The Penny Hoarder" }, { "@type": "WebPage", "url": "https://www.forbes.com/advisor/", "name": "Forbes Advisor" }, { "@type": "WebPage", "url": "https://creativeloafing.com/", "name": "Creative Loafing" }, { "@type": "WebPage", "url": "https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/01/opinion/biden-trump-harris-2024.html", "name": "The New York Times" }, { "@type": "WebPage", "url": "https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/12/26/flexible-spending-account-is-flawed-benefit/", "name": "The Washington Post" }, { "@type": "WebPage", "url": "https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2025-09-20/-100-000-h-1b-visa-fee-is-a-gamble-that-could-protect-us-jobs", "name": "Bloomberg" }, { "@type": "WebPage", "url": "https://petrieflom.law.harvard.edu/2024/02/08/whoop-and-the-irs-how-tax-avoidance-helps-health/", "name": "Harvard Law School" }, { "@type": "WebPage", "url": "https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2025/12/29/2025-23853/weighted-selection-process-for-registrants-and-petitioners-seeking-to-file-cap-subject-h-1b#footnote-33-p60883", "name": "The Federal Register" }, { "@type": "WebPage", "url": "https://www.nclc.org/resources/what-states-can-do-to-stop-credit-reporting-abuses/", "name": "National Consumer Law Center" }, { "@type": "WebPage", "url": "https://www.cbsnews.com/news/open-enrollment-irs-changes-fsa-hsa-flexible-spending-account-health-savings-account-2023/", "name": "CBS News" }, { "@type": "WebPage", "url": "https://www.beckershospitalreview.com/rankings-and-ratings/20-top-us-hospitals-for-2025-per-money/", "name": "Becker's Hospital Review" }, { "@type": "WebPage", "url": "https://www.businessinsider.com/using-chatgpt-ai-write-cover-letters-job-applications-2023-2", "name": "Business Insider" }, { "@type": "WebPage", "url": "https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2026/04/a-major-strike-of-beef-workers-pauses-in-colorado-but-workers-say-the-fight-isnt-over/", "name": "Mother Jones" }, { "@type": "WebPage", "url": "https://theweek.com/business/economy/job-market-frozen-thawing", "name": "The Week" }, { "@type": "WebPage", "url": "https://fortune.com/2023/12/20/workers-lose-money-on-unused-fsa-accounts-deadlines-what-companies-should-do/", "name": "Fortune" }, { "@type": "WebPage", "url": "https://www.inquirer.com/opinion/editorials/liberation-day-tariffs-economy-stock-market-trump-20250401.html", "name": "The Philadelphia Inquirer" }, { "@type": "WebPage", "url": "https://www.nasfaa.org/news-item/37955/Student_Loan_Changes_2026_New_Repayment_Options_Taxable_Forgiveness_and_More_on_the_Way", "name": "National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators (NAFSAA)" }, { "@type": "WebPage", "url": "https://eab.com/resources/blog/adult-education-blog/graduate-funding-shift-pricing-aid-strategies-aligned/", "name": "Education Advisory Board (EAB)" }, { "@type": "WebPage", "url": "https://ticas.org/california/state-private-loans-protections-blog/", "name": "The Institute for College Access & Success (TICAS)" }, { "@type": "WebPage", "url": "https://thismorningwithgordondeal.com/b/This-Morning-with-Gordon-Deal-August-04,-2026/421564107823081285.html", "name": "This Morning with Gordon Deal" }, { "@type": "WebPage", "url": "https://www.empower.com/the-currency/life/pumpkin-spice-season-spending", "name": "Empower" }, { "@type": "WebPage", "url": "https://www.reddit.com/r/Economics/comments/1va10oa/comment/p0i9bju/", "name": "Reddit" } ], "sameAs": [ "https://www.x.com/hardyjournalism", "https://www.linkedin.com/in/hardyjournalism/" ], "worksFor": { "@id": "https://money.com/#organization" } } ], "publisher": "https://money.com/#organization", "datePublished": "2021-12-15T19:01:14.000Z", "description": "Hobby Lobby will introduce a full-time minimum wage of $18.50 an hour soon. Other retailers to increase wages include CVS and Amazon.", "abstract": "Hobby Lobby will introduce a full-time minimum wage of $18.50 an hour soon. Other retailers to increase wages include CVS and Amazon.", "@id": "https://money.com/hobby-lobby-jobs-18-hour-wages/", "inLanguage": "en-US", "dateModified": "2024-01-10T12:50:53.000Z", "wordCount": 463, "keywords": [ "Jobs", "Minimum Wage", "News" ], "about": [ { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Business", "sameAs": [ "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Business" ] }, { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Retail", "sameAs": [ "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Retail" ] }, { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Wages and salaries", "sameAs": [ "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wages_and_salaries" ] } ] } ] } ```