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How much does a grocery shop assistant earn in Sweden?

Shop sales, groceries. 86,600 people employed in Sweden.

32,700SEK

per month is the median salary for a grocery shop assistant in Sweden in 2025. That is 15% lower than the median across all jobs in the country, 38,300 SEK.

+0.9% since 2024

≈ €2,900 / $3,350 at September 2026 exchange rates, before tax.

That is roughly 26,304 SEK after tax in an average municipality, without the church fee.

≈ 189 SEK an hour · 392,400 SEK a year

The hourly figure is the monthly salary divided by 173.3 hours (40 hours a week × 52 weeks / 12 months); the yearly figure is twelve times the monthly salary.

The mean monthly salary for a grocery shop assistant in Sweden is 33,800 SEK (2025). The median salary is 32,700 SEK. The lowest-paid 10% earn under 27,300 SEK and the highest-paid 10% over 42,200 SEK.

Figures are gross monthly salary before tax, converted to full time. Income tax in Sweden is roughly 30–34% for most earners, plus a national surtax on income above about 51,000 SEK a month.

Average pay
33,800 SEK
Mean gross monthly salary
Lowest 10%
27,300 SEK
Earn less than this
Highest 10%
42,200 SEK
Earn more than this
People employed
86,600
In this job in Sweden

Shop assistants in grocery retail work in supermarkets and other shops selling everyday goods, covering the checkout, restocking, ordering and customer service. There are no formal training requirements, and for many it is a first job, often part-time or alongside studies. Employers are mainly private retailers, many of them stores within the large chains. Pay varies mainly with experience and age, since the collective agreements set separate minimum rates for young employees.

The pay range

How monthly salaries are distributed among shop sales, groceries in Sweden. The same scale is used in the tables further down.

27,300 SEKLowest 10%32,700 SEKMedian42,200 SEKHighest 10%
Light band: the middle 80 per cent. Dark band: the middle half, earning 29,500–36,900 SEK. The red line is the median salary across all jobs in Sweden.

Shop assistant, groceries: starting salary

Statistics Sweden publishes no starting-salary figures. The closest proxies are what the youngest people in the job earn and where the lower end of the pay distribution sits.

The youngest in the job, aged 18–24, earn 32,900 SEK a month on average — roughly 26,500 SEK after tax in an average municipality.

Starting-salary proxies, before and after tax
Before tax After tax
Average, aged 18–24 32,900 SEK 26,455 SEK
Average, aged 25–34 34,200 SEK 27,435 SEK
Lowest 10% earn less than 27,300 SEK 22,231 SEK
Lowest 25% earn less than 29,500 SEK 23,890 SEK

These are proxies, not starting salaries. An age band holds both people who have just started and people ten years into the job, and the lowest paid are not always newcomers. The collective-agreement minimum and an individual offer can sit above or below.

Shop assistant, groceries: pay in the private and public sector

What shop sales, groceries earn depends a great deal on who the employer is.

Monthly salary by sector and gender
Sector Average pay Median pay Men Women
All sectors 33,800 SEK 32,700 SEK 33,300 SEK 32,500 SEK
Private sector 33,800 SEK 32,700 SEK 33,300 SEK 32,500 SEK

Shop assistant, groceries: salary after tax in Sweden

What shop sales, groceries actually take home depends on which municipality they live in. The table shows what 32,700 SEK a month comes to after tax in a few of them.

That is roughly 26,304 SEK after tax in an average municipality, without the church fee.

32,700 SEK a month after tax, by municipality
Municipality Municipal and regional tax After tax
Average municipality 32.38% 26,304 SEK
Stockholm 30.55% 26,729 SEK
Göteborg 32.60% 26,260 SEK
Malmö 32.42% 26,296 SEK
Österåker (lowest tax) 28.93% 26,978 SEK
Dorotea (highest tax) 35.65% 25,664 SEK
  • The youngest in the job, aged 18–24 years, earn 32,900 SEK before tax — roughly 26,455 SEK after.
  • The best paid 10% earn more than 42,200 SEK, which is roughly 33,279 SEK after tax.

Calculate the salary after tax for a grocery shop assistant

The figures assume an average municipality, no church fee and an age under 66. The calculator takes your own municipality into account.

And if the job goes? Work out unemployment benefit for a grocery shop assistant

Pay for men and women

Median salary for men and women
Gender 30,000 40,000 Median pay Number
Men 33,300 SEK 33,000
Women 32,500 SEK 53,600

Women's average salary is 98% of men's average salary in this job.

Statistics Sweden calculates the ratio on average monthly salary, while the table above shows median salaries, so the two do not line up exactly. The figure is also unadjusted: it does not account for differences in age, sector or position.

Shop assistant, groceries: salary by age

Pay for shop sales, groceries normally rises with years in the job.

Monthly salary by age
Age 30,000 40,000 Average pay Men Women Number
18–24 years 32,900 SEK 32,900 SEK 32,900 SEK 31,400
25–34 years 34,200 SEK 34,400 SEK 34,000 SEK 20,400
35–44 years 34,500 SEK 35,200 SEK 34,000 SEK 13,100
45–54 years 34,500 SEK 36,200 SEK 33,600 SEK 10,900
55–64 years 34,500 SEK 34,600 SEK 34,400 SEK 9,300

Pay by level of education

Monthly salary by level of education
Level of education 30,000 40,000 Average pay Men Women Number
Primary and secondary education less than 9 years (ISCED97 1) 35,500 SEK 36,600 SEK 31,800 SEK –
Primary and secondary education 9-10 years (ISCED97 2) 33,900 SEK 34,300 SEK 33,700 SEK 10,100
Upper secondary education, 2 years or less (ISCED97 3C) 34,100 SEK 34,400 SEK 34,000 SEK 12,000
Upper secondary education 3 years (ISCED97 3A) 32,900 SEK 33,500 SEK 32,600 SEK 43,100
Post-secondary education, less than 3 years (ISCED97 4+5B) 35,200 SEK 34,900 SEK 35,400 SEK 13,400
Post-secondary education 3 years or more (ISCED97 5A) 36,200 SEK 36,700 SEK 35,900 SEK 5,400
No information about level of educational attainment 35,500 SEK 34,700 SEK 37,200 SEK –

Shop assistant, groceries: salary by region

Statistics Sweden reports pay by job at the level of national areas (NUTS 2), not by county.

Monthly salary by region
Region 30,000 40,000 Average pay Men Women Number
Stockholm 35,000 SEK 35,400 SEK 34,500 SEK –
East-Central Sweden 32,800 SEK 32,600 SEK 32,800 SEK –
Småland and islands 33,700 SEK 34,700 SEK 32,900 SEK –
South Sweden 33,900 SEK 34,300 SEK 33,700 SEK –
West Sweden 34,300 SEK 34,500 SEK 34,200 SEK –
North-Central Sweden 33,200 SEK 32,600 SEK 33,400 SEK –
Central Norrland 31,700 SEK 33,000 SEK 31,200 SEK –
Upper Norrland 33,000 SEK 32,300 SEK 33,500 SEK –

Shop assistant, groceries: pay growth 2014–2025

Median salary per year. Years with no reported median are skipped. The dashed line marks the break between the older and the newer series at Statistics Sweden; comparisons across it should be made with care.

From 25,500 SEK in 2014 to 32,700 SEK in 2025, +28% in total. Nominal figures, not adjusted for inflation. The lighter part of the line, the years before 2023, comes from an older set of statistics at Statistics Sweden and is not fully comparable with the later years.

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Swedish job titles in this occupation

Statistics Sweden files the following Swedish job titles under SSYK 5222, “butikssäljare, dagligvaror”. These are the titles you will actually meet in Swedish job ads.

  • Affärsbiträde, dagligvaror
  • Butiksbiträde, dagligvaror
  • Butikssäljare, dagligvaror
  • Butikssäljare, kosmetika
  • Butikssäljare, livsmedelsaffär
  • Butikssäljare, pappersvaror
  • Butikssäljare, Systembolaget
  • Butikssäljare, tobaksvaror m.m.
  • Charkarbetare, försäljning livsmedel
  • Charkuteribiträde, försäljning livsmedel
  • Charkuterist, försäljning livsmedel
  • Delikatessbiträde
  • Expedit, dagligvaror
  • Fiskförsäljare
  • Fiskmästare, fiskhandlare
  • Fruktansvarig
  • Försäljare, Hemglass
  • Försäljare, pressbyrå
  • Livsmedelsbiträde
  • Stormarknadsbiträde

Frequently asked questions

How much does a grocery shop assistant earn in 2026?

The latest figures are Statistics Sweden's salary structure statistics for 2025, published on 16 June 2026. The median salary was then 32,700 SEK a month before tax, against 32,400 SEK the year before (2024) — +0.9%. Figures for 2026 are normally published in June 2027; until then the 2025 figures are the latest there are, and we do not project our own.

What is the median salary for a grocery shop assistant in Sweden?

The median salary for a grocery shop assistant in Sweden is 32,700 SEK per month before tax (2025). That means half earn less and half earn more. The median across all jobs in Sweden is 38,300 SEK, so shop sales, groceries sit 15% lower than the typical job.

How much does a grocery shop assistant earn after tax?

The median salary for a grocery shop assistant is 32,700 SEK a month before tax. In an average Swedish municipality, without the church fee and for someone under 66, that works out at roughly 26,300 SEK after tax. The exact figure depends on which municipality you live in — our salary-after-tax calculator works it out.

What is the difference between average and median pay for shop sales, groceries?

The average (33,800 SEK) is the mean of every salary and is pulled upwards by the highest earners. The median (32,700 SEK) is the salary in the middle of the scale and usually gives a better picture of what shop sales, groceries typically earn.

What is the starting salary for a grocery shop assistant in Sweden?

Statistics Sweden does not publish starting salaries as such. The closest figure is the youngest people in the job: shop sales, groceries aged 18–24 years earn 32,900 SEK per month on average. The lowest-paid 10% in the job earn less than 27,300 SEK. More in the section “Shop assistant, groceries: starting salary” above.

How high can the salary go for shop sales, groceries?

The highest-paid 10% in the job earn more than 42,200 SEK per month. Pay is shaped by sector, experience, level of education and where in the country you work.

Is there a gender pay gap among shop sales, groceries in Sweden?

Women's average salary is 98% of men's in this job. The median salary is 33,300 SEK for men and 32,500 SEK for women. The figure is not adjusted for differences in age, sector or working hours.

Where in Sweden does a grocery shop assistant earn the most?

Pay is highest in Stockholm, where shop sales, groceries earn 35,000 SEK per month on average.

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