Hobby Lobby raises its minimum wage to $21 an hour: what it pays after tax
Hobby Lobby raised its minimum full-time hourly wage to $21.00 on October 5, 2026, its 15th increase since 2009. Full time, that's $43,680 a year before taxes. The release says nothing about part-time pay or what the floor was the day before.
Hobby Lobby raised its minimum full-time hourly wage to $21.00 on Monday, October 5, 2026, the company announced that morning from its Oklahoma City headquarters. It is the chain's 15th increase since 2009, when it first set a company-wide minimum above the federal one. The announcement covers full-time hourly employees at a chain that says it runs more than 1,000 stores in 48 states with about 50,000 employees.
Three things the release does not say: what the minimum was the day before, how many workers get a raise, and anything about part-time pay. More on each below, because they matter more than the headline number if you work there or are thinking about applying.
What $21 an hour pays over a year
At 40 hours a week for 52 weeks, $21.00 an hour is $43,680 a year before taxes, or $840 a week. Hobby Lobby keeps its stores closed on Sundays and shuts at 8 p.m. the rest of the week, so a full-time schedule there is daytime and Saturday work rather than overnights, and overtime is unlikely to change the math much.
Texas and Florida have no state income tax, so a single filer there keeps $37,276.88 a year, about $3,106.41 a month or $1,433.73 every two weeks. Oklahoma, where the company is based, takes a state cut. This is the full-year math for a single filer with no other income or pretax deductions:
Put another way, about $17.24 of every $21 hour reaches an Oklahoma paycheck and $17.92 in Texas. If you contribute to the 401(k) the company offers, or pay a share of health premiums, your check will be smaller; our take-home pay calculator lets you add pretax deductions for any state.
How $21 compares with the legal minimum and with retail pay
The legal floor is far lower in the states around its headquarters. Texas and Oklahoma both use the federal $7.25 by reference, the rate that has stood since July 2009. Florida's own minimum went to $15.00 on September 30, 2026. The more useful comparison is with what retail actually pays, and for that the best official number is the Bureau of Labor Statistics survey of retail salespersons from May 2025, the latest available.
| Hourly rate | Per hour | Full time, a year |
|---|---|---|
| Federal minimum (also Texas and Oklahoma) | $7.25 | $15,080 |
| Florida minimum since Sept. 30, 2026 | $15.00 | $31,200 |
| Retail salespersons, Oklahoma mean (May 2025) | $15.90 | $33,072 |
| Retail salespersons, Texas mean (May 2025) | $16.37 | $34,050 |
| Retail salespersons, Florida mean (May 2025) | $17.31 | $36,005 |
| Retail salespersons, U.S. mean (May 2025) | $17.94 | $37,315 |
| Hobby Lobby full-time minimum | $21.00 | $43,680 |
Two caveats keep this honest. The BLS figures are averages for all retail salespeople, part-time included, and they are 17 months old, so retail pay has moved since. And the Hobby Lobby number is a floor for one group only. Even so, $21 sits 17% above the national retail average and 23% above the national median of $17.03, and the gap is widest in Oklahoma, at $5.10 an hour.
What the release leaves out
The previous minimum. The last figure Hobby Lobby published was $18.50, effective January 1, 2022. Its December 2021 release counted that as the 12th raise since 2009; this one says 15. So the company made other raises between the two that its newsroom never announced, and the rate just before October 5 is not public. Measured from the last published $18.50, the new floor is $2.50 an hour, or 13.5%, higher: $5,200 a year at full time.
Part-time workers. Every Hobby Lobby release since at least 2020 has spoken of the "minimum full-time hourly wage", and the 2026 one is no different. It says nothing about part-time pay, and the company has not published a part-time minimum. That matters because most of the store openings on its own careers page are listed as part-time or seasonal. If you're offered part-time hours, ask for the rate in writing; don't assume it's $21.
Benefits. The release lists medical, dental, a 401(k) with a company match, vacation pay, holiday pay and sick or personal pay with an annual buyback for "eligible employees", without saying who is eligible. Those can be worth more than a dollar or two on the hourly rate, so it's worth asking which ones come with the hours you're offered.
For anyone comparing a $21 offer with a salaried job, the quickest check is the annual figure: $43,680 at 2,080 hours. Fewer hours a week shrink it fast. At 32 hours, the same rate is $34,944 a year.
Questions
Does Hobby Lobby pay part-time employees $21 an hour?
Hobby Lobby hasn't said. Its October 5, 2026 announcement covers only the minimum full-time hourly wage, as did its earlier releases, and the company has not published a separate part-time minimum. Many of the openings on its careers page are part-time or seasonal, so ask for the hourly rate in writing before you accept.
What was Hobby Lobby's minimum wage before $21?
The last figure the company published was $18.50 an hour for full-time employees, effective January 1, 2022. Hobby Lobby counted that as its 12th raise and calls the $21 rate part of 15, so there were increases in between that were never announced on its newsroom. The exact rate before October 5, 2026 isn't public.
How much is $21 an hour after taxes?
For a single filer working 2,080 hours with no other income, $43,680 a year becomes $37,276.88 in a state without income tax, such as Texas or Florida, after federal income tax of $3,061.60 and $3,341.52 in Social Security and Medicare. In Oklahoma, state tax of $1,420.10 brings it to $35,856.78.