Does Smart & Final pay their employees well?

According to anonymously submitted Glassdoor reviews, Smart & Final employees rate their compensation and benefits as 2.8 out of 5. Find out more about salaries and benefits at Smart & Final. This rating has improved by 5% over the last 12 months.

How satisfied are employees working at Smart & Final?

38% of Smart & Final employees would recommend working there to a friend based on Glassdoor reviews . Employees also rated Smart & Final 2.8 out of 5 for work life balance, 2.8 for culture and values and 2.8 for career opportunities.

What are the top reviewed jobs at Smart & Final?

Cashier (106) , Sales Associate/Cashier (47) , Sales Associate (24) , Service Clerk (23) , Associate (19) , Assistant Manager (14) , Store Manager (12) , Front End Cashier (11) , Load Crew (11) , PIC (Person In Charge) (11) , Key Carrier (10) , Supervisor (10) , Grocery Clerk (9) , Overnight Stocker (9) , Store Associate (9)

What are the pros of working at Smart & Final according to real employee reviews?

"I have bee working as a cashier for 2 years and we have great customer service and hours are flexible." ((in 40 reviews)); "Benefits are good." ((in 38 reviews)); "They will give you hours and you’ll meet some great people but the company doesn’t know what they are doing." ((in 34 reviews)); "Overnight manager was great and we got to listen to music." ((in 27 reviews)); "The customers are great and coworkers can be fun!" ((in 22 reviews))

What are the cons of working at Smart & Final according to real employee reviews?

"Low pay and vary hard to move upward in the company." ((in 55 reviews)); "Blatant favoritism with certain employees, over looking poor work and moral ethics by management." ((in 23 reviews)); "No work life balance at all" ((in 13 reviews)); "30 cent raise when you know you deserver more than triple that." ((in 9 reviews)); "Upper management completely out of touch, labor scheduling is a joke." ((in 8 reviews))

What are employees saying about Smart & Final layoffs in 2026?

Explore Glassdoor’s employee reviews to understand what current and former employees are saying about Smart & Final layoffs and their outlook for job security at Smart & Final in 2026.

What are the top reviewed Smart & Final locations?

Los Angeles , Commerce , San Diego , Riverside , San Jose , Sacramento , San Francisco , Huntington Beach , Long Beach , Las Vegas , Palmdale , Chula Vista , Phoenix , Bakersfield , Visalia , Fresno , La Habra , Lakewood , North Hollywood , Pasadena , Modesto , Simi Valley , Salinas , Seaside , Encinitas , Fullerton , Northridge , Santa Ana , Danville , Oakland

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Smart & Final

Smart & Final reviews

3.1

38% would recommend to a friend

(772 total reviews)

David G. Hirz

36% approve of CEO

25% positive business outlook

Ratings by category

3.2

Diversity & inclusion

2.8

Culture & values

2.8

Work/Life balance

2.8

Compensation and benefits

2.8

Career opportunities

2.6

Senior management

Smart & Final has an employee rating of 3.1 out of 5 stars, based on 772 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have a good working experience there. The Smart & Final employee rating is in line with the average (within 1 standard deviation) for employers within the Retail & Wholesale industry (3.5 stars).

Ratings by demographic groups

Race / Ethnicity

Gender

Sexual orientation

Disability

Parent or family caregiver

Veteran status

Reviews by job title

772 reviews

1.0

Nov 29, 2025

Not worth the pay, over worked and underpaid, toxic managers favoritism

Load crew

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

You can be late and that's it, some pto but don't want you to use it.

Cons

Smart and final needs to get with the program. Companies are greedy as hell and give their ceos a good chunk of pay. For load its not worth it. We lift between 4,000 lbs and 6,000lbs per person on an 8 hr shift 5 days a week for very little pay. If you want to do load just apply for construction work you get pay way better. Smart and final everything is expensive pay load crew more. Everyone else has kind of a chill job, unless you're running a department. Managers have too much power and as a consequence they act wild. Not worth working here. They don't even let you use more than a week for vacay.

2.0

Nov 16, 2025

Smart and Final

Cashier

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

Nice co-workers and plenty of hours for work

Cons

Bad management, lack of communication, bad policies, difficult customers

1.0

Oct 19, 2025

Managers treat you like trash

Manager

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

hours were good before they dried up and they dont fire you here. They just take your hours until you can't take it anymore and you can be a technical "quitter" and not get terminated

Cons

Managers act like its highschool

Viewing 7 - 9 of 772 Reviews

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Jobs at Smart & Final

Full-time Associate - 826 Bullhead City

Person in Charge (Part-time) - 933 San Diego

F/T Assistant Manager - 723 Fairfield

Full-time Associate (Overnight Load Crew)- 933 San Diego