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Perhaps many of you knew this, but I certainly didn't.
Being an In N Out manager sounds pretty cool, even though it seems like hard work, and you have to start from the bottom. I like that concept of everyone starting from the bottom and working their way up, because as an employee there, you know that the people who are above you were once in your shoes
But sure seems less costly than going to school to become a lawyer.
Back in 2012, the Orange Country Register reported the average salary for an In-N-Out manager was over $120,000, compared to an industry average of around $48,000. As Thrillist pointed out, that's also about $5,000 more than the average lawyer makes, and you don't have to rack up law school debt to get the position.
As a manager, you're also treated to free international trips if you hit target goals, a former In-N-Out employee shared. Add in the company's generous benefits program and casual work culture and you've got a pretty sweet deal.
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
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Impressive that a fast food manager can make that much, but around here the average lawyer is making closer to $200k. Another case where using national average can be misleading. Of course, we don't have any In-N-Out in our state, the nearest is Medford OR (460 miles).
The problem with this comparison is that they're comparing the salary of a specific company against an entire career field. Yes, I know we're still talking about fast food manager vs. lawyer. But it's still not apples to apples.
If we are to assume being an In-N-Out manager is the holy grail of fast food management - Let's look at the similar scenario on the other side: some quick Googling shows that one of the top litigation firms pays their first year associate $185K.
Which isn't a whole lot more if we are to accept the whole leaving school with high debt (while common, not everyone has education debt). However, what is the salary potential for an In-N-Out manager after 5 years? 10 years? Are they moving into corporate? Google tells me that litigation partners are at $380K to $750K a year.
But does any of this really matter? Picking a career isn't like picking a car or a house. None of the above is guaranteed or easy. No one simply chooses to be an In-N-Out manager, lawyer, or whatever career you want to insert into this - and poof, you are magically doing these jobs.
The problem with this comparison is that they're comparing the salary of a specific company against an entire career field. Yes, I know we're still talking about fast food manager vs. lawyer. But it's still not apples to apples.
If we are to assume being an In-N-Out manager is the holy grail of fast food management - Let's look at the similar scenario on the other side: some quick Googling shows that one of the top litigation firms pays their first year associate $185K.
Which isn't a whole lot more if we are to accept the whole leaving school with high debt (while common, not everyone has education debt). However, what is the salary potential for an In-N-Out manager after 5 years? 10 years? Are they moving into corporate? Google tells me that litigation partners are at $380K to $750K a year.
But does any of this really matter? Picking a career isn't like picking a car or a house. None of the above is guaranteed or easy. No one simply chooses to be an In-N-Out manager, lawyer, or whatever career you want to insert into this - and poof, you are magically doing these jobs.
The average lawyer is starting out with a salary less than 100k. And very, very few ever make it into the mid six figures.
An In-And-Out manager could only be an In-And-Out manager in a state where there is as In-and-Out while a lawyer can virtually be a lawyer wherever they want providing there is a firm. In-And-Out only are in six states: California, Arizona, Utah, Nevada, Oregon and Texas. So unless you live in a state listed, don't put all your eggs in this basket.
The average lawyer is starting out with a salary less than 100k. And very, very few ever make it into the mid six figures.
Macroy makes an excellent point though. in-n-out (damn that is hard to type) managers makes 120k, but they represent the top 1/10 of 1% of all fast food managers. Therefore they should be compared with top lawyers, not all lawyers.
The top 5% of lawyers make over $1 million a year. If we drilled down to the top 1/10 of 1%, I am sure they would make even more.
While it seems good to be an IIO manager, fast food managers on average don't make as much as lawyers on average.
Mkpunk also makes a valid point. There are only 350 IIO managers in the country. There are 1,300,000 lawyers.
The average lawyer is starting out with a salary less than 100k. And very, very few ever make it into the mid six figures.
I don't believe I said otherwise. My point is that they are not comparing apple to apples. The average restaurant manager is 48K. Which isn't even an entry-level position. They're essentially cherry picking a specific position at a specific chain. So I did the same.
The average lawyer is starting out with a salary less than 100k. And very, very few ever make it into the mid six figures.
Depends where you are. Average is around $170k here in northern California. Most are not making mid six figures ($400,000+) but there's a lot more lawyers making mid six figures than fast food managers.
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