Short answer
Costco had 355,000 employees worldwide at the end of its 2026 fiscal year on August 30, 2026, according to its Form 10-K filed with the SEC on October 7, 2026. That includes 232,000 in the United States, 58,000 in Canada and 65,000 in other countries, both full-time and part-time. Headcount rose 14,000 (4.1%) in the year as Costco grew to 939 warehouses. Costco reports headcount once a year, so this is its latest figure.
- Latest figure: 355,000 employees at August 30, 2026, from Costco's fiscal 2026 10-K.
- By segment: 232,000 in the US (65%), 58,000 in Canada and 65,000 in other international markets.
- Headcount has risen every year in the filings, from 245,000 in fiscal 2018 to 355,000.
- The count includes part-time staff; Costco targets at least 50% full-time and last split them in fiscal 2020 (156,000 full-time).
- Revenue per employee was about $854,000 in fiscal 2026 (our calculation).
On this page
This page is for sellers, suppliers, analysts and anyone who needs a Costco headcount they can cite: the latest number, what it counts and how it splits by country. Every number here comes from Costco's annual report on Form 10-K, filed with the SEC. Costco's fiscal year ends on a Sunday in late August or early September, so fiscal 2026 ended on August 30, 2026.
Costco employees by year
Costco reports its headcount once a year, at the end of the fiscal year, in the Human Capital section of its 10-K.
| Fiscal year | Year end | Employees | Change on prior year | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | August 30, 2026 | 355,000 | +14,000 (+4.1%) | 10-K filed October 7, 2026 |
| 2025 | August 31, 2025 | 341,000 | +8,000 (+2.4%) | 10-K filed October 8, 2025 |
| 2024 | September 1, 2024 | 333,000 | +17,000 (+5.4%) | 10-K filed October 9, 2024 |
| 2023 | September 3, 2023 | 316,000 | +12,000 (+3.9%) | 10-K filed October 11, 2023 |
| 2022 | August 28, 2022 | 304,000 | +16,000 (+5.6%) | 10-K filed October 5, 2022 |
| 2021 | August 29, 2021 | 288,000 | +15,000 (+5.5%) | 10-K filed October 6, 2021 |
| 2020 | August 30, 2020 | 273,000 | +19,000 (+7.5%) | 10-K filed October 7, 2020 |
| 2019 | September 1, 2019 | 254,000 | +9,000 (+3.7%) | 10-K filed October 11, 2019 |
| 2018 | September 2, 2018 | 245,000 | 10-K filed October 26, 2018 |
Costco rounds to the nearest thousand. The changes are our arithmetic. Costco's quarterly 10-Qs don't report headcount, so the fiscal 2026 10-K holds the latest company figure until the fiscal 2027 10-K, due in October 2027.
Costco employees by country
Since fiscal 2021 the 10-K has split employees by operating segment.
| Fiscal year | United States | Canada | Other International | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 232,000 | 58,000 | 65,000 | 355,000 |
| 2025 | 223,000 | 55,000 | 63,000 | 341,000 |
| 2024 | 219,000 | 53,000 | 61,000 | 333,000 |
| 2023 | 208,000 | 51,000 | 57,000 | 316,000 |
| 2022 | 202,000 | 50,000 | 52,000 | 304,000 |
| 2021 | 192,000 | 47,000 | 49,000 | 288,000 |
| 2020 | 181,000 | 46,000 | 46,000 | 273,000 |
| 2019 | 167,000 | 42,000 | 45,000 | 254,000 |
The 2019 and 2020 rows come from the fiscal 2021 10-K, which first published the split. The US share has stayed near two-thirds (65% in fiscal 2026). Other International (all markets outside the US and Canada) grew fastest over five years: up 16,000 (33%) since fiscal 2021, against 21% for the US.
Full-time and part-time
Until fiscal 2020 the 10-K split the count by contract type:
| Fiscal year | Full-time | Part-time | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 156,000 | 117,000 | 273,000 |
| 2019 | 149,000 | 105,000 | 254,000 |
| 2018 | 143,000 | 102,000 | 245,000 |
Since then it has given only a target: "a target ratio of at least 50% of our base being full-time employees." In fiscal 2020, 57% were full-time.
What the number includes
- Everyone on the payroll, full-time and part-time. The 10-K says "At the end of 2026, we employed 355,000 employees worldwide." The fiscal 2018 to 2020 tables show the total is full-time plus part-time staff, so it's a head count, not full-time equivalents.
- Mostly warehouse staff. "Approximately 95% are employed in our membership warehouses and distribution channels."
- Union-represented staff. "Around 5% are represented by unions," which is roughly 17,750 people by our arithmetic. The fiscal 2021 filing gave "approximately 17,000"; fiscal 2018 gave approximately 15,900.
- Long tenure. Costco says its retention rate in the US and Canada "was approximately 94% for employees who have been with us for at least one year."
- A year-end count, not an average for the year.
What changed and why
Costco's headcount rose in every year covered here, and its filings point to two drivers.
- New warehouses. "Costco operated 939, 914, and 890 warehouses worldwide at August 30, 2026, August 31, 2025, and September 1, 2024." The 25 net new warehouses in fiscal 2026 go with 14,000 more employees. Dividing 355,000 by 939 gives about 378 employees per warehouse, a rough figure (our calculation) since it includes depots and offices.
- Pay. Costco says its philosophy "is not to seek to minimize their wages and benefits." In March 2026 it raised the top of its wage scales by $1.00 an hour in the US and Canada, bringing the average for US hourly employees at the end of fiscal 2026 to about $33.00 an hour, from about $32.00 a year earlier.
The fastest year was fiscal 2020 (+19,000, or 7.5%), and the slowest fiscal 2025 (+8,000).
Revenue per employee
Costco's fiscal 2026 total revenue was $303,154 million: $297,247 million of net sales and $5,907 million of membership fees. Divided by the year-end headcount, that's $303,154 million ÷ 355,000 = about $854,000 per employee (our calculation).
| Fiscal year | Total revenue | Employees | Revenue per employee (our calculation) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | $303.2 billion | 355,000 | about $854,000 |
| 2025 | $275.2 billion | 341,000 | about $807,000 |
| 2024 | $254.5 billion | 333,000 | about $764,000 |
| 2023 (53 weeks) | $242.3 billion | 316,000 | about $767,000 |
| 2022 | $227.0 billion | 304,000 | about $747,000 |
Revenue grew 10.1% in fiscal 2026 while headcount grew 4.1%. Because the count includes part-time staff, the ratio is lower than it would be on a full-time-equivalent basis, so compare it only with companies that count people the same way. For how Costco ranks by headcount, see the largest employers in the US.
Selling to a company this size
General guidance on how retailers of 355,000 people buy, not a description of Costco's internal processes.
- Merchandise and operations are different doors. Selling products to put on the shelf goes through buying teams; selling services or equipment to run warehouses goes through operations, facilities or IT.
- Think in warehouses. With 939 warehouses and new ones opening every year, a product that saves a few hours per site multiplies fast. Price and pitch it per warehouse.
- Respect the cost discipline. A low-markup retailer judges every vendor on cost per unit. Bring the arithmetic.
- Start in one country or region. The Canadian and international segments run their own operations; a win in one can be the reference for the next.
- Name the people. Work out who signs, who uses and who can block. Our guide to selling to retailers covers how buying works in retail.
At this scale, finding the team that owns your problem is most of the work. Bebop researches each account and suggests who to talk to and the angle to open with; check what it finds against the company's filings.
How to check Costco's headcount yourself
- Search SEC EDGAR for Costco Wholesale Corp (CIK 909832) and open the latest 10-K, filed each October.
- In Item 1, Business, find Human Capital, then Employee Base. The first sentence gives the total; the table below gives the split by segment.
- Check the fiscal year end on the cover page: it moves between late August and early September, and some years have 53 weeks.
- Before comparing with another retailer, check whether it reports heads (as Costco does) or full-time equivalents.
Next step: see how Costco compares with other big US employers in the largest employers in the US.
Sources
- Costco Wholesale Corporation Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended August 30, 2026, Costco Wholesale Corporation, via SEC EDGAR, 7 October 2026
- Costco Wholesale Corporation Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended August 31, 2025, Costco Wholesale Corporation, via SEC EDGAR, 8 October 2025
- Costco Wholesale Corporation Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended September 1, 2024, Costco Wholesale Corporation, via SEC EDGAR, 9 October 2024
- Costco Wholesale Corporation Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended September 3, 2023, Costco Wholesale Corporation, via SEC EDGAR, 11 October 2023
- Costco Wholesale Corporation Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended August 28, 2022, Costco Wholesale Corporation, via SEC EDGAR, 5 October 2022
- Costco Wholesale Corporation Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended August 29, 2021, Costco Wholesale Corporation, via SEC EDGAR, 6 October 2021
- Costco Wholesale Corporation Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended August 30, 2020, Costco Wholesale Corporation, via SEC EDGAR, 7 October 2020
- Costco Wholesale Corporation Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended September 1, 2019, Costco Wholesale Corporation, via SEC EDGAR, 11 October 2019
- Costco Wholesale Corporation Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended September 2, 2018, Costco Wholesale Corporation, via SEC EDGAR, 26 October 2018
Written by the Bebop team at Blackpearl Group. Published .
Questions people ask
How many employees does Costco have in 2026?
355,000 worldwide at August 30, 2026, the end of Costco's 2026 fiscal year, according to its 10-K filed with the SEC on October 7, 2026. That's 14,000 (4.1%) more than the 341,000 a year earlier. Costco doesn't report headcount in its quarterly filings, so the next company figure will be in the fiscal 2027 10-K, due in October 2027.
How many Costco employees are in the US?
232,000 at the end of fiscal 2026 (August 30, 2026), in Costco's United States segment, according to its 10-K. That's about 65% of the 355,000 total. Canada had 58,000 and Other International 65,000. US headcount has grown from 192,000 in fiscal 2021, the first year the filing gave this split, and from 167,000 in fiscal 2019.
How many Costco employees are part-time?
Costco stopped publishing the split after fiscal 2020, when it had 156,000 full-time and 117,000 part-time employees out of 273,000. Its 10-K now gives only a target: at least 50% of employees full-time. The 355,000 total for fiscal 2026 counts every employee as one person regardless of hours, so it isn't a full-time-equivalent figure.
Are Costco employees in a union?
Around 5% are represented by unions, according to Costco's fiscal 2026 10-K, which is roughly 17,750 of its 355,000 employees by our arithmetic. Earlier filings gave counts instead: approximately 17,000 union-represented employees in fiscal 2021 and approximately 15,900 in fiscal 2018. The other 95% are not represented by a union.
How much does Costco pay its employees?
Costco's fiscal 2026 10-K says that in March 2026 it raised the top of its wage scales by $1.00 an hour in the US and Canada, bringing the average for US hourly employees at the end of fiscal 2026 to approximately $33.00 an hour. The fiscal 2025 10-K gave approximately $32.00. Costco says it doesn't seek to minimize wages and benefits.