2026 Barista survey results!

Feb 20

Introduction

Last year, we surveyed BBIU members in Boston to learn more about our working conditions and how a livable wage would improve our lives. As our union grows, we are sending out this updated survey to better understand our working conditions and how we relate to our work. Following in the tradition of "workers inquiry," we hope that circulating the results of this survey will help us better understand how to fight for livable wages, workplace democracy, and protections from harassment.

In January 2026 our union surveyed our members in both the East Bay area and Greater Boston area. We surveyed our coworkers to get a better understanding of our own working conditions and how we are exploited by Blue Bottle.

The survey ran from January 9 to January 25. We had 36 responses from our roughly 105 members.

Below are the results from our survey! Members of our union also turned the results into a zine.

Click here for a PDF you can read on your phone.

Click here for a printer friendly version

On (not) getting by on a Blue Bottle wage

Blue Bottle baristas are being squeezed by the job. The company operates in some of the most expensive cities in the country, and baristas struggle to afford to live in the places that they work. 77% of respondents are rent burdened, paying over 30% of their income toward rent. The average rent paid by a Blue Bottle barista was $1,039 – equivalent to 143 NOLAs! How many do you think you make in a day?

Several of the responses we collected expressed a sense of desperation being able to afford basic necessities. On average, Blue Bottle baristas see 48.6% of their paychecks go toward rent. 14% of baristas said that close to 100% of their income goes toward rent! One person from the East Bay shared “I cannot afford rent on my BB income.” The high cost of living in Boston, and the company’s insistence on enforcing a stringent tardiness policy means that baristas face long commutes which “are unreliable. No one can afford to live where we work because Seaport is too expensive.” Another person working at the Seaport location repeated the sentiment, adding that “Traveling to work” was the thing that they hated most about working at Blue Bottle. Multiple people reported having commutes in excess of 40 minutes to an hour!

Baristas thoughts on pay and benefits

“The lack of health coverage, slow personal and sick time accrual. Starting with zero sick time in the bank is unusual and challenging.” — Survey respondent

“Lack of urgency on communication between upper management and us; The demeanor of Nestlé/Blue Bottle's representatives throughout negotiation processes; Not improving various areas in the cafe due to budget despite the company receiving millions in yearly revenue. Enforcing a cut in employee hours to save on budget feels insulting when the company is making that much. Most of my team relies on Blue Bottle as their main source of income, and cut hours plus low wages means bills can't get paid. For me personally, I'm taking home $2800 or less every month despite being an LOD. Even if my coworkers clocked 40 hours a week, they are making EVEN LESS than that. Unacceptable given the current financial climate.” — Survey respondent

Our demographics

Despite what most might believe about baristas as a workforce – that it’s a so-called “entry level” job or that it’s just something done by college students – the composition of workers at Blue Bottle skews toward people in their mid twenties and early thirties. 52.8% are 25 – 34 and 11.1% are 35 – 44.

25% of BB baristas have dependents

25% Rely on SNAP to afford groceries

88.9% Rely on BB as primary source of income

41.7% work multiple jobs

Blue Bottle is not racially diverse, 64% of surveyed baristas are white, but 46.3% of Boston is white and 52% in Berkeley city are white according to census data.

33% are or might be transgender. 36% are nonbinary and 33% are women.

Baristas told us their experiences

What do Blue Bottle baristas think about their jobs? Quite a lot! One response to the question “Can you tell us a little about your work” summarized their job pretty succinctly:

“make coffee, run breaks, a bunch of other bullshit.” — Survey respondent

Workers described the café environments as being uncomfortable or hostile to both workers and customers.

“Our cafe is uncomfortable and not cozy and designed to antagonize our guests (no outlets? no comfortable chairs). We need dividers to prevent guests from coughing directly onto other guests drinks and to keep them from directly coughing into our faces (has happened multiple times). This is kind of unacceptable with as many airborne pathogens as we are facing. I got extremely sick 3 weeks ago because of a customer.” —Survey respondent

Baristas had a lot to say about the design of cafés and how they could improve their jobs. One barista suggested “encouraging tips with signage” as one change that they would make if they ran the café with their coworkers.

“id say i dislike how big the company feels and seems to toss away its baristas like nothing.. i used to grow up going to blue bottle in high school in nyc, and remember it before the nestle acquisition. what a completely different feeling” — Survey respondent

In the short responses that we collected, several themes repeatedly came up in how members of our union talked about their jobs. Aside from the expected frustration with pay and benefits, most baristas had a desire for greater autonomy and control over their workplace. Camaraderie with coworkers, frustration with overzealous management, and being forced to take on additional work came up across all responses.

Barista’s thoughts on management

The responses we collected painted a picture of management at Blue Bottle that is petty, vindictive, and predicated on fear. “Constant fear of getting fired or written up for small things like being a minute late,” and “constant micromanagement + being manipulated via the promise of a promotion that constantly gets delayed” were two responses which echoed this sentiment.

“I am a shift supervisor so I watch over and keep the cafe organized when the Cafe Lead isn’t here. Work conditions fluctuate constantly. It’s exhausting if I’m honest.” — Survey respondent

We asked “If my coworkers and I ran the café, we would…”

“[Have] clearer communication standards on café improvements, scheduling, wages” — Survey respondent

“I’d correct issues with under/overstaffing. I’ve worked many shifts that were either stressful due to understaffing or where people were standing idle due to overstafing.” — Survey respondent

“More thorough training, been working 4 months and don’t know how to make batch nolas/cold brew.” — Survey respondent

“The work could be divided up more deliberately, but also the turnover is so high that it mostly ends up being that the people who have been around the longest do the tasks which keep the café running (like counting the cash, doing inventory, staying on top of deep cleaning) and the newbies do the more glamorous work (serving customers drinks).”

“Better pay and more affordable healthcare. More regular schedules. Shorter shifts working espresso (to minimize injuries from repetitive tamping)” — Survey respondent.

We asked what baristas liked best about Blue Bottle! The most frequent answer?

COWORKERS!!

“My coworkers” — Survey respondent

“My coworkers". Honestly feeling like I’m part of a team and that we can clearly comunicate and work together makes the job feel great. We help each other out and that’s amazing.” — Survey respondnent

“Camraderie!” — Survey respondent

“Learning about coffee and working with my coworkers.” — Survey respondent

Coworkers and Camaraderie

While baristas identified their coworkers as being the best part of the job, the demands of the job and short staffing means that baristas often feel like they’re doing more work than what their job description requires of them. Yet, most respondents also said that the work is fairly or evenly divided amongst staff. Rather than evidence of rugged individualism, the responses suggest that everyone is being pushed to their limit. Short staffing, low hours, and incompetence from management means that even in the best conditions baristas are exploited by being forced to do more with less.

Yet, the company views us with disdain, referring to baristas in bargaining sessions as “dregs” who are too lazy to deserve better compensation or too stupid to make ends meet with their current compensation.

The questions we asked:

Store?

Age

Under 18
18-24
25-34
35-44
45-54
Above 55

Gender

Man
Woman
Nonbinary
Other:

Do you identify as being transgender?

Yes
No
Maybe

Race (check all that apply)

White
Black
Asian
Native American/Alaskan Native
Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander
Other

How many hours per week are you typically scheduled for?

Do you rely on your job at Blue Bottle as your primary source of income?

Do you work multiple jobs?

How much do you pay in rent each month?

How much of your income goes toward paying your rent each month (as a %)

Do you have any dependents or provide financial support to a person in your life?

Do you currently utilize any of the following government programs (check all that apply)

SNAP/EBT
WIC
Section 8
Mass Health
None of the above

If you do not currently utilize any of the above programs, but we believe that you are eligible, would you like assistance signing up for them?

If you answered yes to the above question, please include your contact information below:

Questions about work

Can you tell us a little about your work?

1. what do you do all day

2. how is the work divided up

3. what are working conditions like

4. and what is going to work every day like for you?

If you and your coworkers ran the café, what would you change?

What do you like most about working at Blue Bottle?

What do you hate the most about working at Blue Bottle?

Any questions, comments, concerns for us?

Blue Bottle Union .