Pharmacy Technician Salary
The average salary for a pharmacy technician in the U.S. is about $35,100 per year.
$25,400 (low 10%)
$35,100 (median)
$50,430 (top 90%)
Pharmacy technicians earn an average of $35,100 per year according to the bls.gov.
The range in pay goes from $25,400 to $50,430 per year.
Percentile | Annual Wage |
---|---|
10% | $32,900 |
25% | $29,090 |
50% | $35,100 |
75% | $41,660 |
90% | $50,430 |
How much does a pharmacy technician make?
According to the bls.gov, pharmacy technicians make an average of $35,100 per year which comes out to $17.52 per hour. The highest-paid pharmacy technicians earn approximately $50,430 per year or $24.25 per hour. The lowest-paid pharmacy technicians earn as little as $25,400 per year or $12.21 per hour.
Whether you are on the low or high end of a pharmacy tech pay scale, you will still earn significantly more than minimum wage. To become a pharmacy technician you typically only need a high school diploma or the equivalent and can often learn through on-the-job training.
Top paying industries for pharmacy technicians
The highest paying industry for pharmacy technicians is outpatient care centers where the annual wages average $49,690. This is in contrast to the average pay across all industries which is around $35,000 per year. That means pharmacy techs in outpatient career centers could make about $14,000 per year.
Pharmacy techs in the federal executive branch also earn a higher pay of around $47,700 per year. Take a look at the table below for more high-paying industries for pharmacy technicians.
Industry | Annual wage |
---|---|
Outpatient care centers | $49,690 |
Federal executive branch | $47,690 |
Colleges, universities, professional schools | $43,990 |
Medical and diagnostic laboratories | $43,960 |
Local government, excluding schools & hospitals | $43,730 |
Top paying cities for pharmacy technicians
All of the top-paying metropolitan areas for Pharmacy Technicians are in California. The average salary nationwide is $35,100, but the average salary in the San Jose, CA region is $56,620. The average salary for pharmacy technicians is $56,020 in the San Francisco, CA region and $52,810 in Santa Rosa, CA. These are significantly higher than the average. Take a look at the table below for the other high-paying cities.
City | Annual wage |
---|---|
San Jose region, CA | $56,620 |
San Francisco region, CA | $56,020 |
Santa Rosa, CA | $52,810 |
Stockton region, CA | $50,860 |
Vallejo region, CA | $50,580 |
Pharmacy technician salaries by state
The top-paying states for pharmacy technicians are California, Alaska, Washington, the District of Columbia, and Oregon.
State | Annual wage |
---|---|
California | $47,620 |
Alaska | $46,430 |
Washington | $46,400 |
District of Columbia | $46,240 |
Oregon | $43,410 |
How do pharmacy technician salaries compare to related careers?
The average salary for pharmacy technicians is around $35,100 per year. This is comparable to the salary for both medical assistants and medical transcriptionists as both these careers earn around $35,000 per year also.
Dental assistants, however, earn more. Their typical salary is around $41,180 so that’s about $6,000 more each year. Finally, pharmacists are a similar career to pharmacy technicians. As a pharmacist, you can average about $128,710 per year which is about 3 times as much as a pharmacy technician. However, you will need to gain a Doctoral degree so the education requirements are much higher.
Career | Annual wage |
---|---|
Pharmacy technicians | $35,100 |
Dental assistants | $41,180 |
Medical assistants | $35,850 |
Medical transcriptionists | $35,270 |
Pharmacists | $128,710 |