Pharmacist Salary Guide

Because there may be more job responsibilities and skills needed, a pharmacy technician salary can be slightly more than a pharmacy assistant salary, although the two occupations are most times used interchangeably. Both of these occupations are similar and do involve working in pharmacies, usually supervised by a pharmacist. However, a pharmacy technician job description will often entail that perform pharmacy specific duties and administrative work. Pharmacy assistants do perform clerical work, at a pharmacy or elsewhere, but normally have less responsibility than a pharmacy technician.

What Skills Earn a Pharmacy Technician Salary?

Pharmacy technicians who have been specially trained receive requests for prescriptions, count tablets, label bottles and perform other duties that relate to the pharmacy. In addition, they may also perform some general administrative duties. For performance of these duties, 90 percent of the pharmacy technicians in the United States earn a salary of $41,000 a year. Ten percent earn an estimated pharmacy tech salary of $19,800 a year; 25 percent earn $23,000 a year and seventy five percent earn $34,000 a year. The estimated median pharmacy technician salary is $28,400.

Salary for Pharmacy Assistant

Primarily, pharmacy assistants, or pharmacy aides, will complete tasks and clerical duties such as answering phones, stocking the pharmacy and performing cash transactions. They make slightly less than a pharmacy technician. The estimate for the median salary of a pharmacy assistant is a little over $10.00 an hour; which is $21,430 a year. However, ninety percent of pharmacy assistants earn over $31,000 a year depending on experience, industry and location.

Industries that Pay the Top Pharmacy Technician Salary

When looking at how much do pharmacy technicians make, it’s important to consider that the top five highest paying industries for this occupation are the Federal Executive Branch, which pays close to $40,000 yearly; scientific, technical consulting service jobs pay $38,680 a year. Academic institutions pay $36,850, company and enterprise management pays $36,560 and pharmacy specialties pay $36,000 a year.

Industries with the Highest Pharmacy Assistant Salary

Colleges and universities pay pharmacy assistants about $36,000 a year. State governments pay $32,940 per year. Pharmacy assistants working in substance abuse facilities and psychiatric hospitals earn $32,600. General medical as well as surgical hospitals pay $29,990 and specialty hospitals pay pharmacy assistants $27,990 per year.

Employment Projections

Employment projections state that the number of pharmacy technicians is expected to climb from 326,000 technicians in 2008 to 426,000 by the year 2018; an increase of over 99,000 pharmacy technicians or 31 percent. Job prospects for pharmacy technicians look good, and even better for those that are experienced and have formal training or a pharmacy technician certification which will also enable them to receive a higher pharmacy technician salary. Job openings will come from growth in this employment and replacement of workers leaving this occupation.

Depending upon geographical location, projections for the number of pharmacy assistants is expected to decline. There were 54,900 pharmacy assistants employed in the year 2008. It is expected that there will be a decline of 3,500, or six percent of people in this occupation by the year 2018. Even with this decline, the employment prospects for pharmacy assistant job are rated as good by the U.S. Department of Labor since positions will be open as people leave this occupation.