Occupational Employment and Wages, May 2020

29-2052 Pharmacy Technicians

Prepare medications under the direction of a pharmacist. May measure, mix, count out, label, and record amounts and dosages of medications according to prescription orders.

National estimates for Pharmacy Technicians
Industry profile for Pharmacy Technicians
Geographic profile for Pharmacy Technicians

National estimates for Pharmacy Technicians:

Employment estimate and mean wage estimates for Pharmacy Technicians:

Employment (1)	Employment RSE (3)	Mean hourly wage	Mean annual wage (2)	Wage RSE (3)
415,310	0.9 %	$ 17.52	$ 36,450	0.3 %

Percentile wage estimates for Pharmacy Technicians:

Percentile	10%	25%	50% (Median)	75%	90%
Hourly Wage	$ 12.21	$ 13.99	$ 16.87	$ 20.03	$ 24.25
Annual Wage (2)	$ 25,400	$ 29,090	$ 35,100	$ 41,660	$ 50,430

Industry profile for Pharmacy Technicians:

Industries with the highest published employment and wages for Pharmacy Technicians are provided. For a list of all industries with employment in Pharmacy Technicians, see the Create Customized Tables function.

Industries with the highest levels of employment in Pharmacy Technicians:

Industry	Employment (1)	Percent of industry employment	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
Health and Personal Care Stores	210,520	21.80	$ 16.55	$ 34,420
General Medical and Surgical Hospitals	66,240	1.18	$ 19.80	$ 41,180
Food and Beverage Stores (4451 and 4452 only)	41,960	1.44	$ 15.87	$ 33,000
Merchant Wholesalers, Nondurable Goods (4242 and 4246 only)	14,260	3.80	$ 17.99	$ 37,410
Electronic Shopping and Mail-Order Houses	8,690	2.11	$ 18.33	$ 38,120

Industries with the highest concentration of employment in Pharmacy Technicians:

Industry	Employment (1)	Percent of industry employment	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
Health and Personal Care Stores	210,520	21.80	$ 16.55	$ 34,420
Merchant Wholesalers, Nondurable Goods (4242 and 4246 only)	14,260	3.80	$ 17.99	$ 37,410
Electronic Shopping and Mail-Order Houses	8,690	2.11	$ 18.33	$ 38,120
Food and Beverage Stores (4451 and 4452 only)	41,960	1.44	$ 15.87	$ 33,000
General Medical and Surgical Hospitals	66,240	1.18	$ 19.80	$ 41,180

Top paying industries for Pharmacy Technicians:

Industry	Employment (1)	Percent of industry employment	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
Outpatient Care Centers	6,650	0.69	$ 23.89	$ 49,690
Federal Executive Branch (OEWS Designation)	6,560	0.32	$ 22.93	$ 47,690
Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools	1,590	0.05	$ 21.15	$ 43,990
Medical and Diagnostic Laboratories	160	0.06	$ 21.14	$ 43,960
Local Government, excluding schools and hospitals (OEWS Designation)	1,350	0.02	$ 21.02	$ 43,730

Geographic profile for Pharmacy Technicians:

States and areas with the highest published employment, location quotients, and wages for Pharmacy Technicians are provided. For a list of all areas with employment in Pharmacy Technicians, see the Create Customized Tables function.

States with the highest employment level in Pharmacy Technicians:

State	Employment (1)	Employment per thousand jobs	Location quotient (9)	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
Texas	36,690	3.03	1.02	$ 17.79	$ 37,010
California	36,100	2.20	0.74	$ 22.89	$ 47,620
Florida	29,840	3.53	1.18	$ 16.77	$ 34,880
Illinois	19,880	3.53	1.18	$ 16.68	$ 34,700
New York	18,970	2.18	0.73	$ 17.84	$ 37,100

States with the highest concentration of jobs and location quotients in Pharmacy Technicians:

State	Employment (1)	Employment per thousand jobs	Location quotient (9)	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
Kentucky	10,210	5.73	1.92	$ 14.60	$ 30,370
West Virginia	3,140	4.84	1.62	$ 15.33	$ 31,890
Rhode Island	1,770	4.01	1.34	$ 18.74	$ 38,980
Maine	2,280	3.96	1.33	$ 16.29	$ 33,890
Arkansas	4,570	3.88	1.30	$ 14.91	$ 31,010

Top paying states for Pharmacy Technicians:

State	Employment (1)	Employment per thousand jobs	Location quotient (9)	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
California	36,100	2.20	0.74	$ 22.89	$ 47,620
Alaska	610	2.08	0.70	$ 22.32	$ 46,430
Washington	7,740	2.42	0.81	$ 22.31	$ 46,400
District of Columbia	660	0.97	0.32	$ 22.23	$ 46,240
Oregon	5,020	2.78	0.93	$ 20.87	$ 43,410

Metropolitan areas with the highest employment level in Pharmacy Technicians:

Metropolitan area	Employment (1)	Employment per thousand jobs	Location quotient (9)	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA	19,980	2.26	0.76	$ 18.10	$ 37,660
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN-WI	14,880	3.41	1.14	$ 16.98	$ 35,320
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA	11,900	2.04	0.68	$ 22.73	$ 47,270
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX	11,580	3.23	1.08	$ 17.99	$ 37,420
Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD	9,950	3.69	1.24	$ 16.05	$ 33,380
Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL	8,970	3.58	1.20	$ 17.27	$ 35,920
Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX	8,650	2.91	0.98	$ 17.94	$ 37,330
Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, AZ	6,740	3.20	1.07	$ 17.76	$ 36,940
Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI	6,570	3.69	1.24	$ 16.96	$ 35,280
Boston-Cambridge-Nashua, MA-NH	6,410	2.46	0.83	$ 19.17	$ 39,880

Metropolitan areas with the highest concentration of jobs and location quotients in Pharmacy Technicians:

Metropolitan area	Employment (1)	Employment per thousand jobs	Location quotient (9)	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
Dothan, AL	360	6.45	2.16	$ 14.38	$ 29,910
Flint, MI	760	6.29	2.11	$ 14.63	$ 30,440
Huntington-Ashland, WV-KY-OH	760	6.26	2.10	$ 15.43	$ 32,100
Weirton-Steubenville, WV-OH	210	6.04	2.02	$ 14.07	$ 29,270
Louisville/Jefferson County, KY-IN	3,670	5.97	2.00	$ 15.14	$ 31,490
The Villages, FL	180	5.86	1.96	$ 15.15	$ 31,520
Scranton--Wilkes-Barre--Hazleton, PA	1,410	5.81	1.95	$ 15.87	$ 33,000
Iowa City, IA	500	5.78	1.94	$ 18.48	$ 38,440
Pocatello, ID	190	5.76	1.93	$ 16.49	$ 34,300
Florence, SC	470	5.61	1.88	$ 15.82	$ 32,900