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