Occupational Employment and Wages, May 2019

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 this occupation
Industry profile for this occupation
Geographic profile for this occupation

National estimates for this occupation:

Employment estimate and mean wage estimates for this occupation:

Employment (1)	Employment RSE (3)	Mean hourly wage	Mean annual wage (2)	Wage RSE (3)
417,780	0.8 %	$16.95	$35,250	0.3 %

Percentile wage estimates for this occupation:

Percentile	10%	25%	50% (Median)	75%	90%
Hourly Wage	$11.60	$13.45	$16.32	$19.44	$23.62
Annual Wage (2)	$24,120	$27,980	$33,950	$40,440	$49,130

Industry profile for this occupation:

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

Industries with the highest levels of employment in this occupation:

Industry	Employment (1)	Percent of industry employment	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
Health and Personal Care Stores	215,110	20.30	$16.00	$33,280
General Medical and Surgical Hospitals	66,030	1.18	$19.24	$40,020
Food and Beverage Stores (4451 and 4452 only)	37,890	1.30	$15.54	$32,320
Merchant Wholesalers, Nondurable Goods (4242 and 4246 only)	14,020	3.68	$16.97	$35,290
Electronic Shopping and Mail-Order Houses	8,680	2.23	$17.84	$37,100

Industries with the highest concentration of employment in this occupation:

Industry	Employment (1)	Percent of industry employment	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
Health and Personal Care Stores	215,110	20.30	$16.00	$33,280
Merchant Wholesalers, Nondurable Goods (4242 and 4246 only)	14,020	3.68	$16.97	$35,290
Electronic Shopping and Mail-Order Houses	8,680	2.23	$17.84	$37,100
Food and Beverage Stores (4451 and 4452 only)	37,890	1.30	$15.54	$32,320
General Medical and Surgical Hospitals	66,030	1.18	$19.24	$40,020

Top paying industries for this occupation:

Industry	Employment (1)	Percent of industry employment	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
Federal Executive Branch (OES Designation)	6,400	0.32	$21.60	$44,920
Outpatient Care Centers	8,120	0.85	$21.47	$44,670
Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools	1,390	0.05	$20.95	$43,580
Medical and Diagnostic Laboratories	(8)	(8)	$20.43	$42,490
Local Government, excluding schools and hospitals (OES Designation)	1,290	0.02	$20.35	$42,320

Geographic profile for this occupation:

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

States with the highest employment level in this occupation:

State	Employment (1)	Employment per thousand jobs	Location quotient (9)	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
Texas	38,550	3.10	1.09	$17.13	$35,620
California	36,560	2.10	0.74	$21.73	$45,200
Florida	29,800	3.39	1.19	$16.02	$33,330
Illinois	21,090	3.50	1.23	$16.15	$33,590
New York	20,360	2.14	0.75	$17.21	$35,790

States with the highest concentration of jobs and location quotients in this occupation:

State	Employment (1)	Employment per thousand jobs	Location quotient (9)	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
Kentucky	8,840	4.66	1.64	$14.44	$30,040
West Virginia	3,270	4.65	1.64	$14.61	$30,380
Arkansas	4,880	4.01	1.41	$14.87	$30,930
Rhode Island	1,840	3.81	1.34	$18.21	$37,880
Maine	2,270	3.72	1.31	$15.84	$32,960

Top paying States for this occupation:

State	Employment (1)	Employment per thousand jobs	Location quotient (9)	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
California	36,560	2.10	0.74	$21.73	$45,200
Alaska	590	1.85	0.65	$21.29	$44,280
Washington	7,150	2.16	0.76	$21.11	$43,910
District of Columbia	670	0.93	0.33	$20.31	$42,240
Oregon	4,900	2.57	0.90	$20.27	$42,160

Metropolitan areas with the highest employment level in this occupation:

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	20,910	2.17	0.76	$17.43	$36,250
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN-WI	15,950	3.41	1.20	$16.46	$34,240
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA	12,710	2.04	0.72	$21.76	$45,270
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX	11,840	3.24	1.14	$17.18	$35,740
Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD	9,000	3.13	1.10	$15.98	$33,230
Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL	8,920	3.38	1.19	$16.45	$34,220
Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX	8,830	2.89	1.02	$17.23	$35,840
Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI	7,470	3.77	1.33	$17.09	$35,540
Boston-Cambridge-Nashua, MA-NH	6,820	2.44	0.86	$18.30	$38,070
Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, AZ	6,270	2.96	1.04	$17.09	$35,550