Pharmacy Technicians
Salary, job outlook, AI risk & career information
Pharmacy Technicians in the United States earn a median salary of $45,750 per year — about $22 per hour, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Roughly 490K people work in this occupation nationwide, with projected employment growth of +6%.
AI & Automation Risk
The role involves a significant amount of physical labor, such as measuring medications, packaging prescriptions, and interacting with patients in person, which provides a buffer against full automation. However, AI and automated dispensing systems are highly capable of handling the information-processing tasks like insurance claims, inventory management, and prescription data entry, which constitute a large portion of the daily workload.
Salary by City — What You Actually Take Home
Real purchasing power = salary adjusted for cost of living. Higher = more money in your pocket.
| City | Local Salary | Cost of Living | Real Purchasing Power |
|---|---|---|---|
| Napa, CABEST VALUE | $77,360 | Above avg (111.8) | $69,179 |
| San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA | $75,490 | Above avg (113.1) | $66,770 |
| Longview-Kelso, WA | $58,250 | Average (99.3) | $58,654 |
| Walla Walla, WA | $57,190 | Average (97.9) | $58,401 |
| Eagle Pass, TX | $47,100 | Below avg (82.0) | $57,467 |
| Spokane-Spokane Valley, WA | $57,830 | Average (100.9) | $57,300 |
| Lewiston, ID-WA | $50,270 | Below avg (87.9) | $57,198 |
| Santa Rosa-Petaluma, CA | $61,800 | Above avg (110.3) | $56,053 |
| Cheyenne, WY | $50,940 | Below avg (91.6) | $55,598 |
| Wenatchee-East Wenatchee, WA | $56,600 | Average (101.9) | $55,541 |
| Bismarck, ND | $49,490 | Below avg (89.4) | $55,386 |
| Bozeman, MT | $54,750 | Average (99.0) | $55,299 |
| Bremerton-Silverdale-Port Orchard, WA | $59,380 | Above avg (107.4) | $55,278 |
| Mankato, MN | $48,400 | Below avg (87.6) | $55,222 |
| Fairbanks-College, AK | $55,850 | Average (101.2) | $55,188 |