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 (112.6) | $68,731 |
| San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA | $75,490 | Above avg (110.4) | $68,364 |
| Longview-Kelso, WA | $58,250 | Average (97.5) | $59,716 |
| Walla Walla, WA | $57,190 | Average (98.5) | $58,050 |
| Spokane-Spokane Valley, WA | $57,830 | Average (100.3) | $57,631 |
| Santa Rosa-Petaluma, CA | $61,800 | Above avg (107.8) | $57,337 |
| Bremerton-Silverdale-Port Orchard, WA | $59,380 | Above avg (105.6) | $56,227 |
| Eagle Pass, TX | $47,100 | Below avg (83.8) | $56,202 |
| Rochester, MN | $50,730 | Below avg (90.8) | $55,857 |
| Chico, CA | $56,320 | Average (101.2) | $55,654 |
| Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA | $58,590 | Above avg (105.4) | $55,577 |
| Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA | $61,320 | Above avg (111.1) | $55,177 |
| Lewiston, ID-WA | $50,270 | Below avg (91.2) | $55,145 |
| Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater, WA | $57,090 | Above avg (103.7) | $55,069 |
| Bend, OR | $56,950 | Above avg (103.6) | $54,967 |