How Much Do Pharmacy Technicians Make?

A pharmacy technician helps fill prescriptions.

Pharmacy technicians usually work in retail settings where they receive prescriptions, count pills and measure liquids to fill these prescriptions. They also label and price the bottles and vials to be verified by the supervising pharmacist. They do record keeping, inventory tracking and customer service. Salary information is provided by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and the Payscale website.

Starting Salary

Median starting salary for pharmacy technicians as of 2009 is about $9 hourly, with an increase to about $12 after five years.

General Range

As of 2009, most pharmacy technicians were making between $9.36 and $19.31 an hour. To narrow it further, the median hourly wage was $13.49.

Higher Pay Locations

Pay for pharmacy technicians is typically higher in large hospitals (about $15.73 per hour on average) and in large metropolitan areas.

Hours and Benefits

Positions can be either full time or part time, and the work typically requires evenings and weekends. Full-time positions include health insurance, paid vacations and holidays, and a 401k plan.

Potential

Pharmacy technicians in large retail settings can advance to supervisory positions. Those employed in hospitals can advance to specialty work such as nuclear pharmacy or chemotherapy technician. All of these opportunities provide higher pay.

Resources

• U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: Pharmacy Technicians and Aides
• Payscale.com: Pharmacy Technician Salary Information