The Median Starting Salary for a Retail Pharmacist in California
Pharmacists make some of the top salaries in the medical field, after physicians and surgeons. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, there were a total of 23,540 pharmacists in California in 2010. Salaries for pharmacists in California tend to exceed the salaries for other pharmacists nationwide. The median salary for retail pharmacists in California is generally higher than salaries earned by about 75 percent of pharmacists nationwide.
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Median Salary
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The median salary for retail pharmacists in California was approximately $123,800 per year, as of May 2010, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The bureau notes that a vast majority of pharmacists work in a retail setting, so the median salary figure provided by the bureau is indicative of the salary of both retail and non-retail pharmacists. A 2006 pharmacist salary survey by RX Recruiters indicates that the difference between retail and non-retail pharmacist salaries was only about $1,000 per year.
Pay Scale
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Placing the median salary of pharmacists within the larger pay scale for all California pharmacists provides additional context. The bureau reports that the average salary for California pharmacists was $118,810 per year in 2010, with salaries that typically ranged from about $92,240 to $146,170. Those in the middle 50 percent of the pay scale managed to bring home salaries that ranged from $110,330 to $135,360 annually.
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Factors
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Various factors affect the starting salary of retail pharmacists. According to RX Recruiters, pharmacists are generally paid sign-on bonuses between $2,500 and $30,000 per year. Those working in hard-to-fill retail positions make the most in bonus money. Salaries for those working in areas where the majority of the population represents the underserved population of a community will generally be more. Salaries in rural areas tend to be higher as well because of supply and demand.
Job Outlook
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The job forecast for pharmacists until 2018 appears favorable, according to projections by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The bureau indicates that the number of jobs for pharmacists, retail or otherwise, will grow by approximately 17 percent by 2018. Increases in the size of the population and in the number of elderly persons should drive the growth of the pharmaceutical field.
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References
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