If you’re interested in becoming a pharmacy technician, you’ll likely want to know what the average pharmacy technician salary is. Before getting into any specifics about the average salary, though, it’s important that you know that, as with any profession, the exact figures around the average pharmacy technician salary will vary depending upon the particulars of each case.
For instance, a pharmacy technician with a great amount of experience will likely earn more money than a pharmacy technician who is fresh out of pharmacy college, and especially one who is fresh on the job without a certification.
Similarly, a pharmacy technician who has earned an additional certification within the profession will be more likely to earn a greater amount of money than will a pharmacy technician without any such certifications.
It’s important to keep these differing factors about pharmacy tech salary in mind when thinking of pursuing the career.
Pharmacy technician salary: Some basic figures
According to some sources, a newly starting out pharmacy technician salary will likely be somewhere around $25k per year. To be specific, the American Medical Association states that the average starting pharmacist technician salary is about $19k per year.
The average pharmacy tech salary is likely to remain around the same for individuals with under four years of experience, until they have earned enough experience in the industry, at which point they can expect to raise their annual salaries to around $30k.
The highest that can be expected for physical technician salary based simply on accruing time and experience is about $40k per year.
Factors in determining pharmacy tech salary
The scales across which these salaries are set may be increased if the pharmacy technician in question has an additional pharmacy tech certification which might make him or her a more valuable employee.
Similarly, the average pharmacy tech salary will likely vary depending upon the location being examined. For instance, working in a large, well-funded hospital would likely have a greater salary than individuals working for small, individually owned pharmacies in small towns.
Also, in thinking about pharmacy tech salaries, you should take into account geographic differences, as certain areas of the country will be much more likely to be conducive towards earning a greater average pharmacy technician salary than will other places.
For instance, rural parts of the country will be less likely to provide pharmacy technicians with a particularly high salary range, while more urban environments will likely provide higher salary ranges.
Prospects for pharmacy technician in the future
The average pharmacy technician salary is unlikely to rise terribly high for an individual pharmacy technician because the career prospects for a pharmacy technician are somewhat limited, even with a pharmacy technician certification. A pharmacy technician is only likely to rise up into a supervisory role, at which point his or her average salary is likely to be somewhere between $40k and $50k.
Pharmacy technician salaries are likely to rise over the coming years, as pharmacy technicians are an in-demand profession. As such, it is entirely likely that all of the figures mentioned above will, on average, rise over the coming years.
For a pharmacy technician who does not have a certification, obtaining a certification is an option to attempt to earn a higher salary. This is a good option for such a goal, considering the prominence of online pharmacy technician schools and other programs that make it easier to pursue such a certification.
The other option, for those who are not satisfied with the prospects for the average or highest pharmacy tech salary, would be to continue education and become fully-fledged pharmacists, who have higher average salaries than pharmacy technicians. If you’re interested in pursuing graduate-level studies, check out our grad info on pharmacy schools, from which you can earn a PharmD degree.
