Pharmacists salary

SOC 29-1051 · BLS OEWS May 2025

Median

$140,910

per year, nationally

Middle half

$129,380–$161,840

25th to 75th percentile

Employed

321,970

in the U.S.

Growth 2024–34

+4.6%

14,200 openings/yr

What the range looks like

A single median hides most of what a job pays. The bar below is the full national range: the wash spans the 10th to 90th percentile, the solid bar is the middle half, and the tick is the median.

$99,290$174,230

10th: $99,290
25th: $129,380
Median: $140,910
75th: $161,840
90th: $174,230

Getting in

Typical education to enter: Doctoral or professional degree
Related work experience: None
On-the-job training: None

Entry requirements describe what is typical, not mandatory. Source: BLS Employment Projections, 2024–34.

Where pharmacists earn the most

Nominal pay and pay adjusted for local prices rank states differently — a high-wage state with high costs can be worse off in real terms than a middling one. Switch between the two below.

The median wage as published, before local prices are taken into account.

#	State	Median	Cost of living	Employed	Concentrationvs. national
1	Alaska	$167,310	102.4	560	0.84×
2	Oregon	$165,960	103.4	3,250	0.80×
3	California	$164,610	110.7	34,030	0.90×
4	Hawaii	$163,220	110.0	1,190	0.91×
5	Washington	$160,610	107.0	7,350	1.00×
6	Minnesota	$159,740	98.6	6,310	1.03×
7	Colorado	$156,030	103.1	4,560	0.77×
8	District of Columbia	$153,400	109.9	850	0.58×
9	Delaware	$152,880	99.8	790	0.79×
10	Wisconsin	$148,740	94.1	5,730	0.94×
11	New Mexico	$147,000	92.2	1,730	0.96×
12	Arizona	$146,930	100.7	6,900	1.03×
13	South Dakota	$146,790	88.6	1,280	1.36×
14	Idaho	$144,900	95.5	1,790	1.01×
15	Indiana	$144,290	93.3	6,430	0.97×
16	Utah	$144,240	98.9	2,830	0.79×
17	Virginia	$144,060	101.1	7,980	0.94×
18	New Hampshire	$143,020	104.2	1,130	0.80×
19	New York	$142,090	107.9	19,760	0.98×
20	Montana	$142,080	94.6	1,190	1.12×
21	North Dakota	$142,040	89.0	1,070	1.20×
22	Connecticut	$141,290	103.6	3,490	0.99×
23	Maine	$140,930	97.0	1,380	1.04×
24	Nevada	$140,030	100.0	2,500	0.78×
25	Wyoming	$139,550	92.7	510	0.89×
26	Nebraska	$139,330	90.1	2,450	1.16×
27	Illinois	$139,080	100.0	12,070	0.96×
28	Maryland	$138,990	105.0	5,400	0.94×
29	North Carolina	$138,860	94.3	11,430	1.12×
30	Iowa	$138,860	87.8	3,230	1.00×
31	Texas	$138,260	97.1	24,700	0.85×
32	Massachusetts	$138,170	105.8	7,230	0.96×
33	Pennsylvania	$138,160	97.6	14,090	1.12×
34	Michigan	$137,860	96.2	8,780	0.96×
35	Kansas	$137,800	90.1	3,500	1.18×
36	New Jersey	$137,620	108.8	9,420	1.06×
37	Missouri	$137,610	90.8	6,740	1.11×
38	Georgia	$137,120	96.3	10,530	1.04×
39	Ohio	$137,020	92.8	12,790	1.11×
40	Kentucky	$136,530	90.2	5,030	1.21×
41	Vermont	$136,270	98.0	530	0.85×
42	Arkansas	$136,060	86.9	2,900	1.07×
43	Florida	$135,970	103.4	21,540	1.05×
44	South Carolina	$135,700	93.7	5,320	1.12×
45	Oklahoma	$135,140	87.8	3,610	1.02×
46	Alabama	$134,630	88.8	5,400	1.23×
47	West Virginia	$133,430	89.5	2,260	1.56×
48	Tennessee	$133,390	91.9	8,250	1.22×
49	Mississippi	$133,230	87.0	3,050	1.27×
50	Louisiana	$132,410	88.2	5,610	1.40×
51	Rhode Island	$128,180	102.3	1,510	1.45×

Cost of living is the BEA regional price parity for all items, where 100 is the national average. Concentration is the BLS location quotient: how much more of the local workforce does this job than the national average, so 2.00× means twice the national share. It is often the reason wages differ — a place that concentrates an occupation has the employers and the competition for it. States where pharmacists wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Best paying metro areas for pharmacists

The 40 highest-paying metros with a published estimate. BLS suppresses roughly half of all occupation-by-metro cells, so a metro absent here has no local figure rather than a low one.

The median wage as published, before local prices are taken into account.

#	Metro area	Median	Cost of living	Employed	Concentrationvs. national
1	Napa, CA	$200,580	112.6	180	1.14×
2	San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA	$199,040	110.4	1,960	0.83×
3	San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA	$177,410	115.6	3,670	0.75×
4	Fairbanks-College, AK	$173,340	103.2	50	0.67×
5	San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles, CA	$172,860	108.6	240	0.95×
6	Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA	$172,680	106.7	2,310	1.03×
7	Longview-Kelso, WA	$172,630	97.5	70	0.88×
8	Hanford-Corcoran, CA	$171,900	101.6	90	0.90×
9	Vallejo, CA	$170,870	108.5	350	1.18×
10	Santa Rosa-Petaluma, CA	$170,570	107.8	330	0.78×
11	Corvallis, OR	$170,470	104.0	100	1.28×
12	Salem, OR	$169,210	103.6	300	0.78×
13	Fresno, CA	$169,160	102.2	890	0.90×
14	Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA	$168,830	105.4	2,070	0.83×
15	Redding, CA	$166,800	100.7	160	1.09×
16	Salinas, CA	$166,470	109.0	260	0.68×
17	Ann Arbor, MI	$166,350	100.9	570	1.26×
18	Bend, OR	$165,960	103.6	180	0.80×
19	Walla Walla, WA	$165,210	98.5	60	1.10×
20	San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA	$165,130	111.9	2,840	0.89×
21	Urban Honolulu, HI	$165,090	111.0	890	0.96×
22	Rochester, MN	$164,250	90.8	440	1.74×
23	Boulder, CO	$164,240	105.2	250	0.62×
24	Carson City, NV	$163,990	98.1	60	0.89×
25	Medford, OR	$163,540	101.4	160	0.89×
26	Flagstaff, AZ	$163,260	100.3	90	0.69×
27	Anchorage, AK	$162,980	105.4	360	0.99×
28	Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA	$162,870	111.1	4,440	1.03×
29	Santa Maria-Santa Barbara, CA	$162,520	108.8	290	0.70×
30	Stockton-Lodi, CA	$162,440	105.1	530	0.88×
31	Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA	$161,940	109.9	170	0.85×
32	Bakersfield-Delano, CA	$161,930	100.9	600	0.86×
33	Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA	$161,870	106.4	3,400	0.96×
34	Yuma, AZ	$161,630	92.7	100	0.73×
35	Chico, CA	$161,410	101.2	160	1.01×
36	Midland, TX	$161,260	95.8	130	0.51×
37	Yuba City, CA	$161,240	104.2	140	1.30×
38	Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI	$160,990	104.8	4,160	1.03×
39	Modesto, CA	$160,520	104.1	380	0.93×
40	Kahului-Wailuku, HI	$160,440	109.4	90	0.61×

Cost of living is the BEA regional price parity for all items, where 100 is the national average. Concentration is the BLS location quotient: how much more of the local workforce does this job than the national average, so 2.00× means twice the national share. It is often the reason wages differ — a place that concentrates an occupation has the employers and the competition for it. Metro areas where pharmacists wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Similar occupations

Other jobs in the same field, with what each pays nationally.