Pharmacy Aides salary

SOC 31-9095 · BLS OEWS May 2025

Median

$37,680

per year, nationally

Middle half

$34,980–$43,640

25th to 75th percentile

Employed

39,530

in the U.S.

Growth 2024–34

-0.1%

6,100 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.

$29,820$56,010

10th: $29,820
25th: $34,980
Median: $37,680
75th: $43,640
90th: $56,010

Getting in

Typical education to enter: High school diploma or equivalent
Related work experience: None
On-the-job training: Short-term on-the-job training

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

Where pharmacy aides 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	District of Columbia	$59,960	109.9	120	0.68×
2	Utah	$51,600	98.9	250	0.56×
3	Hawaii	$46,250	110.0	110	0.70×
4	Washington	$45,110	107.0	1,990	2.21×
5	Arizona	$43,360	100.7	810	0.98×
6	California	$42,200	110.7	8,440	1.82×
7	Oregon	$40,250	103.4	450	0.91×
8	Pennsylvania	$39,470	97.6	1,210	0.78×
9	Nevada	$39,080	100.0	410	1.05×
10	Texas	$38,630	97.1	2,900	0.81×
11	Delaware	$38,500	99.8	130	1.04×
12	Maine	$38,060	97.0	150	0.92×
13	New York	$38,040	107.9	2,360	0.96×
14	Rhode Island	$38,020	102.3	—	—
15	Missouri	$37,820	90.8	650	0.87×
16	Idaho	$37,690	95.5	110	0.52×
17	Colorado	$37,580	103.1	370	0.50×
18	Ohio	$37,500	92.8	690	0.49×
19	Minnesota	$37,430	98.6	550	0.73×
20	Massachusetts	$37,390	105.8	340	0.37×
21	New Hampshire	$37,350	104.2	50	0.26×
22	Vermont	$37,310	98.0	90	1.15×
23	Montana	$37,140	94.6	210	1.61×
24	Wyoming	$37,030	92.7	60	0.84×
25	Illinois	$37,010	100.0	1,180	0.76×
26	Arkansas	$36,860	86.9	120	0.36×
27	Wisconsin	$36,660	94.1	550	0.73×
28	New Jersey	$36,590	108.8	1,020	0.93×
29	New Mexico	$36,390	92.2	180	0.82×
30	Virginia	$36,390	101.1	510	0.48×
31	Connecticut	$36,350	103.6	490	1.15×
32	Alabama	$36,260	88.8	460	0.85×
33	South Carolina	$36,140	93.7	360	0.62×
34	South Dakota	$36,130	88.6	150	1.33×
35	Michigan	$36,130	96.2	880	0.79×
36	Indiana	$35,890	93.3	610	0.75×
37	North Carolina	$35,530	94.3	1,180	0.94×
38	Maryland	$35,170	105.0	420	0.60×
39	Florida	$35,160	103.4	1,590	0.63×
40	Georgia	$34,630	96.3	1,410	1.14×
41	Kentucky	$34,610	90.2	600	1.18×
42	Louisiana	$33,450	88.2	730	1.49×
43	Iowa	$33,270	87.8	1,070	2.71×
44	Kansas	$32,070	90.1	470	1.28×
45	Nebraska	$31,610	90.1	400	1.55×
46	Oklahoma	$30,360	87.8	700	1.61×
47	Tennessee	$30,170	91.9	1,150	1.38×
48	Mississippi	$28,380	87.0	660	2.22×

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 pharmacy aides wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Best paying metro areas for pharmacy aides

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	Vallejo, CA	$69,870	108.5	80	2.07×
2	Santa Rosa-Petaluma, CA	$55,710	107.8	70	1.44×
3	Salt Lake City-Murray, UT	$51,850	100.9	150	0.70×
4	Salem, OR	$51,590	103.6	60	1.21×
5	Provo-Orem-Lehi, UT	$49,620	98.2	50	0.58×
6	Jacksonville, FL	$47,830	99.5	50	0.28×
7	San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA	$47,450	110.4	380	1.30×
8	San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA	$46,830	115.6	690	1.14×
9	Urban Honolulu, HI	$46,250	111.0	80	0.66×
10	Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA	$45,400	111.1	1,270	2.39×
11	San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA	$44,810	111.9	440	1.13×
12	Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, CA	$44,120	110.5	140	1.67×
13	Bend, OR	$43,610	103.6	50	1.64×
14	Toledo, OH	$43,480	91.5	40	0.52×
15	Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ	$43,360	103.3	700	1.15×
16	San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles, CA	$43,260	108.6	50	1.62×
17	Bremerton-Silverdale-Port Orchard, WA	$42,850	105.6	40	1.88×
18	Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD	$42,640	102.6	610	0.83×
19	Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA	$42,590	106.7	430	1.56×
20	Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater, WA	$42,510	103.7	70	2.06×
21	Madison, WI	$42,350	97.3	50	0.45×
22	Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA	$42,140	105.4	250	0.81×
23	Santa Maria-Santa Barbara, CA	$41,910	108.8	100	1.93×
24	Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA	$41,600	106.4	590	1.36×
25	Reno, NV	$41,400	101.0	70	0.97×
26	Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO	$41,390	105.8	200	0.49×
27	Spokane-Spokane Valley, WA	$41,360	100.3	160	2.46×
28	Laredo, TX	$41,200	87.0	40	1.28×
29	Columbia, MO	$41,020	89.4	30	1.25×
30	Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, FL	$41,000	101.4	250	0.69×
31	San Antonio-New Braunfels, TX	$40,810	94.7	360	1.27×
32	Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, TX	$40,740	98.1	230	0.71×
33	Medford, OR	$40,550	101.4	30	1.53×
34	Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton, PA-NJ	$40,460	100.0	80	0.85×
35	Binghamton, NY	$40,390	92.9	60	2.35×
36	Kennewick-Richland, WA	$40,370	100.1	50	1.50×
37	Deltona-Daytona Beach-Ormond Beach, FL	$40,280	99.4	70	1.31×
38	Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV	$40,160	108.9	570	0.71×
39	Portland-South Portland, ME	$39,990	101.9	60	0.80×
40	Chico, CA	$39,980	101.2	40	2.17×

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 pharmacy aides wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Similar occupations

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

Medical Assistants$45,690
Dental Assistants$48,070
Phlebotomists$45,230
Veterinary Assistants and Laboratory Animal Caretakers$38,150
Healthcare Support Workers, All Other$48,430
Massage Therapists$58,450
Medical Equipment Preparers$47,700
Medical Transcriptionists$40,410