Pharmacist pay swings by tens of thousands of dollars depending on the state. Technician pay is lower and depends heavily on local cost of living. Meanwhile, the jobs themselves are shifting out of retail and into hospitals, where pay tends to be higher.
Here is what pharmacy pay looks like in 2026, based on the latest federal wage data.
Pharmacists. Pharmacists earned a median annual wage of $140,920, or $67.75 an hour. Alaska pays the most, at a median of $167,310, followed by Oregon at $165,960 and California at $164,610. Rhode Island pays the least. The gap between the highest- and lowest-paying states is more than $39,000 a year. Pharmacists still earn about 30% more than the average healthcare practitioner, who earned $108,700 in 2025. A decade ago, that gap was about 54%.
Pharmacy technicians. Technicians earned a median of $45,750 a year, or $22 an hour. Washington, D.C., is the outlier at $91,540, double the national figure. Among states, Massachusetts and Washington lead at $63,590 and $62,990. Mississippi pays the least, at $40,120.
Where technician pay goes furthest. Adjusted for cost of living, the rankings look different. North Dakota leads the country, with technicians earning an adjusted mean of $25.94 an hour. Washington state has the highest unadjusted mean wage, at $29.39 an hour, but its cost of living brings that down to $25.76. Hawaii shows the biggest drop: Technicians earn $23.51 an hour before the adjustment and $12.71 after it, the lowest in the country.
Where pharmacists earn the most. Practice setting moves pay as much as location does. Pharmacists at outpatient care centers earned the most, averaging $166,820. Hospital pharmacists followed at $150,840, then physician offices at $145,050. Pharmacists in nonretail settings averaged about $151,300, roughly $18,000 more than the $133,270 average in retail. Within retail, pharmacists at drugstores and independent pharmacies, the largest group, averaged $130,900. Retail did see the fastest growth, though: Pay there rose 3.2% year over year, compared with 2.2% for hospital pharmacists and 0.2% for those in physician offices. With consumer prices up 2.4%, retail pharmacists were the only major group to see inflation-adjusted pay growth.
Where the jobs are going. Retail pharmacist employment fell by more than 8,000 positions in 2025, a 4.8% decline. Retail employment is now at its lowest level since 2010. Hospitals added 3,000 pharmacist jobs in 2025, a 3% increase, after adding more than 11,000 in 2023 and 2024.
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