Pharmacy technician salary by state
The US median pharmacy technician wage was $45,750 a year, or $22.00 an hour, in May 2025.
At a glance
The US median pharmacy technician wage was $45,750 a year, or $22.00 an hour, in May 2025. A pharmacy technician wage is separate from a pharmacist salary. Keep the occupation fixed when weighing a hospital opening against a retail opening in another state. These are gross wages before deductions, not take-home pay.
- The national median was $45,750 a year in May 2025.
- Compare base wages separately from overtime, benefits and travel stipends.
- Use local written offers to test whether a move makes financial sense.
Pharmacy technician salary by state
Washington had the highest published state median at $58,900; West Virginia had the lowest at $38,210.[1]
Subtracting those published medians gives a $20,690 annual gap. That difference does not adjust for living costs or identify the cause.[1]
Median annual pay ($)
- $38,210 to $40,650
- $41,910 to $44,530
- $44,560 to $46,430
- $46,470 to $47,640
- $47,940 to $58,900
US state tiles colored by median annual wage in May 2025. The table gives the published amounts.
| State | Median hourly pay ($) | Median annual pay ($) | Employment | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| United States | $22.00 | $45,750 | 471,680 | — |
| Alabama | $18.77 | $39,030 | 8,510 | — |
| Alaska | $25.31 | $52,640 | 800 | — |
| Arizona | $22.90 | $47,640 | 12,970 | — |
| Arkansas | $18.60 | $38,680 | 4,560 | — |
| California | $26.50 | $55,110 | 39,860 | — |
| Colorado | $24.02 | $49,970 | 6,010 | — |
| Connecticut | $22.62 | $47,050 | 5,200 | — |
| Delaware | $22.32 | $46,430 | 1,480 | — |
| District of Columbia | $22.79 | $47,410 | 1,130 | — |
| Florida | $20.96 | $43,590 | 38,460 | — |
| Georgia | $20.15 | $41,910 | 14,680 | — |
| Hawaii | $22.48 | $46,760 | 1,540 | — |
| Idaho | $22.32 | $46,420 | 2,950 | — |
| Illinois | $22.43 | $46,650 | 21,340 | — |
| Indiana | $21.42 | $44,560 | 10,790 | — |
| Iowa | $21.57 | $44,860 | 4,630 | — |
| Kansas | $20.82 | $43,310 | 4,270 | — |
| Kentucky | $18.84 | $39,200 | 8,870 | — |
| Louisiana | $21.35 | $44,410 | 6,700 | — |
| Maine | $21.83 | $45,400 | 2,070 | — |
| Maryland | $21.69 | $45,120 | 7,990 | — |
| Massachusetts | $22.34 | $46,470 | 10,150 | — |
| Michigan | $21.32 | $44,340 | 14,240 | — |
| Minnesota | $23.22 | $48,300 | 7,340 | — |
| Mississippi | $18.77 | $39,040 | 4,040 | — |
| Missouri | $19.28 | $40,100 | 12,610 | — |
| Montana | $23.75 | $49,400 | 1,340 | — |
| Nebraska | $22.41 | $46,610 | 2,660 | — |
| Nevada | $23.07 | $47,980 | 4,070 | — |
| New Hampshire | $22.77 | $47,360 | 1,970 | — |
| New Jersey | $19.04 | $39,610 | 14,020 | — |
| New Mexico | $22.42 | $46,630 | 2,550 | — |
| New York | $21.12 | $43,930 | 24,400 | — |
| North Carolina | $21.41 | $44,530 | 17,260 | — |
| North Dakota | $22.86 | $47,560 | 890 | — |
| Ohio | $19.55 | $40,650 | 17,820 | — |
| Oklahoma | $19.47 | $40,500 | 5,500 | — |
| Oregon | $26.39 | $54,900 | 4,320 | — |
| Pennsylvania | $19.25 | $40,040 | 18,880 | — |
| Rhode Island | $21.34 | $44,380 | 1,540 | — |
| South Carolina | $20.25 | $42,120 | 8,070 | — |
| South Dakota | $22.20 | $46,170 | 1,230 | — |
| Tennessee | $20.15 | $41,920 | 11,870 | — |
| Texas | $22.07 | $45,900 | 41,740 | — |
| Utah | $23.14 | $48,140 | 5,030 | — |
| Vermont | $23.05 | $47,940 | 760 | — |
| Virginia | $21.45 | $44,610 | 10,720 | — |
| Washington | $28.32 | $58,900 | 8,150 | — |
| West Virginia | $18.37 | $38,210 | 3,560 | — |
| Wisconsin | $22.10 | $45,970 | 9,540 | — |
| Wyoming | $23.20 | $48,260 | 600 | — |
| Guam | $17.31 | $36,010 | 140 | — |
| Puerto Rico | $14.19 | $29,520 | 5,820 | — |
| Virgin Islands | $19.53 | $40,620 | 40 | — |
Who gets paid more, a pharmacy technician or nursing assistant?
The national median for pharmacy technicians was $45,750; for nursing assistants, it was $42,260. Both describe May 2025 straight-time wages.[1]
Those national figures do not compare the same people, employers or schedules. Use them to frame a question about local offers, rather than choose an occupation on pay alone.[1]
How to read these wage estimates
The annual wage is a standardized full-time equivalent for occupations reported hourly. A shorter schedule can produce lower annual earnings even when the hourly rate matches the median.[1]
The figures describe the May 2025 wage period, published a year later. They lag the offers available today and should not be treated as current advertised rates.[1]
What these figures leave out
These are straight-time gross wages. They exclude overtime, shift differentials, nonproduction bonuses and employer-paid benefits, and cannot separate travel contracts or stipends.[1]
The survey covers wage and salary jobs and leaves out self-employed workers. Empty cells mean no usable published estimate, not unpaid work or no jobs.[1]
What this means for your next offer
Ask whether the posted rate includes a shift premium and whether the employer pays for required training or certification.
Use the state figure as a starting reference, then compare the employer, setting and paid hours. A higher state median alone does not mean a move improves your budget.
Prepare your questions with the salary negotiation guide. Use the paycheck calculator to estimate deductions from a concrete offer.
Data and method
Pharmacy technicians: pay by state, May 2025
Employment and annual pay percentiles for pharmacy technicians (SOC 29-2052) in each state, the District of Columbia and the U.S. territories BLS publishes, with the United States first. All industries, May 2025 estimates.
- Source
- Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
- Release
- May 2025 estimates, released May 15, 2026
- Period
- May 2025
- Method
- Rows are BLS's cross-industry estimates (NAICS 000000, detailed occupation 29-2052) from the May 2025 state file (states, the District of Columbia and territories) and national file (the United States row). Figures are copied as published. Cells BLS marks "*" or "**" (estimate not available) or "#" (at or above $115.00 an hour or $239,200 a year) are left empty, and the note column says which. BLS computes annual pay as hourly pay times 2,080 hours where it publishes hourly figures.
- License
- Public domain
- Retrieved
Limits
- Wages are straight-time gross pay. They exclude overtime, shift differentials, nonproduction bonuses and employer-paid benefits, so they understate total pay for many clinicians; travel and agency pay and stipends cannot be separated.
- Each estimate blends six semiannual survey panels, November 2022 to May 2025, adjusted to May 2025. OEWS is not a time series: BLS advises against comparing years to measure growth.
- Employment counts wage and salary jobs and excludes the self-employed.
- BLS withholds estimates that do not meet its publication standards; those cells are empty, and a state with no estimate at all has a row with every figure empty. Wages at or above $239,200 a year are published only as that floor and are also empty here.
- The figures describe May 2025 and were published May 15, 2026; BLS publishes new estimates once a year.
Sources & approach
Scope: US wage and salary estimates for the stated period, not a quote for an individual job or a promise of earnings. Check the written offer and the applicable employer terms before deciding.
Based on the public sources linked below. Job.com selected and organized the data; no internal company data is used.
- Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS)U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics · Accessed October 23, 2026
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