United States · BLS May 2025

Pharmacist Salary

The Bureau of Labor Statistics counted 321,970 pharmacists across the country. Pay varies more by state than most people expect, and the state that pays most is not always the one that leaves most.

Median pay · the United States

$140,910A year, or $67.75 an hour.
Jobs counted321,970Wage and salary jobs
What pharmacists earn in the United States, May 2025
PercentileAnnualHourly
10th percentileEntry and lowest-paid$99,290$47.73
25th percentile$129,380$62.20
MedianHalf earn more, half less$140,910$67.75
75th percentile$161,840$77.81
90th percentileMost experienced and senior$174,230$83.77
MeanThe average, pulled up by the top$140,920$67.75
How we got this
  1. Median wage in the United StatesBLS OEWS May 2025. Half of pharmacists earned more than this, half less.$140,910
  2. Median hourly wagePublished separately by BLS, not divided out of the annual figure.$67.75
  3. Jobs countedWage and salary jobs; the self-employed are not surveyed.321,970
What we assumed
  • Wages are BLS OEWS survey estimates for May 2025, not job postings or offers.
  • OEWS surveys wage and salary workers. The self-employed and business owners are outside it.
Technical details

Method occupation-wage-v1Data bls-oews-2025-05-v1

Which state pays pharmacists the most?

Alaska pays a median of $167,310, Rhode Island $128,180. That is a gap of $39,130 before either state's taxes or prices are counted.

  • Alaska. Take-home there depends on Alaska wage tax, which the salary-after-tax calculator computes on this median.
  • The nominal figure is not the comparison. A higher salary in an expensive state can leave less than a lower one somewhere cheap. Each state page adjusts for tax and price level.

Common questions

Pharmacist pay in the United States, answered

How much does a pharmacist make?

The median wage for pharmacists in the United States is $140,910 a year, or $67.75 an hour.

Half earn more than that and half earn less. The figure comes from the Bureau of Labor Statistics occupational wage survey for May 2025.

What do the highest-paid pharmacists earn?

The top tenth earn $174,230 a year or more, against $99,290 at the bottom tenth.

Experience, specialism, employer and the part of the United States someone works in all move a wage inside that range; the survey reports the spread, not the reason for it.

How many pharmacists are there in the United States?

The survey counted 321,970 of these jobs in the United States for May 2025.

It counts wage and salary jobs, so the self-employed are outside it.

Sources

Where this data comes from