Top-Paying States for Pharmacist Technicians
The best–paid pharmacy technicians reside in Alaska, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The annual mean salary for technicians there is more than $43,000 a year, or more than $20 an hour.
California follows Alaska, then Washington, Oregon, and the District of Columbia. The annual mean salary in California is $42,610, in Washington, it’s $42,470, in Oregon, it’s $40,920, and in the District of Columbia, $39,980.
That breaks down to a mean hourly wage of $20.48 for California, $20.42 for Washington, $19.67 for Oregon, and $19.22 for the District of Columbia. For comparison, the mean annual salary nationwide is just over $34,000, which translates to an hourly wage of $16,35.
Salary Tiers for the States
States in the western part of the country have higher mean salaries than others. Taken as a group, the mean annual salary range for California, Oregon, Washington, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Wyoming, Alaska, and North Dakota is between $37,000 and $43,000 a year.
The second tier for salary is Montana, Idaho, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Nebraska, Illinois, New York, Vermont, Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey, and Connecticut, with a range from $33,000 to $36,000.
In the third tier are South Dakota, Kansas, Iowa, Missouri, Wisconsin, Michigan, Florida, Louisiana, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, New Hampshire, and Maine, with a range of $32,000 to $33,000 a year.
Finally, the states in the lowest paying tier are Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky, West Virginia, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Mississippi, Alabama, and Georgia, with a range between $22,000 and $32,000.
Technicians earning in the top 10 percent have an annual wage of about $48,000 and above. Technicians earning $39,000 a year and above are in the top 25 percent. The bottom 25 percent earn $27,000 or less annually.
Geographical Breakdown
Focusing on more specific geographical locations, the top–paying metropolitan areas for pharmacy technicians are all in California, with the San Francisco-Oakland area topping the list at an annual mean salary of $51,000. This region is followed by the Santa Rosa area at $49,800, the Santa Maria-Santa Barbara area at $47,000, the Vallejo-Fairfield area at $47,000, and the Salinas area at $46,000.
The highest–paying nonmetropolitan locations for pharmacy technicians are in Alaska, with a mean annual salary at $44,500, the north coast region of California at $43,00, western Washington at $42,000, western North Dakota at $41,450, and south–central Tennessee at $40,600.
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