Pharmacists
Also called: Apothecary, Clinical Pharmacist, Clinical Pharmacy Specialist (CPS), Community Pharmacist, Druggist, Floater Pharmacist, Hospital Pharmacist, Industrial Pharmacist
Dispense drugs prescribed by physicians and other health practitioners and provide information to patients about medications and their use.
What pharmacists do
Typical tasks
- Review prescriptions to assure accuracy, to ascertain the needed ingredients, and to evaluate their suitability.
- Collaborate with other health care professionals to plan, monitor, review, or evaluate the quality or effectiveness of drugs or drug regimens, providing advice on drug applications or characteristics.
- Work in hospitals or clinics or for Health Management Organizations (HMOs), dispensing prescriptions, serving as a medical team consultant, or specializing in specific drug therapy areas, such as oncology or nuclear pharmacotherapy.
- Provide information and advice regarding drug interactions, side effects, dosage, and proper medication storage.
- Provide specialized services to help patients manage conditions, such as diabetes, asthma, smoking cessation, or high blood pressure.
- Analyze prescribing trends to monitor patient compliance and to prevent excessive usage or harmful interactions.
- Maintain records, such as pharmacy files, patient profiles, charge system files, inventories, control records for radioactive nuclei, or registries of poisons, narcotics, or controlled drugs.
- Prepare sterile solutions or infusions for use in surgical procedures, emergency rooms, or patients' homes.
- Compound and dispense medications as prescribed by doctors and dentists, by calculating, weighing, measuring, and mixing ingredients, or oversee these activities.
- Assess the identity, strength, or purity of medications.
- Plan, implement, or maintain procedures for mixing, packaging, or labeling pharmaceuticals, according to policy and legal requirements, to ensure quality, security, and proper disposal.
- Teach pharmacy students serving as interns in preparation for their graduation or licensure.
Typical path into the job (BLS)
Pharmacists salary
The median annual wage for pharmacists is $140,910 (BLS OEWS May 2025; BLS Employment Projections 2025–35, national). The lowest 10 percent earn less than $99,290 and the highest 10 percent earn more than $174,230. The mean annual wage is $140,920.
The mean hourly wage of $67.00 is 9.2× the federal minimum wage of $7.25. State minimums are higher in most large states. Minimum wage by state →
How does your pay compare with people your age?
Your numbers are not sent or stored. The comparison uses this occupation's BLS wage percentiles, adjusted for age with BLS median weekly earnings by age group (Q3 2026).
Pay by percentile
Annual wage percentiles from the BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS). Percentiles are a good proxy for pay by experience.
Projected pay for Pharmacists (3, 5 and 10 years)est.
Today $140,910 → in 3 years $154,000 → in 5 years $163,400 → in 10 years $189,400 (10-year range $162,900–$219,900). The model assumes pay growth of +3.0% per year.
What drives the annual growth rate
Projected pay = current pay × (1 + annual growth)^years. The annual growth rate starts from a base wage-growth rate and adds or subtracts labor demand (BLS projected employment growth), wage momentum and AI replacement risk for each occupation. Projections are not guarantees. How it is calculated →
Outlook score for Pharmacists
Each component is a percentile rank among all occupations in the same country (0–100). Weights: labor demand 25, wage momentum / openings 15, pay level 15, AI resistance 25, aging workforce 10 (Japan only), entry barrier 10.
Will AI replace Pharmacists? AI replacement risk
How AI is changing this job
A written analysis for this occupation is being prepared.
AI replacement risk compares the parts of a job that are easy to hand to AI or software (processing information, documentation, repetitive computer work) with the parts that are hard to automate (physical work, working closely with people, judgment in unpredictable settings), using O*NET work activities, work context, skills and knowledge. The result is a relative position among all occupations in the country, scaled to 0–100%. Methodology →
Labor demand for Pharmacists
Employment projections are from the BLS Employment Projections program (2025–35). Annual openings include both new jobs and replacement of workers who leave the occupation.
The same job in Japan
| Pharmacists United States | 薬剤師 Japan | |
|---|---|---|
| Median / average pay | $140,910 | ¥5.67M ≈ $36,044 |
| Pay in 10 years (est.) | $189,400 | ¥7.27M |
| Outlook score | 59 | 54 |
| AI replacement risk | 52% Moderate | 41% Moderate |
| Workers | 322K | — |
Matched by occupation (SOC code). Yen converted at 157.25 JPY/USD for reference; Japanese figures are averages, U.S. figures are medians, and the surveys define occupations differently.
Skills, education and requirements for Pharmacists
Key skills
O*NET skill level ratings (0–7).
Key knowledge areas
What the work involves
Important abilities
Education of workers
Training before entry
Related work experience
Job Zone 5 — extensive preparation needed (O*NET)
Difficulty of entry: ★★★☆☆ Moderate (from education, training, experience and Job Zone)
How to become pharmacists
A step-by-step guide for this occupation is being prepared. The education, training and experience data above show the typical path.
Career path and how to earn more as pharmacists
Career-path guidance is being prepared. Pay by percentile is shown in the Pay section.