Pharmacists — Career Decision Dashboard
United States
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Report generated from official BLS OEWS and O*NET data — United States.
Median annual wage
$140,910
United States, 2025
Employment
321,970
United States, 2025
Typical education
Doctoral Degree
Job Zone 5
Skills identified
35
10 related careers
Career overview
Dispense drugs prescribed by physicians and other health practitioners and provide information to patients about medications and their use. May advise physicians and other health practitioners on the selection, dosage, interactions, and side effects of medications.
- O*NET code
- 29-1051.00
- Job zone
- 5
- Experience required
- Over 6 months, up to and including 1 year
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.
Choose a location
Salary analysis — United States
10th percentile
$99,290
25th percentile
$129,380
75th percentile
$161,840
90th percentile
$174,230
Most important skills
- Speaking4.0
- Active Listening4.0
- Reading Comprehension4.0
- Complex Problem Solving3.9
- Writing3.9
- Time Management3.9
- Monitoring3.9
- Social Perceptiveness3.9
- Critical Thinking3.9
- Judgment and Decision Making3.9
- Service Orientation3.9
- Active Learning3.6
What skills do you need?
Select the skills you already have
Skills listed are those O*NET rates at importance 3.0 or above for this occupation. Set your own level on the same 0–7 O*NET scale.
Skill coverage
0%
0 of 20 identified skills
Matched
0
Missing
20
Your selected skills cover approximately 0% of the skills identified for this occupation in O*NET. This is a coverage measure of listed skills only — it is not a qualification, hiring or interview outcome.
Skills to develop
| Skill | Importance | Required level | Your level | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reading Comprehension | 4.0 | 5.0 | Not selected | 5.0 |
| Monitoring | 3.9 | 4.4 | Not selected | 4.4 |
| Active Listening | 4.0 | 4.1 | Not selected | 4.1 |
| Speaking | 4.0 | 4.0 | Not selected | 4.0 |
| Critical Thinking | 3.9 | 4.1 | Not selected | 4.1 |
| Writing | 3.9 | 4.0 | Not selected | 4.0 |
| Social Perceptiveness | 3.9 | 4.0 | Not selected | 4.0 |
| Judgment and Decision Making | 3.9 | 4.0 | Not selected | 4.0 |
| Service Orientation | 3.9 | 4.0 | Not selected | 4.0 |
| Complex Problem Solving | 3.9 | 3.9 | Not selected | 3.9 |
| Time Management | 3.9 | 3.8 | Not selected | 3.8 |
| Active Learning | 3.6 | 3.9 | Not selected | 3.9 |
| Coordination | 3.4 | 3.6 | Not selected | 3.6 |
| Science | 3.1 | 3.6 | Not selected | 3.6 |
| Instructing | 3.0 | 3.5 | Not selected | 3.5 |
| Mathematics | 3.1 | 3.3 | Not selected | 3.3 |
| Management of Personnel Resources | 3.1 | 3.1 | Not selected | 3.1 |
| Learning Strategies | 3.1 | 3.1 | Not selected | 3.1 |
| Systems Evaluation | 3.0 | 3.1 | Not selected | 3.1 |
| Systems Analysis | 3.0 | 3.0 | Not selected | 3.0 |
Ordered by required level gap multiplied by O*NET importance. No prediction or recommendation is implied.
Related careers
Supplemental
National median $64,400
Compare with PharmacistsHow salary varies by location
| Location | Median | Employment | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Napa, CA | $200,580 | 180 | 2025 |
| San Jose, CA | $199,040 | 1,960 | 2025 |
| San Francisco, CA | $177,410 | 3,670 | 2025 |
| Fairbanks, AK | $173,340 | 50 | 2025 |
| San Luis Obispo, CA | $172,860 | 240 | 2025 |
| Sacramento, CA | $172,680 | 2,310 | 2025 |
| Longview, WA | $172,630 | 70 | 2025 |
| Hanford, CA | $171,900 | 90 | 2025 |
| Vallejo, CA | $170,870 | 350 | 2025 |
| Santa Rosa, CA | $170,570 | 330 | 2025 |
| Corvallis, OR | $170,470 | 100 | 2025 |
| Salem, OR | $169,210 | 300 | 2025 |
| Fresno, CA | $169,160 | 890 | 2025 |
| Portland, OR | $168,830 | 2,070 | 2025 |
| AK | $167,310 | 560 | 2025 |
| Redding, CA | $166,800 | 160 | 2025 |
| Salinas, CA | $166,470 | 260 | 2025 |
| Ann Arbor, MI | $166,350 | 570 | 2025 |
| Bend, OR | $165,960 | 180 | 2025 |
| OR | $165,960 | 3,250 | 2025 |
Career transition paths
Compare the skills of a career you hold today with Pharmacists to see shared skills, target-only skills and skill overlap.
Build a transition comparisonCareer and skills data: O*NET 31.0.
Salary and employment data: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, OEWS, 2025 (May 2025 release).
Figures are periodic published survey snapshots, not real-time market rates.