2016 Pharmacist Salary Guide - Okay, am I crazy here?

[gwarm01]

http://www.pharmacytimes.com/contributor/alex-barker-pharmd/2016/04/2016-pharmacist-salary-guide

He claims that clinical pharmacists are the highest paid of all areas, with mail order being the lowest paying. Are you superstars in California skewing the data so much that this has become true on a national level? The average hourly rates that he lists seem very high to me.

I've worked at / received job offers from / known people who work at several hospitals across the southeast, from Texas to Florida, and the salaries have been much lower than this.

Is average pay really that high across most of the country? Do clinical pharmacists get paid more than retail pharmacists anywhere other than California? If not, I really think this guy is presenting a dishonest view of the job market. Now students will be begging for a PGY3 residency to get these high paying gigs!

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[Sine Cura]

This is based off the Mercer compensation survey. The last survey I reviewed (in 2013) listed median pay for "hospital pharmacists" in a California metro area as $70.48/hour (6 organizations, n = 107). This might be because Kaiser is skewing the data. No one in retail is making > $70/hour in my area except successful pharmacy managers with years of experience.

 

[ChalupaBatman86]

I thought the numbers looked low. Don't most of you retail people end up at least around 140k with your 44 hour weeks, OT, holiday pay, and bonus?

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[njac]

http://www.pharmacytimes.com/contributor/alex-barker-pharmd/2016/04/2016-pharmacist-salary-guide

He claims that clinical pharmacists are the highest paid of all areas, with mail order being the lowest paying. Are you superstars in California skewing the data so much that this has become true on a national level? The average hourly rates that he lists seem very high to me.

Yes.

According to that survey I'm solidly in the top 10% nationwide.

I will say that at my per diem job, the staff pharmacists also make these exorbitant rates.

So I think it might be an illusion to say it's all "clinical pharmacists" inflating it - I'd paint it broader to be "inpatient pharmacists" based on my experience and that of my colleagues.


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[njac]

This is based off the Mercer compensation survey. The last survey I reviewed (in 2013) listed median pay for "hospital pharmacists" in a California metro area as $70.48/hour (6 organizations, n = 107). This might be because Kaiser is skewing the data. No one in retail is making > $70/hour in my area except successful pharmacy managers with years of experience.

In the last 5-10 years a lot of hospitals have started competing with Kaiser wage-wise, at least in LA.


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[gwarm01]

I thought the numbers looked low. Don't most of you retail people end up at least around 140k with your 44 hour weeks, OT, holiday pay, and bonus?

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I think $55-60 is pretty common for retail. I'm more surprised at the hospital jobs, since my friends and I don't make anywhere near that.

Yes.

According to that survey I'm solidly in the top 10% nationwide.

I will say that at my per diem job, the staff pharmacists also make these exorbitant rates.

I make $60/hr at my per diem job, but my full-time position is just a little over $50/hr.

At my last job I was able to view the pay range for everyone with the "clinical pharmacist" title in our five hospital system, and the pay range was $40-$64/hr. It's funny that our absolute highest paid person is just considered average nationwide.

 

[MatCauthon]

$70 is pretty uncommon in most parts of the country. Many hospital/clinical pharmacists also make less than their retail counterparts.

 

[297point1]

California is quite the outlier (as usual)- only two other states crack $130k (Alaska and Nevada), and there is the Golden State sitting at $146k.
It really is different out there.

 

[confettiflyer]

Yes.

According to that survey I'm solidly in the top 10% nationwide.

I will say that at my per diem job, the staff pharmacists also make these exorbitant rates.

So I think it might be an illusion to say it's all "clinical pharmacists" inflating it - I'd paint it broader to be "inpatient pharmacists" based on my experience and that of my colleagues.


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Same here. All of our starting wages are in the top 10% nationwide and balloon from there with added years of experience. I'll be breaching the $80/hr mark (no diff) at some point this year as COLA and merit raises are meted out.

Keep in mind I'm also in the top 10% of cost of living areas nationwide with some of the highest state tax rates, so I'm not exactly Scrooge McDuck swimming in gold coins, either.


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[njac]

Holy ****kkkkkk. I'm still in mid-high 50's

My first job out of residency was $68.42/hr (plus evening differential), I've gotten a few raises since then, but I haven't crested $75/HR yet.

It makes it hard to leave. BF is from an area of the Midwest where id make closer to $60/HR. That's tough to swallow.


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[owlegrad]

I just got a job for $54/hour. Kinda hard to step down from almost $65 an hour but I have decided to do it. I am confident that my QOL at work will increase significantly. I am also pretty confident CVS will always be there if I want to go back.

 

[WVUPharm2007]

My first job out of residency was $68.42/hr (plus evening differential), I've gotten a few raises since then, but I haven't crested $75/HR yet.

It makes it hard to leave. BF is from an area of the Midwest where id make closer to $60/HR. That's tough to swallow.


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Add in cost of living and taxation and it's probably the same or more than in California.

 

[njac]

Are you cali as well? What's BF?

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Yes, southern CA.

Boyfriend.


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[Swishers]

I just got a job for $54/hour. Kinda hard to step down from almost $65 an hour but I have decided to do it. I am confident that my QOL at work will increase significantly. I am also pretty confident CVS will always be there if I want to go back.

Which company are you working for now?

 

[owlegrad]

Which company are you working for now?

A closed door pharmacy. I would rather leave it at that. 🙂

 

[Momus]

$64-66 is the norm for staff retail in SoCal. Manager makes 4/hr more. Adjust $3 up and down for BFE area or high volume stores. Highest paid retail manager (a friend) I know personally makes 76/hr doing only 2000 scripts/week but he lives in absolute sh1t hole area.

Don't worry in CA, we do pay 2.5-3x the housing cost here compare to anyone else in the country.

I only make 64. I've been saving at least 100k/yr maxing all taxable, non taxable account and picking up OTs, I bet not many people can do that even with higher hourly rate. It's at the point where networth is close to 10x my gross annual salary, where getting additional $ from work doesn't even matter much anymore. The magic of compounding starts here.

You could as well be making $100/hr (200k/yr) but if you save only 10% of that, you are not doing that great. It doesn't matter what you make, it's what you keep.

 

[Deja]

$64-66 is the norm for staff retail in SoCal. Manager makes 4/hr more. Adjust $3 up and down for BFE area or high volume stores. Highest paid retail manager (a friend) I know personally makes 76/hr doing only 2000 scripts/week but he lives in absolute sh1t hole area.

Don't worry in CA, we do pay 2.5-3x the housing cost here compare to anyone else in the country.

I only make 64. I've been saving at least 100k/yr maxing all taxable, non taxable account and picking up OTs, I bet not many people can do that even with higher hourly rate. It's at the point where networth is close to 10x my gross annual salary, where getting additional $ from work doesn't even matter much anymore. The magic of compounding starts here.

You could as well be making $100/hr (200k/yr) but if you save only 10% of that, you are not doing that great. It doesn't matter what you make, it's what you keep.

ummmm I don't think 64-66 is the norm at all, rite aid a year or 2 ago was 62/hr (might increased now), walgreens was only starting people out at 58, CVS is around 64-66....
BUT how the hell are you able to save 100k a year?!

 

[CMUchicka]

Does anyone know roughly how much new grads in AZ makes?

 

[Momus]

Does anyone know roughly how much new grads in AZ makes?

Less than CA.

ummmm I don't think 64-66 is the norm at all, rite aid a year or 2 ago was 62/hr (might increased now), walgreens was only starting people out at 58, CVS is around 64-66....
BUT how the hell are you able to save 100k a year?!

Two out of 3 major big box retailers pay that much. You forget WMT, they also pay the same range. I don't know about you, but I consider this pretty much the norm when every major employers pay the same.

OTs + frugal living

 

[CMUchicka]

Less than CA.



Two out of 3 major big box retailers pay that much. You forget WMT, they also pay the same range. I don't know about you, but I consider this pretty much the norm when every major employers pay the same.

OTs + frugal living

Do you have number in mind? You must be lucky one, at my current job(retail) both Staff pharmacist and manager work 40 hrs max, sometimes 32 hrs but never OT. How many years of experience you have? These two have been working as a pharmacist for 4 years.

 

[bacillus1]

I only made 61 per hour in CA (though this was pretty much the lowest hospital salary in the area, but included a few other benefits such as help with loan repayment). Now I took about a $4/hr cut on the East Coast and make more than the largest hospital in the area. So strange how the "average" salaries are so different. I guess I'll be financially ahead if and when I decide to buy a house.

 

[pezdispenser]

I just got a job for $54/hour. Kinda hard to step down from almost $65 an hour but I have decided to do it. I am confident that my QOL at work will increase significantly. I am also pretty confident CVS will always be there if I want to go back.

Congrats! I did the same. Left retail, now work at home for $54/hr. QOL dramatically better 🙂

 

[Sine Cura]

Walmart does pay ~$62-63 to start in the north of CA, higher in undesirable areas. There is also a meal premium (in CA?) where it averages out to $3.125 per hour for 5 shifts per week.

You can definitely get $67-68 in the more remote areas of AZ at CVS (and probably Walmart) and probably elsewhere in the southwest. Walgreens is the cheapest especially because they like to attach signing bonuses to offers (better for a pharmacist to have flexibility to leave at a moment's notice)