Pharmacist Pay Dropping?

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Digsbe

Digsbe

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It's been a while since we've had an update from bls.gov for pharmacists. People talk about abysmally low pay in the North East at some hospitals. Just wondering if people think pharmacist pay is indeed dropping or if job offers provide lower and lower pay rates or if anyone has any professional projections for pay.
 
Not in the midwest, pay may not be going up very much but not dropping. This is retail obviously.
 
I heard something about this awhile back with Walgreens and their POWER system in FL. Anyone confirm?

PS. still seems pretty nice according to what my friends tell me their pay is.
 
I can confirm that the floater pay for Safeway and Banner Health in Arizona has remained unchanged in 2015.
 
Nominal pay raises of 3-6% in California based on my n=6 informal discussion with colleagues around the state.
 
I believe Walgreens closed most of its central fill (Power) facilities in Florida. The program failed.
 
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Community pharmacists in the New Jersey area (North Jersey) by Morristown and Jersey City are earning slightly less than $49/hour. That number goes up to $51 and change per hour in Atlantic City (South Jersey). This is strictly staff, floaters may be a different story
 
Full time hospital staff pharmacists with 5 years of experience or less in Austin-San Antonio area are earning $50-55/hr. Austin being higher of the two. Highest paid staff pharmacist I know is being paid $70/hr (approaching 30 years experience). Typical PRN pay is around $65/hr, highest being $70-75/hr.
 
North Jersey state hospital, starting at $45 per hour for staff pharmacist full-time.
 
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Public employee in CA:

http://transparentcalifornia.com/salaries/search/?q=pharmacy&page=2

I personally know some of these people listed working as a public employee. Some interesting pay rate you can check, state board inspector for CA at the bottom of the list $120k, pharm tech around $75-80k/yr, pharmacy prison manager "state of california" $130k (massive benefit after 25 years you get 100% pension).

Some in retail can't even touch those base salaries.
 
Philadelphia Market 2016 grads: mid 50's per hour
 
Hybrid clinical/staff in a Midwestern University-affiliated medical center starting at $47/hr. No change for this year, no differential for off shifts which was a change as of last year.
 
Didn't know it turned into a salary survey thread:

Here we go, SF Bay Area inpatient/hospital pharmacists starting ranges for new resident grads $67-$75/hr, slightly higher for per diem and overnight.

I'm going to say $70-$80/hr for 2-3 year experienced as you rise on the pay scale.

Currently hiring ~2-3 FTE's and it's a challenge finding qualified pharmacists this time of year.
 
^ are the hospitals union?
 
confettiflyer said:
Didn't know it turned into a salary survey thread:

Here we go, SF Bay Area inpatient/hospital pharmacists starting ranges for new resident grads $67-$75/hr, slightly higher for per diem and overnight.

I'm going to say $70-$80/hr for 2-3 year experienced as you rise on the pay scale.

Currently hiring ~2-3 FTE's and it's a challenge finding qualified pharmacists this time of year.
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If that's the pay you guys offer, maybe I should get my California license and work over there 🙂 I don't want to work too many evenings or weekends anymore though.
 
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bacillus1 said:
If that's the pay you guys offer, maybe I should get my California license and work over there 🙂 I don't want to work too many evenings or weekends anymore though.
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Weelll....evenings/weekends = where you put your foot in the door, but people rotate around.
 
Hospitals in South Florida seem to be offering low-40s for new grads. The lowest salary in our system drops every single year. How low will it go?
 
In a Georgia hospital, I'm at $48/hr as staff without residency. I'm surprised to see that Florida is that much lower.
 
TheBlaah said:
In a Georgia hospital, I'm at $48/hr as staff without residency. I'm surprised to see that Florida is that much lower.
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From my anecdotal evidence, it seems that south Florida is the lowest paying region while also being the area with the highest cost of living. Could just be because it's the most desirable area to live in the state, so they know they can get away with offering less.

I was originally offered $42/hr in 2013, which I managed to negotiate up a bit before accepting my position. I wouldn't be surprised to find out that we are paying new pharmacist in the high $30s next year.
 
Digsbe said:
It's been a while since we've had an update from bls.gov for pharmacists. People talk about abysmally low pay in the North East at some hospitals. Just wondering if people think pharmacist pay is indeed dropping or if job offers provide lower and lower pay rates or if anyone has any professional projections for pay.
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BLS.gov is a very poor approximator of salaries in general. Their numbers have a lot of caveats, tend to be outdated, etc.

http://www.pharmacyweek.com/cm/salary_survey/national_survey
Screen Shot 2015-10-29 at 6.47.05 PM.png
 
Mad Jack said:
BLS.gov is a very poor approximator of salaries in general. Their numbers have a lot of caveats, tend to be outdated, etc.
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BLS also does not take into account student loan payments and being in a higher tax bracket which can drop your take home pay by $30k or more. Rising tuition and student loan amounts are doing much, if not most of the work of decreasing pharmacist net pay.
 
confettiflyer said:
PGY-1 and up only over here
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I'm always curious about places with this requirement. Is that only for new grads/entry level positions, or would they seriously not consider someone with 10 years of experience in whatever area the position requires? If so that seems a bit silly, but not unsurprising considering the insular nature of academia and certain groups of pharmacists.
 
I know that in certain parts of northern FL , CVS is paying $62/he for staff, walmart $61/hr for staff and Publix $51/hr ( yes fifty one). In the Orlando area, I have second hand info that Walgreens is paying in the high 40s per hour for staff offers to new grads.
 
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BF7 said:
I know that in certain parts of northern FL , CVS is paying $62/he for staff, walmart $61/hr for staff and Publix $51/hr ( yes fifty one). In the Orlando area, I have second hand info that Walgreens is paying in the high 40s per hour for staff offers to new grads.
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Did you move to Florida recently? I know you've had a lot of interest in that place, didn't know if you pulled the trigger or not.
 
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gwarm01 said:
I'm always curious about places with this requirement. Is that only for new grads/entry level positions, or would they seriously not consider someone with 10 years of experience in whatever area the position requires? If so that seems a bit silly, but not unsurprising considering the insular nature of academia and certain groups of pharmacists.
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We'll hire 10 year experienced pharmacists no residency for sure, I was referring to new/new-ish grads.

We'd also consider hiring exemplary students who walk on water and turn said water into wine, so to speak. I think our technical requirement is PGY-1 preferred to give us an out for both of these situations.
 
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BF7 said:
I know that in certain parts of northern FL , CVS is paying $62/he for staff, walmart $61/hr for staff and Publix $51/hr ( yes fifty one). In the Orlando area, I have second hand info that Walgreens is paying in the high 40s per hour for staff offers to new grads.
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Don't know which Orlando area, but I can tell you they are doing at least $55 and that is on the low side.
 
Thanks for the info, I was worried as I heard rumors that districts and jobs have been decreasing starting pay for new grads and pharmacists I guess it is a little safe to say though that it's not really increasing either.
 
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bacillus1 said:
This is atypical. Our techs start at 43k, more if they have experience (federal job)...maybe that's why we have trouble filling tech openings.
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Your techs make double what retail techs make. How are you having a hard time?!
 
PharmaSex said:
How in the hell does a pharmacy technician earn 80K in CA?!!!
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In San Francisco....$80k is right at the median household income of the city. $38/hr sounds about right for someone at the top of the pay scale (10-15+ years on the job) for pharmacy technician working for the city or state.
 
bacillus1 said:
This is atypical. Our techs start at 43k, more if they have experience (federal job)...maybe that's why we have trouble filling tech openings.
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But you have federal benefits, so that's like mentally increases that starting salary to $52k/yr for me.

But assuming we say $43k/yr = ~$21/hr, yeah that's really low for pharmacy technicians in your area in the bay, good freaking luck recruiting for that one. Techs in lower cost areas in the bay area are starting at like $25-$30/hr.

The federal benefits make all the difference there.
 
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confettiflyer said:
But you have federal benefits, so that's like mentally increases that starting salary to $52k/yr for me.

But assuming we say $43k/yr = ~$21/hr, yeah that's really low for pharmacy technicians in your area in the bay, good freaking luck recruiting for that one. Techs in lower cost areas in the bay area are starting at like $25-$30/hr.

The federal benefits make all the difference there.
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Sure...pension down the road...but 4.4% of a new hire's paycheck gets immediately deducted to finance said pension, so the immediate take-home pay is even less. What makes the difference for pharmacists that makes working for the government worthwhile is the loan repayment (in facilities that offer it), and techs don't qualify and most of them don't have loans. In terms of immediate tech pay, it's really not enough to live on.
 
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Socal here. Pay has remained pretty much stagnant. I got one raise of 50 cents over the last 3 years.
 
I love visiting San Francisco but I would never live there. Maybe Oakland if I feel dangerous. Maybe.
 
vardenafil said:
Socal here. Pay has remained pretty much stagnant. I got one raise of 50 cents over the last 3 years.
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On paper, the numbers are stagnant... but one 50 cent raise in 3 years isn't keeping up with inflation, so it's almost like you're making slightly less than you were 3 years ago, right?
 
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BenJammin said:
California isn't bankrupt for no reason. Last time I checked there's a technician who works for a prison that makes over $140k.
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This is absolute BS. There should be an investigation into this. Holy crap!
 
BenJammin said:
California isn't bankrupt for no reason. Last time I checked there's a technician who works for a prison that makes over $140k.
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PharmaSex said:
This is absolute BS. There should be an investigation into this. Holy crap!
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I missed BenJammin's post the first time around. Where did you get that information? The latest data I have for 2014 Dept. of Corrections shows the highest paid pharmacy technician I was paid ~$63k in salary + benefits (who counts that, anyway?) = $78,868. Employees initials are RG (I have the full name, not posting here, but it's public).

Maybe you're referring to employee EE who earned $79,434 in base salary with the City of San Francisco + $16,532 in overtime = ~$96k + benefits of ~$33k = total compensation of ~$137k?

That was not the Dept. of Corrections nor was that figure indicative of salary + OT only (benefits included, which are inflated since it's State). Let me know your exact source for the $140k figure, I'm curious to know.
 
So, while we're on this topic.... your highest paid pharmacist within the State of California is:

L.S., who made $207,231.73 in 2014 in base salary* + $107,182.35 in OT pay + $6609.85 in "other pay" = $321,023.93

Of note, the benefits column = $0, meaning he's likely not benefitted and not a part of the pension system (CalPERS). Also, given this person's location, you couldn't pay me enough to live there. It's a 2.5 hour commute from where I would consider living and given the amount of work this person has raked in (he probably works practically every day), that's just not worth it to me.

*Salary = I use this term loosely, since pharmacists are by law hourly paid in California, I use it to mean someone's base pay working 40hrs/week assuming a full 40hr/week schedule.
 
Digsbe said:
It's been a while since we've had an update from bls.gov for pharmacists. People talk about abysmally low pay in the North East at some hospitals. Just wondering if people think pharmacist pay is indeed dropping or if job offers provide lower and lower pay rates or if anyone has any professional projections for pay.
Click to expand...
I know my company pays about $8/h less than what they use to pay four years ago.
 
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