Pharmacist salary after graduation?

[Student144]

What is typically the average pharmacist salary start from out of school? We all will have some debt, so I am just planning out ahead of time. I heard some pharmacies rarely have raises and little benefits on the job. Also, is making six figures a reality or just an exaggeration?

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[JustFillIt]

What is typically the average pharmacist salary start from out of school? We all will have some debt, so I am just planning out ahead of time. I heard some pharmacies rarely have raises and little benefits on the job. Also, is making six figures a reality or just an exaggeration?

What year of pharmacy school are you in? Have you been working while in school and if so at what capacity and what is your current position/salary? Do you have a plan other than to search and apply for a job upon graduation?

If you are beyond your 2nd year in Pharm school and don’t have a clear answer to each of those questions you are toast. If you have good answers to those and the outlook is good - I will answer the salary question.

 

[Student144]

What year of pharmacy school are you in? Have you been working while in school and if so at what capacity and what is your current position/salary? Do you have a plan other than to search and apply for a job upon graduation?

If you are beyond your 2nd year in Pharm school and don’t have a clear answer to each of those questions you are toast. If you have good answers to those and the outlook is good - I will answer the salary question.

I've just started pharmacy school this year after my undergraduate studies. I have been working part-time as a pharmacy technician at a compounding pharmacy, and my salary is about $18/hr. After pharmacy school, I plan to attend residency to expand my skills and hope to work for a hospital.

I am just uncertain about the salary as a pharmacist after graduation and unsure about the market in the future.

 

[mentos]

I've just started pharmacy school this year after my undergraduate studies. I have been working part-time as a pharmacy technician at a compounding pharmacy, and my salary is about $18/hr. After pharmacy school, I plan to attend residency to expand my skills and hope to work for a hospital.

I am just uncertain about the salary as a pharmacist after graduation and unsure about the market in the future.

You haven't researched this at all? My God.

If you just started then I would withdraw ASAP and get as much money back as you can.

I hear CVS in my area pays around $45/hr now, only 30 guaranteed hours so that comes out to about $70,000 per year. A couple years ago it was $50/hr. I started at $53.50/hr 6 years ago. By the time you graduate it will probably be $40/hr or less.

You'll come out ahead as a tech, seriously. Some hospitals pay techs $25-30/hr and you won't have 6 figures of student loan debt.

 

[WorthlessOxygen]

We've had a thread every year for the past few years where new grads share their starting salary, you'll probably get more useful info from searching those.

 

[owlegrad]

There is no need to be condescending, at least OP is asking now.

OP - The pharmacy field is rough and getting rougher (for the employees/pharmacists). We haven't hired a new pharmacist in two years now. Not even one. Quite the opposite, in fact, we have had highering freezes, layoffs, etc. Who knows if the next FT person we higher will get a lower rate, fewer hours, or both. Previously our highering rate was 52.50/hr. I do not know what it is currently, since it is hypothetical until we actually higher someone.

 

[RN2RPh]

Congratulations on your pharmacy journey! Do we make 6 figure salary? Yes we do! At least in my small circle of RPh friends, I dont know of anyone who makes less than 6 figure if they work full time. However, it is also true that starting pay for new grads has been reduced. It was high $50/hr 5 year ago, now it is probably around high $40/hr. So yes, it is probably harder for new grad to make 6 figure with their first job. Keep in mind that high paying jobs (high 60/hr) are still there, but those are not for everyone. As long as you are willing to work hard, you will eventually get it.

 

[grizzlesgrizzlies]

Assuming the average retail new grad rate of $50/hr (that's me being generous) at 32 hours a week, that would come out to 83k a year.

I'm sure you (as well as most of your classmates) have this not so unique goal on landing a residency and starting a career in hospital pharmacy. Keep in mind there are probably more folks completing residency than there are open hospital pharmacist jobs each year. At least 70% of all pharmacist jobs are in the retail/community setting, so residency or not you have an uphill battle if your goal is to NOT end up in retail

 

[Dred Pirate]

OP - first - I cannot recommend pharmacy as a career choice - I personally love my job and am paid very well, but I graduated in a different time and era (2004) when things were drastically different. There are a million threads about this - please read before committing more $$.

New grads will fall mainly in 4 buckets.

1. Not being able to find a job because of massive oversaturation - your income = $0 and you will be forced to do an alternative hustle that makes a lot less money and you still will have loans - this is a small but growing percentage of new grads.

2. (most likely) You will try to get a job in retail (70% of grads work in this section IRRC). You will likely get 32ish hours a week at somewhere in the upper 40's an hour (obviously there are some outliers, but the brutal reality is that this is the most common now)

3. You will go down the residency (1 or 2 year) route. If you do good and can BS your way through an interview - you will possibly land a good hospital job starting around $50 an hour (residency average pay is 45-55k I think). Although a residency does not guarantee a full time job - In the last two years 4 of our residents took part time jobs after completion (although now 3/4 are full time)

4 You are one of the rare ones that land a full time job right out of school - this mainly requires you to be a PIC in a retail center (with very few getting full time hospital jobs right out of school). You will make maybe $2-4 more an hour for a lot more headaches and work.

Good luck

 

[Dred Pirate]

PS - everybody says they are going to go into a residency and they think they are "the top" the honest truth is most of you won't - look at your class - count off 10 random people - 7 will be retail an hating their life - (6 will hate their life, 1 will like it bc they ended up in some grocery store/indy)
30% of your class will get a residency, and some of those will never get a hospital job, even after completely a hospital residency.

 

[mentos]

Congratulations on your pharmacy journey! Do we make 6 figure salary? Yes we do! At least in my small circle of RPh friends, I dont know of anyone who makes less than 6 figure if they work full time. However, it is also true that starting pay for new grads has been reduced. It was high $50/hr 5 year ago, now it is probably around high $40/hr. So yes, it is probably harder for new grad to make 6 figure with their first job. Keep in mind that high paying jobs (high 60/hr) are still there, but those are not for everyone. As long as you are willing to work hard, you will eventually get it.

You just told OP that new grads in your area make $40/hr. At 30 hours per week, that is $62,400 per year. At 40 hours per week (this is rare) that is $83,200 per year.

Telling a new grad "As long as you are willing to work hard, you will eventually get it" is not true IMO. Plenty of new grads work hard and may not even land a job. The opportunities are just not there when you have 15,000 new pharmDs per year.

 

[mentos]

There is no need to be condescending, at least OP is asking now.

It boggles my mind that so many students dedicate 4+ years of their life and take on 6 figure debt, and have no idea what they're getting into, when they could have spent 30 seconds on Google and found out.

 

[PharmtoCS]

I've just started pharmacy school this year after my undergraduate studies. I have been working part-time as a pharmacy technician at a compounding pharmacy, and my salary is about $18/hr. After pharmacy school, I plan to attend residency to expand my skills and hope to work for a hospital.

I am just uncertain about the salary as a pharmacist after graduation and unsure about the market in the future.

Do pay close attention to what practicing pharmacists are saying here about the job market. It’s terrible and only continues to get worse by the year as far more new grads flood the job market than there are openings.

The best time to drop out was before starting pharmacy school, but it’s never too late. The next best time to drop out is now.

 

[BC_89]

What is typically the average pharmacist salary start from out of school? We all will have some debt, so I am just planning out ahead of time. I heard some pharmacies rarely have raises and little benefits on the job. Also, is making six figures a reality or just an exaggeration?

It's good to ask the questions now -

Job Saturation: Is Pharmacy Worth It? Here's What You Need to Know

** Job Saturation: Is Pharmacy Worth It? Here’s What You Need to Know ** I encourage all pre-pharms to visit the following sub-forum for additional information of what is currently going on in the Job Market by our licensed pharmacists. Job Market After 2 years of prerequisites or obtaining...

forums.studentdoctor.net

1) Follow the links and the calculation - insert an hourly rate (40 - 50) - randomly pick any region of the country, and see what you anticipate earning at 32 hour weeks.

2) Compare and contrast total debt to income ratio.

3) See how the salary differs by changing 32 hours to less.

4) Understand what inflation is and compare it to a nearly identical annual salary.

This is a rough path if you don't have a grasp of what the income to debt ratio will look like. Graduate numbers outweigh job availabilities and looks to be getting worse year after year. If you wish to see up to date going rates, then take a look see at the bottom link:

Job Market

Pharmacy job market discussions and opportunities.

forums.studentdoctor.net

 

[confettiflyer]

Hospital, post-PGY1, San Francisco Bay Area acute inpatient will start at about $70-75/hr, depending on overall compensation package.

My friend made $83/hr +6 years after finishing PGY1 for a generalist staff type position, but they have state insurance and benefits…so a private/non-profit employer would pay about $85-$90/hr at +5-7yrs experience.

Most of my colleagues have been working overtime lately, and by law that has put their OT rate at $160/hr. Even in non-COVID time, random OT throughout the year accounts for an extra +$10k-$20k/yr for me.

Hiring is selective for these jobs. Also note the cost of living, and that $192,530 is the upper bound of “middle class income” in the city, while the median house price as of July 2021 is $1.852M (only $1.3M if you factor in the surrounding area).

 

[RN2RPh]

You just told OP that new grads in your area make $40/hr. At 30 hours per week, that is $62,400 per year. At 40 hours per week (this is rare) that is $83,200 per year.

Telling a new grad "As long as you are willing to work hard, you will eventually get it" is not true IMO. Plenty of new grads work hard and may not even land a job. The opportunities are just not there when you have 15,000 new pharmDs per year.

First, I did not say new grad in my area make $40/hr (I said "high $40/hr"). Second, even if they make $40/hr, I did not say that they can not work for more than 40hr/week. If they are "willing to work" 50-60hr/week, they can make 6 figure. How many hours you can work usually depends on how far you are willing to travel.
The key of getting high paying job is not about how many people there are in the application pool, but it is about making yourself the top candidate. Once you are the best candidate, it doesn't matter if there are 2 or 20 applicants for that job. Remember 15000 new grads are not created equally. Just like a high school student who set their goal for MIT, Harvard, Stanford... Is it hard to get in those schools? Absolutely. So should you tell that student "hey you should have googled those schools first, there are thousands of high school grad each year, they all work really hard but the majority of them wont get in. So you should change you goal" ?
As RPh, I suggest that we should provide a complete picture of our profession, not just the ugly side of it. The road to high paying job is never easy. There are plenty of obstacles on the way to prevent people who dont want it badly enough.

 

[mentos]

First, I did not say new grad in my area make $40/hr (I said "high $40/hr"). Second, even if they make $40/hr, I did not say that they can not work for more than 40hr/week. If they are "willing to work" 50-60hr/week, they can make 6 figure. How many hours you can work usually depends on how far you are willing to travel.
The key of getting high paying job is not about how many people there are in the application pool, but it is about making yourself the top candidate. Once you are the best candidate, it doesn't matter if there are 2 or 20 applicants for that job. Remember 15000 new grads are not created equally. Just like a high school student who set their goal for MIT, Harvard, Stanford... Is it hard to get in those schools? Absolutely. So should you tell that student "hey you should have googled those schools first, there are thousands of high school grad each year, they all work really hard but the majority of them wont get in. So you should change you goal" ?
As RPh, I suggest that we should provide a complete picture of our profession, not just the ugly side of it. The road to high paying job is never easy. There are plenty of obstacles on the way to prevent people who dont want it badly enough.

Who wants to work 50-60 hours per week? No thanks. You can make 6 figures working for Uber Eats if you're willing to work all day everyday, but what kind of life is that?

How does a "top candidate" differentiate themselves from the other 14,999 candidates? 99% of pharmacy employers don't care which school you went to. There is no such thing as a "top" pharmacy school.

The hospitals in my area literally get over 400 applicants per job listing. They do not even look at most of them. They probably go through maybe 20-30 resumes and ignore the rest. If you're the "top candidate" then your resume will most likely be buried. The jobs just aren't there.

 

[RN2RPh]

Who wants to work 50-60 hours per week? No thanks. You can make 6 figures working for Uber Eats if you're willing to work all day everyday, but what kind of life is that?

How does a "top candidate" differentiate themselves from the other 14,999 candidates? 99% of pharmacy employers don't care which school you went to. There is no such thing as a "top" pharmacy school.

The hospitals in my area literally get over 400 applicants per job listing. They do not even look at most of them. They probably go through maybe 20-30 resumes and ignore the rest. If you're the "top candidate" then your resume will most likely be buried. The jobs just aren't there.

Of course no one wants to work more than 30hr/week. However, in a tight job market and you dont want to work hard and you still expect to get paid well?? It seems very unreasonable (at least for new grad)!!
Again, you misread my post since I did not mention anything about "top pharmacy" program. You can come from any school and still be the "top candidate ". I dont care if there is 2 or 200 applicants for a job. There is always someone getting that job. The question is how to be that chosen one. Obviously, only a few RPh know the answer. I am pretty sure that all of them have been "working harder" than the rest of their peers!

 

[PharmtoCS]

So should you tell that student "hey you should have googled those schools first, there are thousands of high school grad each year, they all work really hard but the majority of them wont get in. So you should change you goal" ?

Apples to oranges comparison. You’re comparing $60-200 on an undergrad college application to borrowing $200k+ and spending the next 4 years of your life in school. Would it still be worth it if statistically, you have a 60-70% chance of end up unemployed or being miserable slaving away for one of the big chains for low pay in horrible conditions?

There are plenty of obstacles on the way to prevent people who dont want it badly enough.

The same can be said for other professions, except that you can earn as much as a pharmacist can with half the effort and without $200k+ in loans and 4 years of your life in school. You COULD earn six figures as pharmacist if you work “hard enough,” but you would hardly be working smart. Why put in extraordinary effort just for the privilege for having a job as a pharmacist?

 

[Gombrich12]

All I know is for retail pharmacy to be worth it at the current workloads and with the current cost of living you need to be making $170k+. How many pharmacists outside of california are making that?

 

[grizzlesgrizzlies]

How does a "top candidate" differentiate themselves from the other 14,999 candidates? 99% of pharmacy employers don't care which school you went to. There is no such thing as a "top" pharmacy school.

The hospitals in my area literally get over 400 applicants per job listing. They do not even look at most of them. They probably go through maybe 20-30 resumes and ignore the rest. If you're the "top candidate" then your resume will most likely be buried. The jobs just aren't there.

It's really a numbers game. It doesn't matter if someone is a PGY1, PGY2, BCPS, or whatever because there'll always be a fresh batch of PGY1 and PGY2s coming out every year. Even if someone who lets say is a PGY1 with 10 years of inpatient experience under their belt, it would be difficult for them to switch jobs because of the amount of applicants out there.

 

[confettiflyer]

Even if someone who lets say is a PGY1 with 10 years of inpatient experience under their belt, it would be difficult for them to switch jobs because of the amount of applicants out there.

I’m not seeing much resistance for the PGY1 + 10y experienced crowd, unless there is something supremely deficient regarding their backgrounds.

I have three friends that switched employers in the last few years (2x PGY1 + 5 years, 1x PGY2 + 5 years) and they were fielding multiple offers.

0-2 years experience vs 8-10 years are miles apart come interview time. Pay isn’t really a factor because that 0-2 year person will approach top of scale in 5-ish years anyway, and an FTE is an FTE in hospital accounting land.

Again, this is California. Not sure about the other 49 states. I also seem to have high performing friends.

 

[mentos]

Of course no one wants to work more than 30hr/week. However, in a tight job market and you dont want to work hard and you still expect to get paid well?? It seems very unreasonable (at least for new grad)!!
Again, you misread my post since I did not mention anything about "top pharmacy" program. You can come from any school and still be the "top candidate ". I dont care if there is 2 or 200 applicants for a job. There is always someone getting that job. The question is how to be that chosen one. Obviously, only a few RPh know the answer. I am pretty sure that all of them have been "working harder" than the rest of their peers!

Most people get those jobs because they know someone, not because their resume is better than everyone else's. New grads have near identical resumes.

 

[RN2RPh]

Most people get those jobs because they know someone, not because their resume is better than everyone else's. New grads have near identical resumes.

I agree that knowing the right person can be quite useful in getting a job. However, if you dont know anyone (like in my situation), it doesn't mean that it is the end of your career. I've known people who volunteered most of their weekends in their last year of pharmacy school at their favorite retail pharmacy chain in order to get a job. I also know people who spend their entire 6-week off block, volunteering at a hospital in order to increase their chance of getting residency/job upon graduation. That is what I call "willing to work harder than your peers". All new grads may look the same on paper, but in reality they dont.
The day that every new grad is handed a 6 figure job upon graduation is indeed over. So if someone just want to be a RPh for those easy 6 figure job (which is non existent) then they are absolutely in the wrong profession. However, there are still people who get in pharmacy for other cause than just $$. While some of you here just try to show the ugly side of our profession, I just want to show this pharmacy student the pretty side of it. Sorry that pharmacy might have not worked well for some of you, but for me pharmacy is still a good career choice with decent pay & good work-life balance. Once you get your RPh license, it is totally up to you to make yourself a better RPh or not. Some people just navigate better than others in this market. After 4-5 years, some will get 150k+ job, some will just be same retail floater as they were a few years ago.

 

[mentos]

I agree that knowing the right person can be quite useful in getting a job. However, if you dont know anyone (like in my situation), it doesn't mean that it is the end of your career. I've known people who volunteered most of their weekends in their last year of pharmacy school at their favorite retail pharmacy chain in order to get a job. I also know people who spend their entire 6-week off block, volunteering at a hospital in order to increase their chance of getting residency/job upon graduation. That is what I call "willing to work harder than your peers". All new grads may look the same on paper, but in reality they dont.
The day that every new grad is handed a 6 figure job upon graduation is indeed over. So if someone just want to be a RPh for those easy 6 figure job (which is non existent) then they are absolutely in the wrong profession. However, there are still people who get in pharmacy for other cause than just $$. While some of you here just try to show the ugly side of our profession, I just want to show this pharmacy student the pretty side of it. Sorry that pharmacy might have not worked well for some of you, but for me pharmacy is still a good career choice with decent pay & good work-life balance. Once you get your RPh license, it is totally up to you to make yourself a better RPh or not. Some people just navigate better than others in this market. After 4-5 years, some will get 150k+ job, some will just be same retail floater as they were a few years ago.

I just don't see how there is a pretty side to pharmacy unless you graduated at least 5 years ago. Working hard only gets you so far if there are not enough jobs for everyone, let alone nice jobs.

 

[GrandTheftAutumn]

What is typically the average pharmacist salary start from out of school?

$0 is the average pharmacist salary if unemployed.

I just don't see how there is a pretty side to pharmacy unless you graduated at least 5 years ago. Working hard only gets you so far if there are not enough jobs for everyone, let alone nice jobs.

Working hard only gets you under the radar of the district manager/lead to put you to staff/manage at **** stores.
My life was easy when I floated.

 

[GrandTheftAutumn]

Jokes aside (or is it a joke), I can confirm the lowest being $45/h 32h/week and the highest being $65/h.
But where you live and the cost of living is a yuge factor, so just knowing the average pharmacist's salary is almost meaningless.
The conventional wisdom is don't do pharmacy.

 

[DH1987]

What is typically the average pharmacist salary start from out of school? We all will have some debt, so I am just planning out ahead of time. I heard some pharmacies rarely have raises and little benefits on the job. Also, is making six figures a reality or just an exaggeration?

The key of getting high paying job is not about how many people there are in the application pool, but it is about making yourself the top candidate. Once you are the best candidate, it doesn't matter if there are 2 or 20 applicants for that job. Remember 15000 new grads are not created equally. Just like a high school student who set their goal for MIT, Harvard, Stanford... Is it hard to get in those schools? Absolutely. So should you tell that student "hey you should have googled those schools first, there are thousands of high school grad each year, they all work really hard but the majority of them wont get in. So you should change you goal" ?

I don't think anyone will dispute your point here, but what I will dispute is that pharmacy is worth this all-or-nothing mentality. If you're going to go all-or-nothing and you're going to dedicate yourself completely to making big money, there are certainly better ways than pharmacy. You talk about pharmacists making $150k after 5 years, but in other fields, such as software developer for example, you could be making upwards of $500k+ a year if you're cream of the crop. You could even make more than $150k in sales, real estate, or accounting, or starting your own business. Pharmacy does not have this same opportunity for growth that these other careers do, $150k+ is probably the best you could ever hope for, and nobody knows how long that's going to last. The risk/reward ratio just doesn't favor pharmacy at the moment.

 

[alpha12]

First, I did not say new grad in my area make $40/hr (I said "high $40/hr"). Second, even if they make $40/hr, I did not say that they can not work for more than 40hr/week. If they are "willing to work" 50-60hr/week, they can make 6 figure. How many hours you can work usually depends on how far you are willing to travel.
The key of getting high paying job is not about how many people there are in the application pool, but it is about making yourself the top candidate. Once you are the best candidate, it doesn't matter if there are 2 or 20 applicants for that job. Remember 15000 new grads are not created equally. Just like a high school student who set their goal for MIT, Harvard, Stanford... Is it hard to get in those schools? Absolutely. So should you tell that student "hey you should have googled those schools first, there are thousands of high school grad each year, they all work really hard but the majority of them wont get in. So you should change you goal" ?
As RPh, I suggest that we should provide a complete picture of our profession, not just the ugly side of it. The road to high paying job is never easy. There are plenty of obstacles on the way to prevent people who dont want it badly enough.

apples to orange comparison.

 

[mentos]

I don't think anyone will dispute your point here, but what I will dispute is that pharmacy is worth this all-or-nothing mentality. If you're going to go all-or-nothing and you're going to dedicate yourself completely to making big money, there are certainly better ways than pharmacy. You talk about pharmacists making $150k after 5 years, but in other fields, such as software developer for example, you could be making upwards of $500k+ a year if you're cream of the crop. You could even make more than $150k in sales, real estate, or accounting, or starting your own business. Pharmacy does not have this same opportunity for growth that these other careers do, $150k+ is probably the best you could ever hope for, and nobody knows how long that's going to last. The risk/reward ratio just doesn't favor pharmacy at the moment.

People throwing out $150k like anyone can get it with hard work is not realistic. I would say around $120-130k after several years experience is around the top for the majority of pharmacists nowadays. If you live in a place like northern CA then things are different. But pharmacists were getting $120-130k over 15 years ago. In 2021 dollars, the spending power is much less.

 

[Dred Pirate]

to put in perspective - the max pay for a non-manager at my hospital is $75 = 156k (shift dif can bump that up) - it is expected for an average employee to get to the max at 20 years service.

 

[DH1987]

People throwing out $150k like anyone can get it with hard work is not realistic. I would say around $120-130k after several years experience is around the top for the majority of pharmacists nowadays. If you live in a place like northern CA then things are different. But pharmacists were getting $120-130k over 15 years ago. In 2021 dollars, the spending power is much less.

Yeah, according to this, $120k today is worth $88,614.41 in 2006.

Inflation Calculator | Find US Dollar's Value From 1913-2025

Easily calculate how the buying power of the U.S. dollar has changed from 1913 to 2025. Get inflation rates and U.S. inflation news.

www.usinflationcalculator.com

 

[Dred Pirate]

Yeah, according to this, $120k today is worth $88,614.41 in 2006.

Inflation Calculator | Find US Dollar's Value From 1913-2025

Easily calculate how the buying power of the U.S. dollar has changed from 1913 to 2025. Get inflation rates and U.S. inflation news.

www.usinflationcalculator.com

ouch that is worse than i thought - that is almost exactly what i made in 2004-base pay s 145k now, at least i have kept ahead of inflation.

 

[RN2RPh]

to put in perspective - the max pay for a non-manager at my hospital is $75 = 156k (shift dif can bump that up) - it is expected for an average employee to get to the max at 20 years service.

to also put in perspective -the max pay for a non-manager at a local health system in my area is 190k (157k is their midpoint, most RPh get to the midpoint within 5 years). And this is not in CA.

 

[grizzlesgrizzlies]

I don't think anyone will dispute your point here, but what I will dispute is that pharmacy is worth this all-or-nothing mentality. If you're going to go all-or-nothing and you're going to dedicate yourself completely to making big money, there are certainly better ways than pharmacy. You talk about pharmacists making $150k after 5 years, but in other fields, such as software developer for example, you could be making upwards of $500k+ a year if you're cream of the crop. You could even make more than $150k in sales, real estate, or accounting, or starting your own business. Pharmacy does not have this same opportunity for growth that these other careers do, $150k+ is probably the best you could ever hope for, and nobody knows how long that's going to last. The risk/reward ratio just doesn't favor pharmacy at the moment.

Great point. Pharmacy used to be a high-floor, low-ceiling profession which in its heyday was ideal for the risk adverse. In 2021 and going forward, there is literally no reason to pursue a PharmD when the salary floor can be zero.

 

[Dred Pirate]

to also put in perspective -the max pay for a non-manager at a local health system in my area is 190k (157k is their midpoint, most RPh get to the midpoint within 5 years). And this is not in CA.

where is this? I am guessing a HCOL? I know in new york you would make less than i do. Comparing salaries nationwide is generally not fair as a whole.

 

[Gombrich12]

Great point. Pharmacy used to be a high-floor, low-ceiling profession which in its heyday was ideal for the risk adverse. In 2021 and going forward, there is literally no sane reason why anyone should pursue a PharmD especially when the floor now is being indefinitely underwater with student loans.

Bruh pharmacists make like $120k right out of school! Ok maybe it's more like 100k, yea ok i lied maybe you'll get 90k, but hey you gotta be happy making 70k to start right?

 

[DH1987]

Great point. Pharmacy used to be a high-floor, low-ceiling profession which in its heyday was ideal for the risk adverse. In 2021 and going forward, there is literally no reason to pursue a PharmD when the salary floor can be zero.

Yeah, the reason I went to pharmacy in the first place is because I just wanted a stable 9-5 job with a livable salary. I didn't foresee that I would be fighting tooth and nail every single day just to keep my job and have no opportunity for advancement, and be working far more irregular hours in highly stressful situations. If I had known that, I probably would have backed out of pharmacy and tried for med school. At least there, I would be getting much more return for my efforts.

 

[RN2RPh]

where is this? I am guessing a HCOL? I know in new york you would make less than i do. Comparing salaries nationwide is generally not fair as a whole.

HCOL compared to where? To national average, we are probably high. To NY, SF, LA ...we are not even close. Location and numbers are again just... perspectives.

 

[mentos]

to also put in perspective -the max pay for a non-manager at a local health system in my area is 190k (157k is their midpoint, most RPh get to the midpoint within 5 years). And this is not in CA.

We get it, your area pays more. These numbers you're throwing out are the exception, not the average. And since you're not telling us what area it's kinda useless information. Prepharms and pharmacy students who read your posts will think "oh I can make 190k if I work hard!". That is not the case for 99% of pharmacists in this country.

 

[alpha12]

0 dollars and zero cents

 

[alpha12]

We get it, your area pays more. These numbers you're throwing out are the exception, not the average. And since you're not telling us what area it's kinda useless information. Prepharms and pharmacy students who read your posts will think "oh I can make 190k if I work hard!". That is not the case for 99% of pharmacists in this country.

He must be a dean for a pharmacy school

 

[Dred Pirate]

HCOL compared to where? To national average, we are probably high. To NY, SF, LA ...we are not even close. Location and numbers are again just... perspectives.

What city?

 

[confettiflyer]

Yeah, whoever is spitting out salaries without zip codes, regions, or at minimum, a state (or group of states)….is dumb.

And holy cow, inflation is a bitch. I feel pretty good, but I guess I’ve just kept up with 2006…I guess that’s okay? :::: I need to start including inflation adjusted numbers.

My starting rate at my first FT job in 2013 was $65/hr ($135,200/yr, 2021 adjusted: $158,910) for inpatient staff in the outer fringes of the greater SF Bay Area, +++ benefit package. But I made about $25k/yr in OT, on call pay, call back, and double back pay (I can explain in another post), and another $35k/yr working a second on-call job once a week. Total compensation that year was, until recently, my all time best at $195k (2021 adjusted: $228,521).

It was also my worst year in terms of health (I gained a bunch of weight/didn’t work much/ate a LOT of Taco Bell in my car), vacations were pretty nil, and I frequently worked 14+ days straight. Some days, it was actually unsafe—I once had two overnight callbacks at 2am and 4am, and had to wake back up at 6am to drive to my other job at 7am and pray I didn’t get a call back at 6:30am before day shift came in, pray that I didn’t crash my car down a windy two lane road, and pray I didn’t commit any errors at the day shift job.

I don’t recommend that, at all. But, if you’re young enough…you can recover and bounce back, but it’s just as easy to fall into those habits as you enter your late-30s/early-40s and then it becomes more difficult to reverse.

Question for the room: is it still typical and feasible for new grads to stitch together a decent income from working 2-3 short-hour jobs?

 

[grizzlesgrizzlies]

Some days, it was actually unsafe—I once had two overnight callbacks at 2am and 4am, and had to wake back up at 6am to drive to my other job at 7am and pray I didn’t get a call back at 6:30am before day shift came in, pray that I didn’t crash my car down a windy two lane road, and pray I didn’t commit any errors at the day shift job.

Were you on call bc the pharmacy was closed overnight?

 

[randompharm]

I’m seeing independents offering 40-50 in FL. Have a few friends at CVS who just graduated few months ago and were offered 50-53 as floaters (said full time floaters but not sure if 32 or 40 hrs).

I know everything about saturation/the market/ROI etc. (and is actually why i left pharmacy school a few weeks ago, at the start of P1 semester 1, just few weeks in), but can’t help but wonder if it was a mistake now as i live in one of the most saturated (if not the most saturated) states and currently they are hiring like crazy. They can’t seem to get enough pharmacists everywhere (about 500+ job listings within 30 mins of me with your pick of clinical, 7on7off, retail, PRN, hospital, etc.). Who knows if this is just temporary due to the COVID spike, but if not and they end up opening a bunch of positions that BLS/HRSA couldn’t predict due to the COVID (and/or due to starting to see the value in pharmacists), it’s gonna be some bs as i just dropped out lol.

 

[Sine Cura]

50 per hour isn't what it used to be

The Inflation Calculator

 

[Dred Pirate]

50 per hour isn't what it used to be

The Inflation Calculator

Exactly. PT and OT’s make around that here. I know RNs who make 40+ before shift dig.

 

[PharmaSex]

I check indeed here and there to see what is out there. I see many retail offers for $40/hr in my area and around the country for the retail setting. It was only 8 years ago that I was offered $56.50 out of school for this same setting. That is absolutely pathetic to be offered such a low wage. Fortunately for me, I was able to get my way into the inpatient setting a year after getting sacked just before probation from my first hospital job where I was offered only $45/hr and into an overnight position where I got paid $50 plus an 18 percent differential. After a stint as a consultant where I made $145K I was back in the inpatient setting for a major health system at $55/hr and then back on overnights at a mighty large $143K/yr with a massive 25% shift diff with 10 free hours of pay each period. I never thought I would be making this level of money again plus the week off and barely a commute. With my OT shifts and per diem gig I could easily make $170K a year. I also live in a major city on the East coast.

 

[mentos]

I’m seeing independents offering 40-50 in FL. Have a few friends at CVS who just graduated few months ago and were offered 50-53 as floaters (said full time floaters but not sure if 32 or 40 hrs).

I know everything about saturation/the market/ROI etc. (and is actually why i left pharmacy school a few weeks ago, at the start of P1 semester 1, just few weeks in), but can’t help but wonder if it was a mistake now as i live in one of the most saturated (if not the most saturated) states and currently they are hiring like crazy. They can’t seem to get enough pharmacists everywhere (about 500+ job listings within 30 mins of me with your pick of clinical, 7on7off, retail, PRN, hospital, etc.). Who knows if this is just temporary due to the COVID spike, but if not and they end up opening a bunch of positions that BLS/HRSA couldn’t predict due to the COVID (and/or due to starting to see the value in pharmacists), it’s gonna be some bs as i just dropped out lol.

Dropping out was the best decision of your life. My workplace hasn't hired a new grad since before Covid. He works per diem and I only see him work one or two shifts per month, and this is his only pharmacist job. I don't know how he pays his loans.

Most new grads are only getting 32 hours, not 40. $50 per hour at 32 hours is only $83k per year. After taxes, health insurance, 401k, that is about $58k take home. After living expenses, how much will you have left to pay off 6 figures of debt? In 4 years, the pay will be even less. Probably $40-45/hr by then.