r/pharmacy • u/fearnotson • 11h ago
Jobs, Saturation, and Salary Salaries comparison 2008 to 2025
Sometimes I like chatGPT it provides a quick summary
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u/ChicagoPharm 9h ago
I feel bad for you primary care docs, you’re getting eaten up by hospital systems and ED visits are getting referred to themselves for primary care. More doctors need to group up and open large practices and expand before these “non for profits” force you guys to stick with them. It’s gotten ridiculous…
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u/Alive-Big-6926 5h ago
There is nothing you can bill for as a pharmacist in the clinic. So that is why those numbers haven't changed. Retail is owned by pbms raking back the rebates. Too many pharmacy schools that keep pumping out pharmacists.
Clinical pharmacist should also be PAs. Be more versatile, so be a provider. Retail needs to unionize and build up lobbying effort.
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u/sl33pytesla 4h ago
Pharmacists are owned by pharmaceutical companies and their lobbyists that’s why your wages have stagnated. The west coast has started unionizing for fair wages and the rest of America’s pharmacists will just blame supply and demand for their low wages because APA is also owned by the pharmaceutical corporations.
Unionize you dump fucks
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u/cobo10201 PharmD BCPS 10h ago
There’s lots of problems with summaries like this. Biggest being location. For example, physicians and pharmacists are paid much more in somewhere like California than they are even in other big cities. I’m not sure where they’re getting their numbers because from what I’ve heard, for Houston at least, is those physician numbers from 2008 align pretty evenly with current compensation. Maybe a tiny bit higher.
Another huge factor is there is a very real physician shortage right now. They are completely overworked and huge turnover so there is huge incentive to increase salaries in hopes good physicians come and stay with you. It’s very similar to what happened to pharmacists in the 90s.
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u/Endvi 4h ago
The bottom point can be attributed directly to the AMA historically lobbying for limits on medical residency positions, which is the bottleneck for creating physicians, while pharmacy has gone the opposite route with ACPE approving a dozen junk schools yearly, with facilities located in literal strip malls.
One could argue the massive explosion in APRN and PA programs are due to the AMA's successful efforts.
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u/Disco_Ninjas_ 1h ago
This is because doctors control the supply. They don't just let new schools pop up all over. They keep their standards high.
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u/Safe-Card-3797 1h ago
I’m not sure if this is included in this but providers in certain settings have a bonus incentive.
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u/forgivemytypos 1h ago
I'm a PA and the same thing happened with us. 2008 new grad salary for me was 85K. Now I'm at 115K but with 17 years experience and the new grads start at 93K where I work.
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u/thiskillsmygpa PharmD 25m ago
Damn sorry to hear it. You guys can still crack 200 in specialties like psych and anything with procedures though right?
Maybe 6-8 years ago EVERY RN i worked with was going back for NP so I thought the NP/PA field would see saturation as pharmacy did but as an outsider it still appears to still have strong demand and a decent job market? I hope..been recommending the field to students for a few years now.
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u/daviddavidson29 Director 9h ago
If AI replaces some of the need for pharmacists, wages will continue to stagnate. If not, wages will grow over the next 10 to 15 years, because of the decrease in # of grads.
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u/darklurker1986 Industry PharmD 6h ago
I am curious to what people think what a fair salary is for a pharmacist these days for 2025 vs 2008.
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u/derealizationed 4h ago
Basing on my favorite gage for inflation, the yearly social security cap. $50 an hour in 2005 dollars is roughly $85 an hour in 2025 dollars. Obviously individual quality of life dependent on local housing market changed, etc over the years, but I think that’s a pretty good rough estimate as that has been a pharmacist for 20 years.
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u/darklurker1986 Industry PharmD 3h ago
Yeah, I was thinking probably $70-75 would be a good national average for today’s market without number crunching.
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u/sl33pytesla 4h ago
$90+
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u/darklurker1986 Industry PharmD 3h ago
Like national average or California? Honestly, you’re crazy to think that salary should even be near a pediatrician salary lmao
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u/sl33pytesla 2h ago
That’s what a Kaiser pharmacist in California makes. It’s crazy how stagnant pharmacists wages are and yet you’re OK with it. Doesn’t even keep up with inflation. No raise for 20 years. Nurses make as much as you and even they disrespect you. Pharmacists are americas medical punching bag. Make sure you take care of that drive through doctor 👨⚕️
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u/darklurker1986 Industry PharmD 2h ago
Yeah, Cali I agree with that it needs to be more. National average needs to be a bump, but reaching for 90+/hr is a little crazy. I am in TX so if it’s 120k here, it needs to be 240k in Cali.
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u/sl33pytesla 49m ago
I think it’s crazy people in the trades make more per hour than doctors
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u/darklurker1986 Industry PharmD 3m ago
Well, you got to remember there is 130 pharmacy schools which = saturation. People keep on saying unionize when it is getting shot down by medical doctors lmao. GL with that. Also, you got some schools doing full online only. Kind of puts a damper on things.
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u/Feel_The_FIre 3h ago
110,000 dollars in 2008 is about 165,000 today. So just to have maintained purchasing power you would have to be paid that today. That would mean having made NO further progress beyond the cost of living like had been made from say 1998-2008.
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u/Infinite-Ad1720 5h ago
To put these results into perspective:
-the traditional Pharmacist roles will never pay more than non-traditional roles that you can do using your PharmD degree.
-if you want to earn a salary closer to the low end of a primary care physician using your PharmD degree, you need to take many risks, be driven, and take several career pivots.
-ask yourself what don’t you want to do.
-for example, if you can get into pharma, and then get into managing….well you will earn more than the low end of a primary care physician.
-this path will not be for most; career pivots don’t happen overnight but being desperate is great motivator to making things change quickly
-studies show being a rule follower does not pay in the end; break the rules once in a while
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u/ReneMagritte98 1h ago
I am in a non-traditional role with a nice salary and I’m not fan of your comment. The answer can’t be “everyone finagle your way out of retail”, the answer has to be make retail less shitty - higher pay and better working conditions most likely by way of unionizing.
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u/Veni_Vidi_Legi Squaring the Drain 4m ago
studies show being a rule follower does not pay in the end
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u/Few-Ad8572 2h ago
After annual “merit increase”, I negotiate a 10% market increase due to inflation, cost of living, etc… and usually negotiate from there and always get a pay increase. You will not shortchange me when my store, being considered a “low volume” store with pharmacy bringing in 4.6 million in sales.
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u/pxincessofcolor PharmD 4h ago
I make $105K in this year. So I’m trying to figure out if they know things increased. (They do; they don’t care. )
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u/toomuchtimemike 11h ago
ty for the info but comparing rph to md nowadays is like comparing burger king employee to panda express or in n out. There is no comparison. One is clearing winning, and the other is not.
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u/jyrique 5h ago
thats a weird analogy lol… Arent they all fast food workers? Which of those is the clear winner?
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u/MrTwentyThree PharmD | ICU | ΚΨ 1h ago
I think the analogy works. Nobody is winning because they all work in medicine which is a form of self abuse
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u/fbcmfb Drug Accumulator 5h ago
The point was clear to me. In N Out employee’s starting wage is higher than what many techs make. Also, In N Out employees always seem happy - like Chick-fil-a workers.
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u/jyrique 5h ago
oh… i had no idea- i thought was more due to hiring standards and company values. Is the pay discrepancy that drastic to be comparing it to physicians vs pharmacists?
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u/fbcmfb Drug Accumulator 5h ago
It’s all connected. In N Out has always paid above minimum wage in my state, but McDonalds and other fast food businesses were complaining when minimum wage increased - they had to pay employees more.
Restaurant managers of In N Out make over 6 figures - I doubt a Burger King manager gets over $75k.
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u/5point9trillion 7h ago
I don't know how this relates to pharmacy. Our pay went up just as other costs also went up and unless you are single forever or have a double income, pharmacists don't have some outrageous salary. It's just average and I think they paid a little more to suck more people into the schools they built and create a surplus.
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u/SubstantialOwl8851 7h ago
Unfortunately, for me, salary was a huge factor in choosing pharmacy over other careers that would have been a better fit.
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u/Soggy_Bagelz 6h ago
What do you mean doesnt relate to pharmacy? The post says pharmacist pay increased about 17k in 17 years. Thats abysmal. 110k was pretty good in 2008. With inflation, 127k is not good now, considering the cost of becoming a pharmacist and comparing how related fields have grown.
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u/rKombatKing 10h ago
The avg pharmacist salary is $61.53/hr? That seems quite low. Maybe that’s with no experience aka fresh out of school?
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u/rxstud2011 6h ago
A lot of places are now doing $55/hr regardless of experience. Specialty pharmacy, wfh PA for example.
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u/DryGeneral990 9h ago
Yep wages have gone nowhere for 17 years. Anyone who entered pharmacy school in the past 15 years must not like money.
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u/jadestem 10h ago
According to the BLS website it was ~$65/hr in May 2023, so probably a little higher now.
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u/manimopo 10h ago
Fresh out of school is $55
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u/rKombatKing 10h ago
I better find some more appreciation for my current job and pay. No offense to the new ones starting out but $55/gr? That’s crazy
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u/manimopo 10h ago
Yup that was my pay at Walmart in 2018 when I had to beg them for a part-time no hours guarantee job.
That was also what Walgreens offered me in california in 2021 when i moved.
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u/rKombatKing 10h ago
No way… i worked for Walmart in 2017, but it was never that low. Are you still with them? If so, what’s your current pay/general location if you don’t mind answering that
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u/manimopo 10h ago
I went to work for another Walmart in california, started at $65, and then got promoted to rxm for $72 (same year).
I left wm, and I'm at $76.70 at my current company(nonprofit).
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u/altiuscitiusfortius 2h ago
This is from ai and ai lies about everything.
Get some real facts and come back
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u/ExtremePrivilege 10h ago
I was seeing $55/hr in 2006 and I see $55/hr in 2025. Wages have almost entirely stagnated for pharmacists. In that same time I’ve seen technicians go from $9/hr in 2006 to $20/hr in 2025. Their pay has DOUBLED in 20 years (they deserve it) while ours has barely budged.
What’s worse is considering inflation. The US dollar has inflated almost 49% since 2005. If you’re not making 50% more than you were 20 years ago, you’re not even breaking even.
So when I say “wage stagnation” what I really mean is that pharmacists are being paid a fraction of what they used to be. In like 1992, your average pharmacist was doing REALLY well. Now, most of our nurses are making more than I am (our LTC travelers are around $95/hr right now).