2022 Pharmacy Salary Survey

Another year is drawing to a close, which means it’s time for another Drug Topics® Annual Pharmacy Salary Survey. This year, 754 respondents shared their feelings on important workplace issues, from workload to workplace stress and more.

Job Satisfaction and Workplace Stress

This year, 80% of survey respondents indicated that they are employed full-time, with just over 20% each working in independent pharmacy, chain pharmacy, or hospital pharmacy (20.5%, 21.4%, and 21.5%, respectively). Despite the continued COVID-19 pandemic, 29.4% indicated that they are satisfied with their current position.

Current Hourly Wage

For those who indicated that they are not satisfied with their current position, 38.4% of respondents said they are considering a job change within the next 12 months; dissatisfaction with their current job was the top reason (46.3%), followed by income (28.2%) and challenges with professional advancement (19.5%). Workload has also increased in the past year, according to 75.8% of respondents, which is perhaps another reason for workplace dissatisfaction.

Job Satisfaction

Stress levels at work have also increased in the past year, according to 71.7% of survey participants. Regarding the reason for this, respondents indicated that this increase in stress was due to increased work volume (75.2%), COVID-19 (51.5%), increased pressure from management (48.4%), and a negative workplace environment (33.7%). Other reasons included increased paperwork, increased point-of-care testing offerings, and a lack of training and continuing education.

Reasons for Considering a Job Change

Those whose stress levels decreased in the past year indicated that an improved workplace environment, increased staffing, and the addition of technology support all played a role.

Pharmacy Technician Spotlight

Much like their pharmacist counterparts, pharmacy technician respondents indicated that they are primarily employed full-time at an independent, chain, or hospital pharmacy (19.4%, 27.1%, and 19.4%, respectively).

Stress Levels in Pharmacy

Over 30% of pharmacy technician respondents indicated that they are satisfied with their current position (32.9%), with 18.5% each indicating that they are somewhat or extremely dissatisfied. Of the 42.8% of respondents who said they are considering a job change within the next 12 months, the top reasons included income (46.5%), dissatisfaction with their current job (39.5%), and professional advancement (27.9%), followed by job security (11.6%).

Pharmacy Technicians Share Hourly Wages

Workloads have increased in the past year, according to 71.2% of respondents, along with stress levels at work (79.1%). The culprits of these increases were increased work volume (75.0%), COVID-19 and immunizations (55.0%), increased pressure from management (46.6%), increased point-of-care testing service offerings and paperwork (33.3% each), and a negative workplace environment (31.6%). A lack of training and continuing education rounded out this list.

Stress Levels for Pharmacy Technicians

For those who felt that their work stress did not increase, reasons included the addition of technology support, increased staffing, an improved workplace environment, and more employer-sponsored training.

Salary and Compensation

Among both pharmacists and pharmacy technicians, most respondents to this year’s survey were industry veterans with more than 25 years of experience (56.1% and 52.0%, respectively). Most respondents reported working between 40 and 44 hours per week (47.3% and 50.5%), with slightly more pharmacists than pharmacy technicians being paid on an annual salary, rather than hourly, basis (50.6% vs 44.4%). Just over 36% of pharmacists reported an hourly wage of $61 to $70 per hour, whereas 70.4% of pharmacy technicians reported an hourly wage of more than $30 per hour. Regardless of how they’re paid, most respondents in both groups said they did not receive any additional income, such as commissions, bonuses, or profit sharing, in 2022.

Demographics and Methodology

The Drug Topics® Annual Pharmacy Salary Survey was available online from October 21, 2022, to November 4, 2022, and received a total of 754 responses from pharmacists and pharmacy technicians across practice settings. Respondents were mostly men practicing pharmacy or working as a pharmacy technician in the southeastern (25.8%) or midwestern (30.3%) regions in the United States.