A Look at the Pharmacy Technician Pay Rate

The job of a pharmacy technician is usually considered to be well rewarding. The boom in pharmaceuticals industry and healthcare industry has created a much larger demand for pharmacy technicians in the industry. There are many work options for a pharmacy technician that pay him differently. Here is a look at the pharmacy technician pay rate being offered today.

Like any other technician, the pay rate of a pharmacy technician largely depends on two things, the experience earned and the amount of education received.

Let's first talk about the experience. The pharmacy technicians are not paid very handsomely during their early years of employment. Usually, it depends upon the employer, but the average hourly rate for a technician with less than one year of experience is, $9.58 per hour.

If the technician has a good experience of one to four years, the average hourly rate can go up to $10.02. With an experience that ranges from five to nine years, the technician can earn up to, $12.28 per hour.

Therefore, it can be said that in the early stages of his employment a pharmacy technician can earn somewhere between $25 000 - $35 000 annually.

However, the pay rate changes for a pharmacy technician with an experience of ten to twenty years. Such a technician can earn $14.19 per hour. If the technician has an experience of more than 20 years, he/she can safely earn $15.20 per hour. This places the average salary for an experienced technician around $40,000 annually.

Another important factor that affects the pay rate of a pharmacy technician is the amount of education received by him. The one with a certificate can earn highly in the starting years itself. This is because the certificate proves that he possesses the required skills to perform his job efficiently.

Apart from the experience and education, the pharmacy technician pay rate also depends highly on the place of employment. The different industries have different pay rates for a pharmacy technician job. Working in a general or surgical hospital, a pharmacy technician can easily earn up to $13.86 per hour whereas a pharmacy technician working in a grocery store is usually paid somewhere around $12.78. On the other hand, the same pharmacy technician working in a pharmacy or a drug store is paid around $11.50 on an hourly basis.

Since the pay rate is based on work hours, the certified technicians are able to earn even more if they work over time. Working in the evenings or on weekends can add to the work hours, thereby adding to the overall income. Since the pharmacy technician pay rate differs according to the education, experience and employment the fact is that by efficiently combining the three, a pharmacy technician can earn good money. Source : http://www.certpharmacytechnician.com.