Not a California state website. An independent project built from public data.
Camino · CA

California training programs, and what happened to the people who took them

Español (inicio)

← Back to search

Pharmacy Technicians

SOC 29-2052 · 2024-2034

Prepare medications under the direction of a pharmacist. May measure, mix, count out, label, and record amounts and dosages of medications according to prescription orders.

How the U.S. Department of Labor describes this work. Published in English only.

The job this trains for

Typical pay in California
$56,653per year
Projected openings
41,220
Projected change
+8.2%
Usually needs
High school diploma or equivalent

Bright Outlook — a U.S. Department of Labor designation
Rapid Growth

The Department's own designation, made from its national projections. It is not this project's assessment and it is not California's: every other figure on this page comes from California's projection, which can point the other way and for some occupations does.

Skills this work uses most

O*NET, the U.S. Department of Labor's occupation database, rates how important each of these is to this work, and they are listed in that order, most important first. The ratings themselves are not shown, because the data carries the number without the scale it was measured on. The names are as published, in English.

  1. Active Listening
  2. Reading Comprehension
  3. Speaking
  4. Critical Thinking
  5. Monitoring
  6. Judgment and Decision Making

Pay by region

RegionTypical pay in CaliforniaProjected openings
Napa MSA (Napa County)$83,520160
San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara MSA (San Benito and Santa Clara Counties)$72,6632,150
Oakland-Fremont-Berkeley MD (Alameda and Contra Costa Counties)$63,7922,660
Santa Rosa-Petaluma MSA (Sonoma County)$62,956480
San Francisco-San Mateo-Redwood City MD (San Francisco and San Mateo Counties)$62,9121,800
San Rafael MD (Marin County)$62,074210
Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom MSA (El Dorado, Placer, Sacramento, and Yolo Counties)$57,3273,320
Vallejo MSA (Solano County)$56,012460
San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad MSA (San Diego County)$50,8863,970
Eastern Sierra-Mother Lode Region (Alpine, Amador, Calaveras, Inyo, Mariposa, Mono, and Tuolumne Counties)$50,794170
Santa Cruz-Watsonville MSA (Santa Cruz County)$50,763300
North Coast Region (Del Norte, Humboldt, Lake, and Mendocino Counties)$50,568310
Santa Maria-Santa Barbara MSA (Santa Barbara County)$50,465490
Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura MSA (Ventura County)$50,250930
San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles MSA (San Luis Obispo County)$50,208350
Salinas MSA (Monterey County)$50,198400
Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario MSA (Riverside and San Bernardino Counties)$50,1165,140
Bakersfield-Delano MSA (Kern County)$50,0031,070
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale MD (Los Angeles County)$49,94212,880
North Valley-Northern Mountains Region (Colusa, Glenn, Lassen, Modoc, Nevada, Plumas, Sierra, Siskiyou, Tehama, and Trinity Counties)$49,900250
Hanford-Corcoran MSA (Kings County)$49,572200
Fresno MSA (Fresno and Madera Counties)$49,5611,500
Anaheim-Santa Ana-Irvine MD (Orange County)$49,4904,270
Stockton-Lodi MSA (San Joaquin County)$49,027770
Yuba City MSA (Sutter and Yuba Counties)$48,976230
El Centro MSA (Imperial County)$48,801180
Chico MSA (Butte County)$48,041290
Redding MSA (Shasta County)$47,877240
Visalia MSA (Tulare County)$47,548520
Merced MSA (Merced County)$46,963210
Modesto MSA (Stanislaus County)$46,963590

Similar work

O*NET, the U.S. Department of Labor's occupation database, names these as occupations involving work similar to this one — its own reading of the job, not a grouping by code. They keep O*NET's order, and only those California publishes a projection for are shown.

The job this trains forTypical pay in CaliforniaProjected openingsProjected change
Pharmacy Aides$43,26912,610+1.2%
Medical Assistants$50,918175,850+22.7%
Licensed Practical and Licensed Vocational Nurses$81,98281,600+15%
Phlebotomists$57,45919,970+14.7%
Veterinary Technologists and Technicians$62,32713,220+14.8%
Nursing Assistants$48,836172,680+10.3%

Leads to — 66