Retail pharmacists are employed in retail outlets like supermarkets and drug stores to dispense medications. They answer questions about medications and prescriptions and explain how and when they should be taken. Likewise, they examine which other drugs patients are taking and how they might affect the new ones. Also, they note possible side effects and suggest over-the-counter solutions. They handle insurance by liaising with insurance companies to determine the coverage that patients have. Additionally, they follow proper procedures laid down by their employer and other relevant regulations.
Before you apply for this job, you must have a doctor of pharmacy degree. Similarly, you must have a state license to practice. You must be a good communicator and active listener. Likewise, you must possess maths and interpersonal skills. You must be familiar with prescription medications, controlled substances, and the computer, among others. Retail pharmacists earn an average salary of $119,924 per year, equivalent to $57.66 per hour.
How to Become a Retail Pharmacist
There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a retail pharmacist. For example, did you know that they make an average of $61.12 an hour? That's $127,128 a year!
Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 0% and produce -100 job opportunities across the U.S.
What Does a Retail Pharmacist Do
There are certain skills that many retail pharmacists have in order to accomplish their responsibilities. By taking a look through resumes, we were able to narrow down the most common skills for a person in this position. We discovered that a lot of resumes listed computer skills, managerial skills and analytical skills.
How To Become a Retail Pharmacist
If you're interested in becoming a retail pharmacist, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 57.7% of retail pharmacists have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 6.3% of retail pharmacists have master's degrees. Even though most retail pharmacists have a college degree, it's possible to become one with only a high school degree or GED.
Choosing the right major is always an important step when researching how to become a retail pharmacist. When we researched the most common majors for a retail pharmacist, we found that they most commonly earn bachelor's degree degrees or doctoral degree degrees. Other degrees that we often see on retail pharmacist resumes include master's degree degrees or associate degree degrees.
You may find that experience in other jobs will help you become a retail pharmacist. In fact, many retail pharmacist jobs require experience in a role such as pharmacy internship. Meanwhile, many retail pharmacists also have previous career experience in roles such as pharmacist or staff pharmacist.
Retail Pharmacist Career Paths
In addition to switching up your job search, it might prove helpful to look at a career path for your specific job. Now, what's a career path you ask? Well, it's practically a map that shows how you might advance from one job title to another. Our career paths are especially detailed with salary changes. So, for example, if you started out with the role of pharmacist you might progress to a role such as pharmacist manager eventually. Later on in your career, you could end up with the title pharmacist manager.
Average Salary for a Retail Pharmacist
What Am I Worth?
Top Colleges for Retail Pharmacists
1. University of Michigan - Ann Arbor
Ann Arbor, MI • Private
2. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Chapel Hill, NC • Private
3. University of California, Irvine
Irvine, CA • Private
4. University of Southern California
Los Angeles, CA • Private
5. Northeastern University
Boston, MA • Private
6. University of Wisconsin - Madison
Madison, WI • Private
7. University of California - Davis
Davis, CA • Private
8. University of Washington
Seattle, WA • Private
9. SUNY Stony Brook
Stony Brook, NY • Private
10. University of Minnesota - Twin Cities
Minneapolis, MN • Private
Top Skills For a Retail Pharmacist
The skills section on your resume can be almost as important as the experience section, so you want it to be an accurate portrayal of what you can do. Luckily, we've found all of the skills you'll need so even if you don't have these skills yet, you know what you need to work on. Out of all the resumes we looked through, 39.3% of retail pharmacists listed high volume on their resume, but soft skills such as computer skills and managerial skills are important as well.
Choose From 10+ Customizable Retail Pharmacist Resume templates
Zippia allows you to choose from different easy-to-use Retail Pharmacist templates, and provides you with expert advice. Using the templates, you can rest assured that the structure and format of your Retail Pharmacist resume is top notch. Choose a template with the colors, fonts & text sizes that are appropriate for your industry.
Retail Pharmacist Demographics
Retail Pharmacist Gender Distribution
After extensive research and analysis, Zippia's data science team found that:
- Among retail pharmacists, 56.2% of them are women, while 43.8% are men.
- The most common race/ethnicity among retail pharmacists is White, which makes up 64.9% of all retail pharmacists.
- The most common foreign language among retail pharmacists is Spanish at 36.1%.
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Best States For a Retail Pharmacist
Some places are better than others when it comes to starting a career as a retail pharmacist. The best states for people in this position are California, Alaska, Oregon, and Washington. Retail pharmacists make the most in California with an average salary of $177,558. Whereas in Alaska and Oregon, they would average $174,359 and $165,409, respectively. While retail pharmacists would only make an average of $159,895 in Washington, you would still make more there than in the rest of the country. We determined these as the best states based on job availability and pay. By finding the median salary, cost of living, and using the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Location Quotient, we narrowed down our list of states to these four.
1. Oregon
$165,409
Avg. Salary
2. California
$177,558
Avg. Salary
3. Washington
$159,895
Avg. Salary
How Do Retail Pharmacist Rate Their Jobs?
Top Retail Pharmacist Employers
Most Common Employers For Retail Pharmacist
| Rank  | Company  | Average Salary  | Hourly Rate  | Job Openings  |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Albertsons Companies | $142,271 | $68.40 | 6 |
| 2 | Hy-Vee | $140,134 | $67.37 | 5 |
| 3 | Kmart | $139,463 | $67.05 | 11 |
| 4 | Walmart | $139,419 | $67.03 | 57 |
| 5 | Hannaford Supermarkets | $137,376 | $66.05 | 4 |
| 6 | Target | $137,143 | $65.93 | 8 |
| 7 | Rite Aid | $136,894 | $65.81 | 134 |
| 8 | Safeway | $135,873 | $65.32 | 16 |
| 9 | Cardinal Health | $130,842 | $62.90 | 14 |
| 10 | Walgreens | $128,630 | $61.84 | 388 |
Retail Pharmacist Videos
