BLS MSA DATA · SOC 29-1051 · 12,450 MSA WORKERS · CA LICENSED
Pharmacist Salary in Los Angeles, CA 2026, $157,440 Median | BLS + Market Data
Pharmacist pay across the Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim metro, where California's high retail rates, integrated health systems and a large part-time workforce produce a broad published band.
Updated July 2026 · BLS OEWS May 2025
Compiled by GlobalCybers Labor Market Research · Reviewed by Karen Osei, RN, BSN, Clinical Recruitment Lead · See methodology & sources →
Los Angeles Median
$157,440
$75.69/hr BLS
P75
$183,690
$88.31/hr
Sector Peak
$209,060
Metro P90
BLS Workers
12,450
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim MSA
vs CA Median
−$7,170
−4.4% below CA
Direct Answer
How much do pharmacists make in Los Angeles, CA in 2026?
Los Angeles pharmacists earn a BLS MSA median of $157,440/yr ($75.69/hr), 11.7% above the US figure and 4.4% below the California statewide median. The metro band is very wide — $62,800 at the 10th percentile to $209,060 at the 90th — because Los Angeles has an unusually large part-time and relief pharmacist workforce at the bottom and integrated health-system specialty roles at the top. California pharmacist rates are among the highest in the country before tax. → Full pharmacist career guide, career path, CA licence, and Los Angeles job placement →
Key takeaways
Los Angeles pharmacists earn a BLS MSA median of $157,440/yr ($75.69/hr) per BLS OEWS May 2025 (SOC 29-1051, Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim MSA), with a metro P10–P90 range of $62,800 to $209,060.
LA pharmacists earn 11.7% above the US figure but 4.4% below the California statewide median, which Bay Area pay lifts.
The published band spans from $62,800 to $209,060, one of the widest for the occupation, driven by part-time and relief working at the bottom.
California's progressive income tax absorbs a large share of the nominal premium at this pay level.
Los Angeles Pharmacist Pay Distribution · BLS OEWS May 2025
Source: BLS OEWS May 2025
Los Angeles Pay by Level · BLS OEWS May 2025
How much do Los Angeles pharmacists earn at each level?
BLS OEWS publishes one blended metro wage for the whole occupation and does not break pay out by credential or practice level. The levels below distribute this MSA's own published percentile range across the tiers Los Angeles employers actually hire at.
Level
MSA Median (BLS percentile-aligned)
New-graduate PharmD, first year
$62,800
Licensed retail pharmacist
$157,440
Health-system staff pharmacist
$183,690
Board-certified clinical specialist or pharmacy manager
$209,060
Level medians are aligned to this metro's own published BLS OEWS May 2025 percentiles for SOC 29-1051; BLS does not publish a wage by credential level. GlobalCybers holds no verified placement sample for Los Angeles pharmacists, so no verified median is shown.
Methodology & Sources
Published (BLS): BLS OEWS May 2025, SOC 29-1051, Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA MSA. No verified placement data: GlobalCybers has no placement sample for Los Angeles pharmacists, so every figure on this page is a published BLS estimate and no verified median is claimed. MSA sample size: an OEWS metro cell is drawn from a much smaller establishment sample than the statewide cell, so metro medians carry wider uncertainty and move more between releases. Where BLS suppresses or top-codes the metro wage for this occupation, this page reports the national figure and says so rather than asserting a Los Angeles median. Employer names mentioned on this page (e.g. in sector or FAQ copy) are illustrative examples of who hires in each market, not a claim of partnership. Full statewide methodology → · Full site methodology & data sources →
Full Data
How much do pharmacists make in Los Angeles CA in 2026?
Metric
Value
Source
BLS MSA Median (Annual)
$157,440
BLS OEWS May 2025
BLS Median Hourly
$75.69/hr
BLS OEWS May 2025
P10 (Bottom 10%)
$62,800/yr · $30.19/hr
BLS OEWS
P25
$133,030/yr · $63.96/hr
BLS OEWS
P75
$183,690/yr · $88.31/hr
BLS OEWS
P90 (Top 10%)
$209,060/yr · $100.51/hr
BLS OEWS
vs California Median
−$7,170 (−4.4%)
vs $164,610 CA
vs National Median
+$16,530 (+11.7%)
vs $140,910 US
California State Income Tax
9.3%
California Tax Code
Licensing Authority
CA (California State Board of Pharmacy, Department of Consumer Affairs)
State board
Reading this page's sources:BLS OEWS is the official published wage, sampled 1–2 years back. Market intelligence rows are directional signals from recruiter conversations and industry sources, not independently verified — treat them as a range, not a benchmark.
Los Angeles Sectors
Which Los Angeles sector pays pharmacists the most?
BLS OEWS publishes one blended wage for pharmacists across the whole Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim metro and does not break it out by industry. The sectors below are ranked in the order Los Angeles employers actually pay, with each row anchored to this metro's own published percentile ladder (BLS OEWS May 2025, SOC 29-1051).
Sector
MSA Median
Notes
Integrated health-system clinical specialists
$209,060
Board-certified specialists and pharmacy managers at the region's integrated systems sit at the $209,060 top of the published band.
Health-system and hospital staff pharmacists
$183,690
Inpatient staff pharmacists across the metro sit around the $183,690 P75, generally on published step schedules with differentials.
Retail chain and ambulatory pharmacy
$157,440
The typical LA pharmacist in a chain retail or ambulatory role sits at the $157,440 metro median, the largest single employment segment.
Relief, part-time and independent pharmacy
$133,030
Relief pharmacists, part-time schedules and independent neighbourhood pharmacies sit near the $133,030 P25, with the bottom decile reflecting partial-year work.
Real Take-Home
What is the actual take-home pay for a Los Angeles pharmacist?
Real Los Angeles scenarios, line by line. California's progressive income tax applies at full weight here: at the $157,440 metro median a Los Angeles pharmacist is in the upper-middle brackets, and state withholding is the largest deduction after federal tax. Relief pharmacists working across several employers should watch for under-withholding, since each employer withholds as if it were the only one.
Estimates only. Pre-tax deductions (401k, health premium) reduce taxable income further. Consult a tax professional.
Los Angeles Pharmacist Salary, Frequently Asked Questions
How much do pharmacists make in Los Angeles?
Los Angeles pharmacists earn a BLS MSA median of $157,440/yr, or $75.69/hr, with a published metro range of $62,800 to $209,060. That is 11.7% above the US figure. California retail rates are high by national standards, and the metro's integrated health systems occupy the top of the band.
Do pharmacists earn more in Los Angeles than elsewhere in California?
No — LA sits 4.4% below the California statewide median. Bay Area pharmacist pay is high enough to lift the state figure above what Southern California pays, a pattern that repeats across California healthcare occupations.
Why is the Los Angeles pharmacist pay range so wide?
Because the metro has an unusually large relief and part-time pharmacist workforce alongside full-time integrated system roles. The published 10th percentile of $62,800 largely reflects partial-year and part-time work rather than a low hourly rate, while the $209,060 top reflects board-certified specialists on senior steps.
What licence do Los Angeles pharmacists need?
A California pharmacist licence from the California State Board of Pharmacy within the Department of Consumer Affairs. You need an ACPE-accredited PharmD, the NAPLEX and the California practice standards and jurisprudence examination, plus documented intern hours; California also licenses advanced practice pharmacists separately.
Does the LA pharmacist premium survive California tax?
Partly. The 11.7% nominal advantage over the national figure narrows considerably once California's progressive income tax is applied at the $157,440 median, and narrows further against a no-tax metro. Pharmacists comparing offers across states should model take-home rather than gross.
Why the LA band stretches so far
Los Angeles combines three distinct pharmacist labour markets: chain retail with fairly uniform rates, integrated health systems with published step schedules and specialty premiums, and a large relief and part-time pool serving both. Because OEWS reports annual wages, the relief pool lands at the bottom of the distribution on hours rather than on rate, which is what stretches the published band past $146,000 from end to end.
What this figure does not capture
Benefits and step-schedule progression at the integrated systems are excluded, as are the differentials that hospital pharmacists earn off-shift. The estimate also spans a metro reaching from central Los Angeles to Anaheim, blending employer mixes and cost structures that differ significantly.
The advanced practice mechanic
California licenses advanced practice pharmacists, a credential that authorises services beyond dispensing — including certain assessments and therapy adjustments under protocol. In an integrated-system market like Los Angeles that changes what a pharmacist's time can be billed for, which is why it, along with board certification, is the credential most associated with movement from the metro median into the upper quartile.
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Outlook & openings: Pharmacist employment is projected to grow 4.6% nationally over 2024–2034; pro-rated by the Los Angeles metro's share of national employment that comes to roughly 550 openings a year, derived from the national EP total rather than an LA-specific projection. (2024–2034 · national BLS EP 2024–34, pro-rated to the metro)
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