Highest paying Pharmacy jobs in the world

US pharmacists moving abroad, beware. You may have to take a pay cut, considering that pharmacists in the United States tend to receive higher salaries than their counterparts in other countries.

US pharmacists moving abroad, beware. You may have to take a pay cut, considering that pharmacists in the United States tend to receive higher salaries than their counterparts in other countries.

See how the United States ranks against some other high-paying countries for pharmacists below:

1. United States

Pharmacist average salary: $107,000 to $118,000

While PayScale estimates the average salary for pharmacists at around $107,000, US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) data from May 2014 pegs it even higher at $118,470.

In contrast, the annual mean wage for all occupations in the United States is $47,230, according to BLS.

PayScale reports that US pharmacist salaries are most affected by geographic location, followed by specific kind of employer and years of experience.

2. Switzerland

Pharmacist average salary: $83,600

The majority of pharmacists in Switzerland currently have 1 to 4 years of experience, while only 4% of pharmacists have 20 years or more experience, according to PayScale.

While Swiss pharmacists may not be paid as much as their US counterparts, Switzerland is often named the country with the highest quality of life based on indexes such as health care, safety, traffic, and pollution.

Numbeo ranked Switzerland as the country with the highest quality of life in 2015, followed by Denmark and Germany.

3. Canada

Pharmacist average salary: $80,700

The median hourly rate for pharmacists in Canada is $33.74, but there is not much of a difference in salary for pharmacists with many or few years of experience, according to PayScale.

Most Canadian pharmacists move on to other jobs once they accrue more than 20 years of experience.

The average wage for all Canadians in 2014 was around $49,000, according to Statistics Canada.

4. United Kingdom

Pharmacist average salary: $57,000 to $53,300

According to PayScale, pharmacists in the United Kingdom tend to make around $53,000, but the UK Office of National Statistics (ONS) estimated the average salary at around $57,000 in 2014.

For more context, the highest-paid workers in the United Kingdom in 2014 were city brokers at an average of $205,000, according to ONS. UK pilots tend to make around $138,000.

The UK prime minister’s salary was around $218,000 in 2014, according to The Guardian.

5. Germany

Pharmacist average salary: $44,800

Women in Germany make up 55% of the country’s pharmacist workforce, according to PayScale.

German pharmacists are only allowed to own up to 3 locations, so there are no large drugstore chains like there are in the United States.

Most pharmacies in Germany are closed during the evenings, Saturday afternoons, Sundays, and holidays. Some pharmacies even close on Wednesdays, according to How To Germany.

The best Pharmacist jobs can pay up to $162,500 per year.

A Pharmacist fills orders for prescription medications and instructs patients on how to take them. They may work in community or hospital pharmacies, universities, prisons, or for pharmaceutical companies. Pharmacists are responsible for monitoring patient prescriptions to ensure there are no drug interactions or other impacts on existing conditions. They inform patients of potential side effects and may offer immunizations, and should also be aware of the potential for prescription drug abuse. Pharmacists also need to understand insurance coding and how to process claims for patients. Outside of a pharmacy, they may work in other healthcare locations providing patients with medicinal and wellness information.

All pharmacists must have a Doctor of Pharmacy (Pharm.D.) degree to practice. Undergraduate students interested in a career in pharmacy can pursue a Pharm.D. once they have taken prerequisite courses such as chemistry, human anatomy, biology, and calculus, and passed their Pharmacy College Admission Test. Pharm.D. programs educate students on the medical aspects of pharmacy, as well as the business side of the industry so that pharmacists are fully prepared to manage a team or open their own pharmacy. Pharmacists must be licensed to practice. They can obtain a license following successful completion of a Pharm.D. program and two exams, the Multi-State Pharmacy Jurisprudence Exam (MPJE) and the North American Pharmacist Licensing Exam (NAPLEX). Other requirements include fulfilling a set number of required practice hours, and potentially passing a background check.

High Paying Pharmacist Jobs

  • Pharmacometrician

    As a pharmacometrician, you work on all parts of the development and approval lifecycle of a drug to understand the interactions between xenobiotics and patients. You conduct population and disease modeling, stochastic clinical trial simulations, support clinical dose recommendation, and decision making on trial design. You collaborate with clinical pharmacokineticists, statisticians, and physicians to integrate the knowledge of pharmacokinetic-pharmacodynamic (PKPD) with safety, patient demographics, and pathophysiological factors to assist with product development. You attend regulatory meetings, manage projects, provide analyses of each model, monitor outsourced modeling activities, and ensure the quality of work delivered. You also research the diseases and current treatments available to enhance product results.

  • Pharmacy Informaticist

    The majority of Pharmacy Informaticist salaries across the United States currently range between $57,000 (25th percentile) and $159,500 (75th percentile) annually. This large range of salary potential suggests there may be many opportunities for advancement and increased pay depending on skill level, location and years of experience. Based on recent job posting activity on ZipRecruiter, the Pharmacy Informaticist job market in the United States is not very active as few companies are currently hiring for this role. You can try exploring related titles to find jobs with more active opportunities.

  • Clinical Pharmacologist

    A clinical pharmacologist is primarily responsible for the research, development, and testing of new pharmaceuticals for the drug industry. As a clinical pharmacologist, your duties include designing new drug trials, submitting applications to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and monitoring for drug side effects. A primary goal for clinical pharmacologists is to understand and document how the body and diseases react to drug treatments over time. As medical scientists, their clinical trials can lead to the development of vaccines and cures for both life-threatening and non-life-threatening conditions.

  • Inpatient Pharmacist

    The majority of Inpatient Pharmacist salaries across the United States currently range between $114,500 (25th percentile) and $149,000 (75th percentile) annually. This moderate range of salaries suggests pay in this role will be consistent, regardless skill level, location and years of experience, though some advancement is possible. Based on recent job postings on ZipRecruiter, the Inpatient Pharmacist job market in the United States is moderately active, with several companies hiring.

  • Pharmaceutical Physician

    A pharmaceutical physician works in clinical research in the biotech industry. As a pharmaceutical physician, your main duties include researching, developing, and licensing new pharmaceuticals for the general public. You are involved in all aspects of the development cycle of a new drug or medicine. Your responsibilities are to perform primary research to identify new drugs and test compounds to determine if they react similarly to existing drugs. As you go further along the drug development cycle, you may begin to design clinical trials and perform testing on trial participants, while following regulations regarding patient safety and privacy.

  • Clinical Staff Pharmacist

    The majority of Clinical Staff Pharmacist salaries across the United States currently range between $124,000 (25th percentile) and $144,000 (75th percentile) annually. Most people working in this role make similar salaries regardless of skill level, location and years of experience. Based on recent job postings on ZipRecruiter, the Clinical Staff Pharmacist job market in the United States is very active, with many companies hiring.

  • Hospital Pharmacist

    As a hospital pharmacist, your job is to dispense medicine to patients at your facility. Hospital pharmacists frequently provide advice on the correct dose for the needs of a patient, determine whether or not a different medication is appropriate, coordinate care with the patient's physician, and otherwise work to support each aspect of health care. You also spend time discussing medicine and treatment options with patients, and you may demonstrate the correct way to use the medicine. You may also be asked to monitor the side effects of medication to ensure it remains safe, effective, and appropriate for the patient. Many hospital pharmacists perform quality tests to ensure the medicine behaves as expected.

  • Chief Pharmacist

    The majority of Chief Pharmacist salaries across the United States currently range between $114,000 (25th percentile) and $132,000 (75th percentile) annually. Most people working in this role make similar salaries regardless of skill level, location and years of experience. Based on recent job postings on ZipRecruiter, the Chief Pharmacist job market in the United States is moderately active, with several companies hiring.

  • Pharmacist In Charge

    The majority of Pharmacist In Charge salaries across the United States currently range between $107,000 (25th percentile) and $131,500 (75th percentile) annually. This moderate range of salaries suggests pay in this role will be consistent, regardless skill level, location and years of experience, though some advancement is possible. Based on recent job postings on ZipRecruiter, the Pharmacist In Charge job market in the United States is somewhat active, with a few companies hiring.

  • Staff Pharmacist FT

    Salary range: $97,000-$128,000 per year

    The majority of Staff Pharmacist FT salaries across the United States currently range between $97,000 (25th percentile) and $128,000 (75th percentile) annually. This moderate range of salaries suggests pay in this role will be consistent, regardless skill level, location and years of experience, though some advancement is possible. Based on recent job posting activity on ZipRecruiter, the Staff Pharmacist FT job market in the United States is not very active as few companies are currently hiring for this role. You can try exploring related titles to find jobs with more active opportunities.

  • Registered Pharmacist

    A registered pharmacist processes and fills medical prescriptions at retail pharmacies, hospitals, or other health care facilities. As a registered pharmacist, you may also educate patients and caregivers about the adverse side effects of medicine, offer basic general health advice, and provide immunizations, such as the flu shot. Being a registered pharmacist means you are licensed with your state’s pharmacy board.

  • Pharmacist Retail

    Salary range: $104,000-$123,500 per year

    The majority of Pharmacist Retail salaries across the United States currently range between $104,000 (25th percentile) and $123,500 (75th percentile) annually. This moderate range of salaries suggests pay in this role will be consistent, regardless skill level, location and years of experience, though some advancement is possible. Based on recent job postings on ZipRecruiter, the Pharmacist Retail job market in the United States is very active, with many companies hiring.

  • Licensed Pharmacist

    As a licensed pharmacist, your job is to run a pharmacy and dispense pharmaceutical drugs as requested by a doctor. While fulfilling your responsibilities and duties, you explain the drug’s use to patients and follow up to check for side effects or other problems. Licensed pharmacists often oversee other pharmacy staff and either supervise or perform many tasks within the pharmacy. Some details of this job depend on your employer. Neighborhood pharmacies usually focus on common medicines, but some licensed pharmacists work with experimental drugs or research programs and collaborate closely with doctors to monitor the health of each patient.

  • Relief Pharmacist

    As a relief pharmacist, you fill in when a pharmacy’s regular pharmacist cannot come into work. Your primary responsibilities are to fill prescriptions for patients’ health care needs and to manage pharmacy operations. Jobs can last one day or several days. One of your main job duties is to familiarize yourself with the pharmacy’s arrangement, workflow, and software systems, so services continue as normal. The qualifications for a career as a relief pharmacist are the same as for a regular pharmacist: a doctorate of pharmacy and passing scores on both the NAPLEX exam and the state licensure exam. You will also need people skills to build rapport with pharmacy techs and for your interactions with patients.

  • Hospital Staff Pharmacist

    The majority of Hospital Staff Pharmacist salaries across the United States currently range between $34,500 (25th percentile) and $117,000 (75th percentile) annually. This large range of salary potential suggests there may be many opportunities for advancement and increased pay depending on skill level, location and years of experience. Based on recent job postings on ZipRecruiter, the Hospital Staff Pharmacist job market in the United States is very active, with many companies hiring.

  • Long Term Care Pharmacist

    A long-term care pharmacist fills prescriptions for patients in a long-term care facility, such as a nursing home or hospice. As a long-term care pharmacist, you do not work in a typical customer setting, only serving long-term care patients in the facility. Your responsibilities include discussing medications with doctors and nurses, filling and refilling prescriptions, and checking patient records to be sure there are no harmful drug interactions. Qualifications for this career include a Doctor of Pharmacy (Pharm. D) degree, attention to detail, and licensing in the state where you practice.

  • Pharmacy Consultant

    The job of a pharmacy consultant, also known as a consultant pharmacist or pharmacist consultant, is to provide support for health care services. As a pharmacy consultant, you may give a patient advice about their medication, discuss medical treatment options with doctors, and determine which services make sense to provide. In this role, you also help with the development, maintenance, and accuracy of reporting software, analyze the use of pharmacy and medical benefits, and perform cost modeling to ensure the pharmacy remains profitable. At times, the pharmacy may ask for input on the benefits and drawbacks of proposed changes. Performing medical forecasting and trend analysis is essential to succeed in this job.

  • Pharmacologist

    Pharmacologists research chemical reactions and perform clinical trials in the development of new medications. As a pharmacologist, you oversee the development of new compounds and research which elements or chemicals have the potential to treat or cure diseases. Once a new drug has been formulated, you study the possible side effects and complications it may have on patients and determine the effectiveness of the drug in fighting illness or disease.

  • Pharmacist Intern

    A pharmacist intern is a student pursuing a degree in pharmacy, gaining on-the-job experience under a licensed pharmacist. You work in a variety of different environments, learning about the scope of practice of a pharmacist. You are primarily there to learn, and internship programs typically take a year or two to complete. As a pharmacist intern, you verify prescriptions, fill them and package them, take payment, and interact with customers. You also consult with patients about their medicines and answer any questions they may have.

  • Compounder

    A compounder works to mix or otherwise combine ingredients to create substances based on a preset formula. Your duties include sourcing materials, weighing each element, batching correctly, and ensuring the proper ratios in the final product. A compounder can work in a variety of industries, but this job is usually associated with the pharmaceutical or chemical industry. In this field, you work to combine chemicals and ingredients to create medications. Compounders can also work for perfume companies, food companies, or producers of chemical-based household products.