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The differences between pharmacist technicians and laboratory assistants can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a pharmacist technician has an average salary of $36,090, which is higher than the $34,168 average annual salary of a laboratory assistant.
The top three skills for a pharmacist technician include patients, math and direct supervision. The most important skills for a laboratory assistant are patients, phlebotomy, and customer service.
| Pharmacist Technician | Laboratory Assistant | |
| Yearly salary | $36,090 | $34,168 |
| Hourly rate | $17.35 | $16.43 |
| Growth rate | 5% | 9% |
| Number of jobs | 73,800 | 50,853 |
| Job satisfaction | 1 | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 35% | Bachelor's Degree, 64% |
| Average age | 38 | 44 |
| Years of experience | - | 12 |
Pharmacist technicians assist pharmacists in their daily activities. They receive prescription medicine order requests of customers, validate the prescription, prepare the medicines, properly label medicine bottles, and hand them off to customers. They also answer customer inquiries and attend to customer concerns. Pharmacist technicians also manage the pharmacy's inventory and ensure that all records are up to date. They are also authorized to create purchase requisition requests for medicines that are running low and need to be refilled, but these requests should still be authorized by a doctor.
Laboratory assistants work for researchers, scientists, or professors in the laboratory setting. They are expected to have a solid background in the field of study of the laboratory they are assigned to. They do a variety of tasks in the laboratory, such as setting up equipment, observing experiments, analyzing results, creating reports, and recommending improvements to the testing. They may also be assigned to clean and sanitize laboratory equipment as needed. Laboratory assistants should have good research skills, analytical skills, and organizational skills.
Pharmacist technicians and laboratory assistants have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Pharmacist Technician | Laboratory Assistant | |
| Average salary | $36,090 | $34,168 |
| Salary range | Between $26,000 And $48,000 | Between $26,000 And $44,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | Boston, MA |
| Highest paying state | Alaska | Massachusetts |
| Best paying company | Valley Presbyterian Hospital | UST Global |
| Best paying industry | Health Care | Manufacturing |
There are a few differences between a pharmacist technician and a laboratory assistant in terms of educational background:
| Pharmacist Technician | Laboratory Assistant | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 35% | Bachelor's Degree, 64% |
| Most common major | Pharmacy | Biology |
| Most common college | - | New York University |
Here are the differences between pharmacist technicians' and laboratory assistants' demographics:
| Pharmacist Technician | Laboratory Assistant | |
| Average age | 38 | 44 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 24.9% Female, 75.1% | Male, 43.6% Female, 56.4% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 8.6% Unknown, 5.7% Hispanic or Latino, 14.5% Asian, 10.1% White, 60.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.8% | Black or African American, 9.6% Unknown, 5.1% Hispanic or Latino, 17.0% Asian, 13.9% White, 53.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.8% |
| LGBT Percentage | 5% | 8% |