Explore jobs
Find specific jobs
Explore careers
Explore professions
Best companies
Explore companies
The differences between pharmacist technicians and medical laboratory technicians can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a medical laboratory technician has an average salary of $51,780, which is higher than the $36,090 average annual salary of a pharmacist technician.
The top three skills for a pharmacist technician include patients, math and direct supervision. The most important skills for a medical laboratory technician are medical laboratory, patients, and ASCP.
| Pharmacist Technician | Medical Laboratory Technician | |
| Yearly salary | $36,090 | $51,780 |
| Hourly rate | $17.35 | $24.89 |
| Growth rate | 5% | 16% |
| Number of jobs | 73,800 | 88,721 |
| Job satisfaction | 1 | 3.33 |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 35% | Associate Degree, 55% |
| 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.
A medical laboratory technician is responsible for assisting medical health professionals in conducting laboratory tests to diagnose patients' conditions and provide treatments. Medical laboratory technicians ensure the sanitation of all the tools and equipment before conducting tests. They collect adequate blood samples and specimens, analyze fluid elements, utilize laboratory equipment safely, create reports of findings, and alert medical personnel and medical technologists of emergency conditions. A medical laboratory technician must have excellent knowledge of the medical industry disciplines and processes to perform sensitive tasks and release accurate medical results.
Pharmacist technicians and medical laboratory technicians have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Pharmacist Technician | Medical Laboratory Technician | |
| Average salary | $36,090 | $51,780 |
| Salary range | Between $26,000 And $48,000 | Between $37,000 And $71,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | Los Angeles, CA |
| Highest paying state | Alaska | Alaska |
| Best paying company | Valley Presbyterian Hospital | Favorite Healthcare Staffing |
| Best paying industry | Health Care | Health Care |
There are a few differences between a pharmacist technician and a medical laboratory technician in terms of educational background:
| Pharmacist Technician | Medical Laboratory Technician | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 35% | Associate Degree, 55% |
| Most common major | Pharmacy | Clinical/Medical Laboratory Science |
| Most common college | - | University of Maryland - College Park |
Here are the differences between pharmacist technicians' and medical laboratory technicians' demographics:
| Pharmacist Technician | Medical Laboratory Technician | |
| Average age | 38 | 44 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 24.9% Female, 75.1% | Male, 29.3% Female, 70.7% |
| 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, 11.6% Unknown, 5.1% Hispanic or Latino, 16.9% Asian, 11.9% White, 53.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.8% |
| LGBT Percentage | 5% | 8% |