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The differences between pharmacist technicians and senior pharmacist technicians can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a senior pharmacist technician has an average salary of $68,845, 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 senior pharmacist technician are patients, customer service, and math.
| Pharmacist Technician | Senior Pharmacist Technician | |
| Yearly salary | $36,090 | $68,845 |
| Hourly rate | $17.35 | $33.10 |
| Growth rate | 5% | 5% |
| Number of jobs | 73,800 | 72,832 |
| Job satisfaction | 1 | 1 |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 35% | Bachelor's Degree, 43% |
| Average age | 38 | 38 |
| Years of experience | - | - |
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 senior pharmacy technician is an individual who assures that pharmacists have access to appropriate pharmaceuticals and supplies as well as provide convenient access to customers on over-the-counter items. Senior pharmacist technicians must assist the pharmacist on duty in filling prescriptions by verifying the correct product and entering the patient's insurance and personal information into the pharmacy software application. They must provide good customer service by coordinating with physicians to obtain refill authorizations and accepting refill requests from customers over the phone. Senior pharmacist technicians must also assist with the annual inventory of prescription drugs and over-the-counter products.
Pharmacist technicians and senior pharmacist technicians have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Pharmacist Technician | Senior Pharmacist Technician | |
| Average salary | $36,090 | $68,845 |
| Salary range | Between $26,000 And $48,000 | Between $37,000 And $126,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | Draper, UT |
| Highest paying state | Alaska | Rhode Island |
| Best paying company | Valley Presbyterian Hospital | Allergan plc |
| Best paying industry | Health Care | Health Care |
There are a few differences between a pharmacist technician and a senior pharmacist technician in terms of educational background:
| Pharmacist Technician | Senior Pharmacist Technician | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 35% | Bachelor's Degree, 43% |
| Most common major | Pharmacy | Pharmacy |
| Most common college | - | - |
Here are the differences between pharmacist technicians' and senior pharmacist technicians' demographics:
| Pharmacist Technician | Senior Pharmacist Technician | |
| Average age | 38 | 38 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 24.9% Female, 75.1% | Male, 29.6% Female, 70.4% |
| 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, 8.6% Unknown, 5.7% Hispanic or Latino, 14.5% Asian, 10.1% White, 60.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.8% |
| LGBT Percentage | 5% | 5% |