Regulatory burden and salary for pharmacy technicians in the United States

Education, training, and certification requirements for pharmacy technicians are determined by individual state boards of pharmacy resulting in heterogeneity in the entry-level requirements to practice in the United States (US).

To determine an association between state-level registration/licensure requirements and salary for pharmacy technicians.

All 50 states and the District of Columbia (DC) were categorized into two groups, high regulation (HR) or low regulation (LR). Salaries were compared using the 2016 hourly salary published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). To adjust for cost of living, an index was created using median hourly salary and hourly wage needed to afford a two-bedroom rental for each state obtained from the National Low Income Housing Coalition (NLIHC) 2016 Out of Reach Report. Average median salary and the average salary-housing index (SHI) were compared using a student t-test.

The sample included 23 H R states and 28 L R states. Salary differences were not significant despite regulatory requirements (LR: $14.74±$1.57; HR: $15.60±$1.80; p-value: 0.065). There was also no difference in SHI scores (LR: 0.83 ± 0.15; HR: 0.88 ± 0.19; p-value: 0.21).

Despite increased regulatory burden in the HR states, income levels are not significantly higher.