Pharmacy Aides in California
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$35,264
after federal, FICA and California tax
Tax takes
$6,936
16.4% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$31,323
California costs more than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in California — roughly, since only five points along the band are published.
One filer, standard deduction, no dependants and nothing paid in before tax — the same household the rest of this page uses, so the comparison holds. City and school-district income taxes are not included.
Median here
$42,200
Kept after tax
$35,264
Worth in national money
$31,323
State rank
6
of 48 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- This is a good state for the work. California pays pharmacy aides a middle wage of $42,200, ranking 6 of 48 states and sitting about 12% above the national middle.
- Measured against other jobs in California, this one sits low: 451 of 492 occupations with published pay, in the bottom quarter.
- California is an expensive state, and the adjusted figure shows it. From $42,200 the take-home is $35,264; in national-average money that behaves like $31,323. The average comes to $48,200, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- California's median for pharmacy aides is $42,200, about 12% above the national figure and 6 of 48 states reporting. Whether that premium reaches the worker depends on the two adjustments below, which is the part a wage table cannot tell you.
- Pharmacy aides occupies position 451 of 492 in California's occupational wage distribution, in the bottom quartile. National ranking and local ranking answer different questions and frequently disagree; this is the one a resident experiences.
- Take-home for pharmacy aides in California, on $42,200, is $35,264; deflated by the state's price level, $31,323. ⚠️ The deflator is statewide, so it understates the erosion in the state's metropolitan areas and overstates it outside them. At $48,200 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Pharmacy Aides
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $36,240 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $42,200 |
| Top tenth earn over | $71,320 |
| This salary | $42,200 |
Positions between the published tenth, quarter, half, three-quarter and ninetieth points are estimated by straight line.
The same pay, somewhere else
The state median for this job
| Take-home in California | $35,264 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $36,088 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$5,814 |
State income tax and state price levels only. No city income tax, and no housing market.
What you would need there
The state median for this job
| To match take-home only | $41,175 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$7,031 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 113 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- A median is the middle, not an offer. Half of pharmacy aides in California earn under $42,200 and half over. The published range runs $36,240 at the tenth percentile to $71,320 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind California's $35,264, worked from $42,200. That is on purpose. It lets states be compared with each other, not with each other's family circumstances. Local city taxes are left out. Locally this work ranks 451 of 492.
- One number stands for prices across all of California, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $31,323, the adjusted value of that $42,200 median, as a way to compare states fairly, not as a quote for any particular place. The two datasets are also from different years. This job sits at 451 of 492 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for pharmacy aides in California, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $36,240 to $71,320; within-state dispersion of that width routinely exceeds the dispersion between states, so tenure, employer and metropolitan area predict an individual's pay better than geography does.
- The California take-home of $35,264, on $42,200 for work ranking 451 of 492 locally, models the simplest household deliberately: holding it constant is what makes the interstate comparison meaningful. It also means the absolute figure overstates liability for most real filers, and municipal income taxes are outside the model entirely. The occupation ranks 451 of 492 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for California, so $31,323 — the adjusted value of that $42,200 median — establishes comparability between states rather than accuracy within one. The wage and parity series are dated independently, each following its own publication cycle, and neither is projected forward. This occupation sits at 451 of 492 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
It is the midpoint, not the average. The average here is $48,200, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
The label is broader than the work. From $36,240 at the bottom tenth to $71,320 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
Does a bigger number here mean I am better off?
A larger wage in a dearer place is not automatically more. Adjusted for local prices, this pay behaves like $31,323 of national purchasing power.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Four deductions, stacked. The federal layer and the two payroll taxes apply wherever you work; California then takes its own share, leaving $35,264.
Why is this job missing from some states?
Because the survey suppresses a figure when too few employers report it. This occupation has published pay in 48 states — the rest are withheld to protect confidentiality, which is not the same as nobody doing the work there.
How does the published median differ from the mean for this occupation?
The median is the midpoint of the distribution; the mean for this occupation in California is $48,200. Wage distributions are right-skewed, so the mean exceeds the median wherever a minority earn substantially more. BLS publishes both because substituting one for the other misstates a typical worker's pay.
What drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($36,240) and the ninetieth ($71,320) exceeds the family median dispersion. SOC codes aggregate roles differing in seniority, industry and specialisation, and BLS does not disaggregate below the detailed occupation level, so within-title variance is not separable from the published series.
How does the state price level affect real compensation?
California's regional price parity sits above the national average, so nominal wages overstate purchasing power. Deflating take-home by the state price level gives $31,323 in national-average terms. ⚠️ RPPs are an all-items index; housing parities vary far more widely than the headline figure.
What accounts for the gap between gross wage and take-home here?
Take-home of $35,264 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and California income tax for a single filer with no adjustments. The state layer is levied in addition to the federal one; only its rate and base differ between states.
Why does this occupation lack published estimates in every state?
BLS suppresses estimates failing disclosure or reliability criteria. This occupation has published state-level estimates in 48 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.