Pharmacy Technician

What the Numbers Say About Pharmacy Technician

As of the March 2025 reporting window, 7,749 people work in the Pharmacy Technician occupation (OPM code 661) across federal agencies, 0.3% of the 2,289,472-strong federal civilian workforce. Headcount moved down by -0.4% from the prior period, a useful gauge for job seekers on USAJOBS trying to assess whether this role is expanding government-wide or contracting under hiring freezes and attrition.

Pharmacy Technician pays $66,635 per year on average, 39.4% below the $109,869 federal civilian average, after moving up 3.2% from the prior period (a broad shift as locality pay tables and grade-level adjustments moved through the workforce). Employees in this role stay an average of 8.5 years, a mid-length average tenure, reflecting a mix of career employees and those who transfer or exit mid-career.

Code 6, the Medical, Hospital, Dental, and Public Health Group family, is where the federal government classifies Pharmacy Technician alongside 44 related occupations. Candidates browsing USAJOBS for Pharmacy Technician postings should also review these sibling occupations, since federal hiring managers often cross-post positions across closely related codes when recruitment is difficult. All figures here come directly from OPM FedScope Employment Cubes, the same official source referenced in federal workforce planning, budget justifications, and GAO reports.

Within the Medical, Hospital, Dental, and Public Health Group family, Pharmacy Technician ranks #10 of 45 by headcount, accounting for 2.2% of the family's combined 356,984 employees. Its average salary ranks in the bottom half (16th percentile) of pay among Medical, Hospital, Dental, and Public Health Group occupations.