Pharmacists Among Top-Paying Jobs in US

Pharmacy was ranked not once but twice on Glassdoor’s list of the 25 highest-paying jobs in America.

With a median base salary of $130,000, pharmacy manager was listed as the job with the fifth-highest earnings. There were around 1700 openings for pharmacy managers across the country as of February 23, 2016, according to the number of jobs available on Glassdoor.

Pharmacist nabbed the 13th spot on the list with a median base salary around $118,000 and 4500 job openings on Glassdoor.

The following jobs were ranked above pharmacy managers in terms of salary:

Software development manager

• Median base salary: $132,000
• Job openings: around 3500

Research and development manager

• Median base salary: $142,120
• Job openings: 112

Lawyer

• Median base salary: $144,500
• Number of job openings: 995

Physician

• Median base salary: $180,000
• Number of job openings: 2064

Applications development manager, engagement manager, solutions architect, IT manager, integrated circuit designer engineer, software architect, and strategy manager were listed as positions with higher salaries than pharmacists. Some of the professions that followed pharmacists were finance manager, data scientist, actuary, and tax manager.

Of the top 25 highest-paying jobs, the only job listed that had more openings than pharmacists was product manager. Glassdoor had more than 7700 openings for product managers, but pharmacists’ 4502 openings were rated the second highest.

Glassdoor created this list based on those who hold these jobs and shared their salaries on Glassdoor over the past year. The site only included job titles that had at least 75 salary reports to analyze.

“This report reinforces that high pay continues to be tied to in-demand skills, higher education, and working in jobs that are protected from competition or automation. This is why we see several jobs within the technology and health care industries,” wrote Glassdoor Chief Economist Andrew Chamberlain in a blog post. “There’s no doubt that pay is among the leading factors most job seekers weigh when determining where to work.”

The blog post also noted that a large salary doesn’t always correlate with job satisfaction. The site’s research has demonstrated that culture, values, career opportunities, and trust in leadership are some of the most important drivers of job satisfaction.

Notably, Forbes rated pharmacist as the best health care job in 2015 based on factors such as physical demands, stress, hazards, hiring outlooks, and salary. Another 2015 survey found that while some pharmacists are seeing increases in salaries, they are also experiencing higher amounts of stress.

Another national poll has consistently demonstrated that pharmacists are some of the most honest and ethical professionals working in America. In this 2015 Gallup poll, pharmacists nabbed the No. 2 spot, following nurses.

Around 68% of Americans believe pharmacists have very high or high honesty and ethical standards. Physicians, high school teachers, police officers, and the clergy were some of the professions that Americans rated as less honest and ethical in comparison with pharmacists.