What Pharmacy Technicians earn in Hillsborough County, FL
If you are weighing a move or a job offer, start with $43,370: the median annual pay for Pharmacy Technicians in Hillsborough County, FL. Spread over a standard 2,080-hour work year, that is $20.85 an hour. Because the wage survey covers the whole Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL metropolitan area, the number reflects employers across the region rather than a single town or a single company.
The mean wage is $44,320, which is 2.2% above the median, so pay is spread fairly evenly. The survey counts about 6,200 people working in this occupation across the Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL metropolitan area, so the estimate rests on a substantial pool of workers. Hillsborough County, FL has roughly 1,522,748 residents, according to the population figures used by the rent data.
The salary range, from entry level to top earners
Pay for Pharmacy Technicians in the Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL metropolitan area is not one number. The lowest-paid tenth of workers earn up to $35,880 a year ($17.25 an hour), while the highest-paid tenth earn $56,080 or more ($26.96 an hour). That is a gap of $20,200 between the bottom and the top of the scale. The middle half of workers falls between $36,810 at the 25th percentile and $47,510 at the 75th percentile. A top-tier earner makes 1.6 times what someone at the bottom makes, so experience, certification and employer all matter.
What the hourly rate looks like
Employers quote this occupation by the hour or by the year, so here are both: $20.85 an hour or $43,370 a year at the median for Hillsborough County, FL. Before any deductions, that is $3,614 a month, $1,668 every two weeks and $834 each week. After taxes the same job pays $17.78 per hour of take-home income, which is the number that actually has to cover rent and groceries.
About this occupation: Pharmacy Technicians
The U.S. Department of Labor's O*NET database describes the work of Pharmacy Technicians this way: "Prepare medications under the direction of a pharmacist. May measure, mix, count out, label, and record amounts and dosages of medications according to prescription orders."
Core tasks recorded by O*NET include: "Receive written prescription or refill requests and verify that information is complete and accurate"; "Maintain proper storage and security conditions for drugs"; "Answer telephones, responding to questions or requests"; "Assist customers by answering simple questions, locating items, or referring them to the pharmacist for medication information".
Job outlook for Pharmacy Technicians
The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects national employment in this occupation to grow from 471,200 jobs in 2025 to 501,300 in 2035, a change of +6.4%, faster than the 3.5% projected for all occupations. The projection counts 44,700 openings a year on average, including positions created by growth and positions left by workers who retire or move to another occupation; that equals 9.5% of current employment each year.
Typical entry-level education: high school diploma or equivalent. Typical on-the-job training to reach competency: moderate-term on-the-job training. BLS lists a national median annual wage of $45,750 for this occupation; the Hillsborough County, FL median of $43,370 is 5.2% below it.
How pay in Hillsborough County, FL compares
Compared with the Florida average
Pay for Pharmacy Technicians in Hillsborough County, FL is in line with the statewide figure: $43,370 locally against an employment-weighted Florida average of $43,804, a difference of only $434 (1.0%). Within Florida, the highest median we track for this job is $45,240 in Miami-Dade County, FL.
Compared with the national average
The national employment-weighted average for Pharmacy Technicians is $45,239 across the contiguous United States. At $43,370, Hillsborough County, FL pays $1,869 less, which is 4.1% below that benchmark. Keep in mind that a higher salary only helps if living costs do not rise faster, which is why the cost sections below matter as much as the headline number.
Where this job ranks in Hillsborough County, FL
Among the 544 occupations with published wages in Hillsborough County, FL, Pharmacy Technicians ranks number 414 by median pay, ahead of about 24% of them. The best-paying occupation we track here is Computer and Information Systems Managers at $168,470 a year, which is $125,100 more than the median for Pharmacy Technicians.
From gross pay to take-home pay
Three separate tax bills sit between the gross salary and the bank account: federal income tax, FICA, and state income tax. For Pharmacy Technicians earning the Hillsborough County, FL median of $43,370, they add up to $6,394. The result is $36,976 of take-home pay a year ($3,081 a month), based on a single filer using the standard deduction.
Put another way, of every $100 earned, about $15 goes to taxes and $85 reaches the paycheck. The overall effective tax rate is 14.7%.
Federal income tax
After the $15,750 standard deduction, taxable income is $27,620. Federal brackets are marginal, so only the slice of income above each threshold is taxed at the higher rate; the last dollars of this salary fall in the 12% bracket. The resulting federal income tax is $3,076, an effective 7.1% of gross pay, well below the 12% marginal rate because the lower brackets are cheaper.
Social Security and Medicare (FICA)
Payroll taxes are a flat percentage of wages. Social Security takes 6.2% up to a wage base of $176,100, which costs $2,689 on this salary. Medicare takes 1.45%, or $629. FICA totals $3,318, which is 7.6% of gross pay.
State income tax in Florida
Florida does not tax wage income, so the state income tax line for Pharmacy Technicians in Hillsborough County, FL is $0. That alone leaves more in the paycheck than the same salary would in a state with an income tax. For scale, a hypothetical flat 5% state tax on this salary would cost about $2,169 a year, so the absence of a state tax is worth roughly $181 a month.
A cross-check with IRS data for Hillsborough County, FL
IRS Statistics of Income data for Hillsborough County, FL show an average adjusted gross income of $91,587 per return and an average effective federal income tax rate of 15.1% across all filers. Filers in the $25,000 to under $50,000 bracket, where this salary falls, paid an average of 5.0%, compared with the 7.1% estimated here for a single filer taking the standard deduction. Gaps between the two reflect filing status, dependents, credits and other income, none of which a single-person wage estimate includes.
Cost of living in Hillsborough County, FL
Take-home pay only means something next to what life costs. We price four basics for one adult in Hillsborough County, FL: a one-bedroom apartment, food, home energy and gasoline. All of them are converted to annual figures first, then compared with the $36,976 of take-home pay.
Rent
Housing is the largest line in most budgets. For Hillsborough County, FL, HUD sets the Fair Market Rent for a one-bedroom unit at $1,648 a month ($19,776 a year), and at $1,917 for two bedrooms. For Pharmacy Technicians, a one-bedroom absorbs 53.5% of take-home pay and 45.6% of gross pay.
Food
The USDA Thrifty Food Plan (August 2026) puts the cost of a nutritious home-cooked diet for an adult at about $3,436 a year, which is $286 a month or $66.07 a week. That equals 7.9% of gross pay for Pharmacy Technicians in Hillsborough County, FL. It is a thrifty budget with no restaurant meals, so treat it as a floor.
Energy and gasoline
Using Florida residential prices from the Energy Information Administration and national household averages for consumption, electricity costs about $1,494 a year and other home energy such as natural gas about $1,005, for $2,498 in total. Gasoline in Florida averages $3.08 per gallon; at about 463 gallons a year (11,106 miles at 24 miles per gallon) fuel adds $1,427.
What is left over
Rent, food, energy and gasoline cost $27,138 a year in Hillsborough County, FL. Subtract that from $36,976 of take-home pay and $9,839 remains, which is $820 a month of breathing room. That margin equals 22.7% of gross pay, a comfortable cushion by common budgeting rules.
Local housing and commute data for Hillsborough County, FL
The budget above covers rent, food, energy and gasoline. Three more local facts shape what a paycheck buys in Hillsborough County, FL: property taxes, housing prices and the daily commute. The figures below are exact U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates for Hillsborough County, FL, set beside the Florida and national medians.
Property taxes in Hillsborough County, FL
Homeowners in Hillsborough County, FL pay a median of $3,010 a year in real estate taxes, 10% above the Florida median of $2,730 and 3% below the U.S. median of $3,119. Against a median home value of $371,500, the median tax bill is 0.81% of that value (the ratio of the two county medians). For a worker paid the local Pharmacy Technicians median of $43,370, a tax bill of that size would equal 6.9% of gross pay, which matters for anyone planning to buy rather than rent.
Rents, home prices and household income in Hillsborough County, FL
Renters in Hillsborough County, FL pay a median gross rent of $1,667 a month in the Census survey, in line with the Florida median of $1,669. HUD's Fair Market Rent for a one-bedroom apartment, which this site uses in the budget, is $1,648 a month; the two measures differ because the Census figure covers units of every size that renters already occupy, while the HUD figure is a one-bedroom benchmark. The median value of an owner-occupied home is $371,500, 3% above the Florida median of $359,000. Median household income is $79,540, 7% above the Florida median of $74,568, so a year of one-bedroom Fair Market Rent equals 24.9% of that income.
Commuting in Hillsborough County, FL
Workers in Hillsborough County, FL who travel to a workplace spend an average of 28.8 minutes each way, 3% above the Florida average of 28.0. For someone who commutes five days a week, that is 4.8 hours of round-trip travel every week, a cost the budget does not price. 20.7% of workers in Hillsborough County, FL work from home, compared with 15.1% nationally, which removes the commute for them.
Can Pharmacy Technicians afford to live in Hillsborough County, FL?
The 30% rent guideline
A common rule of thumb says rent should stay under 30% of gross income. For a gross salary of $43,370 that ceiling is $1,084 a month. The one-bedroom Fair Market Rent of $1,648 is $564 over it, so rent breaks the guideline. Put as a wage, covering a one-bedroom at the 30% guideline takes $31.69 an hour; the median for Pharmacy Technicians is $20.85, which is 34% below that mark. Another way to see it: at $17.78 of take-home pay an hour, a one-bedroom takes about 21.4 working hours every week.
Splitting a two-bedroom
Sharing a two-bedroom at $1,917 a month means $959 each. Compared with renting a one-bedroom alone, that saves $8,274 a year. With a roommate, the yearly margin after the basics becomes $18,113.
How fast you can save
At $820 a month of margin, building a $10,000 emergency fund would take about 13 months. Setting aside half of the margin stretches the same goal to about 26 months. These figures ignore interest, raises and any spending beyond the four basics.
Frequently asked questions about Pharmacy Technicians pay in Hillsborough County, FL
How much do Pharmacy Technicians make per hour in Hillsborough County, FL?
The median is $20.85 per hour, based on $43,370 a year over 2,080 hours. Hourly pay runs from about $17.25 at the 10th percentile to $26.96 at the 90th percentile.
How much do Pharmacy Technicians take home after taxes in Hillsborough County, FL?
After federal income tax, FICA, the median salary of $43,370 becomes $36,976 a year. That is $3,081 a month, $1,422 every two weeks or $711 a week.
How much tax do Pharmacy Technicians pay in Hillsborough County, FL?
Total taxes are $6,394 a year, an effective rate of 14.7%: $3,076 federal income tax, $3,318 FICA and no Florida income tax.
Do Pharmacy Technicians earn more in Hillsborough County, FL than elsewhere in Florida?
It is about the same. The local median of $43,370 is within 1.0% of the Florida average of $43,804.
Can Pharmacy Technicians afford a one-bedroom apartment in Hillsborough County, FL?
A one-bedroom costs $1,648 a month against take-home pay of $3,081, which is 53.5% of take-home pay. That does not meet the 30%-of-gross guideline, which allows up to $1,084 a month.
What is the monthly budget margin for Pharmacy Technicians in Hillsborough County, FL?
About $820 a month ($9,839 a year) remains after a one-bedroom apartment, food, home energy and gasoline, which together cost $27,138 a year.
What hourly wage covers a one-bedroom in Hillsborough County, FL at the 30% guideline?
$31.69 an hour for a full-time schedule, calculated as the $19,776 annual rent divided by 0.30 and by 2,080 hours. The median for Pharmacy Technicians is $20.85.
How we calculated these numbers
Wages are May 2025 medians from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey for the Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL metropolitan area; hourly-only values are annualized at 2,080 hours. Rents are HUD Fair Market Rents, food costs come from the USDA Thrifty Food Plan, and energy prices come from the Energy Information Administration. County-level tax statistics come from the IRS Statistics of Income.
Taxes use tax-year 2025 federal brackets, FICA rates and the Florida rules for a single filer with wage income only. Figures are estimates for planning and comparison, not tax or financial advice, and they exclude local income taxes, benefits, retirement contributions and individual circumstances.