Arizona·Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations·SOC 29-2052

Best Pharmacy Technician programs in Arizona, ranked by enrollment

Prepare medications under the direction of a pharmacist.

13 schools in Arizona run programs that feed this job, graduating 423 people a year. The job pays a median of $47,640 in Arizona across about 12,970 jobs (BLS OEWS May 2025).

Also calledCertified Pharmacy Technician (CPhT)RPhT (Registered Pharmacy Technician)OR Pharmacy Tech (Operating Room Pharmacy Tech)Chemotherapy Pharmacy Technician (Chemo Pharmacy Technician)Pharmacy ClerkDrug CoordinatorPharmacist AssistantPharmacist Technician
Graduates / yr
423
in Arizona
Median pay · Arizona
$47,640
BLS OEWS May 2025
Jobs in state
12,970
people employed
Schools
13
with a feeder program
Avg graduation rate
56%
across those schools
Median net price
$28,829
per year, IPEDS

Fields of study in Arizona that lead to this job

Grouped at the 4-digit CIP level. Numbers are graduates per year in this state.

1 programs in Arizona that lead to this job

Ranked by graduates per year in Arizona (IPEDS completions). Graduate earnings and debt are national College Scorecard figures reported at the 4-digit CIP level, so specializations within one field share a figure. Each program also links to its own Arizona page.

Degree programs that lead to this occupation, ranked by graduates per year
#ProgramGraduates / yrShare of pipelineSchoolsGrad earnings (1 yr)Median debt
1
CIP 51.0805In Arizona
423
100.0%
13$29,507$11,000

Top 13 schools in Arizona

Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 8 of the 13 schools in this state.

Schools ranked by graduates per year into this occupation
#SchoolGraduates / yrTop feeder programGrad earnings (1 yr)Grad rateNet priceAcceptance
1Bryan University
Tempe, AZ Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs
157Pharmacy Technician/Assistant41%$22,877
2Arizona College - Glendale
Glendale, AZ Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs
40Pharmacy Technician/Assistant$29,38885%$28,686
3GateWay Community College - Central City
Phoenix, AZ Public · 1 feeder programs
38Pharmacy Technician/Assistant$31,63655%
4Pima Medical Institute - Tucson
Tucson, AZ Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs
33Pharmacy Technician/Assistant$31,91572%
5Pima Community College
Tucson, AZ Public · 1 feeder programs
32Pharmacy Technician/Assistant28%
6Carrington College - Tucson
Tucson, AZ Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs
26Pharmacy Technician/Assistant$29,55666%$41,198
7Carrington College - Phoenix North
Phoenix, AZ Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs
25Pharmacy Technician/Assistant$29,55662%
8Pima Medical Institute - Mesa
Mesa, AZ Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs
22Pharmacy Technician/Assistant$31,91567%$21,660
9Arizona College - Mesa
Mesa, AZ Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs
16Pharmacy Technician/Assistant$29,38888%$28,829
10Carrington College - Mesa
Mesa, AZ Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs
16Pharmacy Technician/Assistant$29,55654%$48,051
11Western Maricopa Education Center
Glendale, AZ Public · 1 feeder programs
16Pharmacy Technician/Assistant
12Central Arizona College
Coolidge, AZ Public · 1 feeder programs
1Pharmacy Technician/Assistant27%
13Northland Pioneer College
Holbrook, AZ Public · 1 feeder programs
1Pharmacy Technician/Assistant22%

All 13 schools in Arizona

Every school in Arizona with a program that feeds this job, ordered by graduates per year. Earnings are shown for the ranked schools above; open a school profile for the rest.

All schools in Arizona that feed this occupation
SchoolCityControlGraduates / yrFeeder programs
Bryan UniversityTempePrivate for-profit1571
Arizona College - GlendaleGlendalePrivate for-profit401
GateWay Community College - Central CityPhoenixPublic381
Pima Medical Institute - TucsonTucsonPrivate for-profit331
Pima Community CollegeTucsonPublic321
Carrington College - TucsonTucsonPrivate for-profit261
Carrington College - Phoenix NorthPhoenixPrivate for-profit251
Pima Medical Institute - MesaMesaPrivate for-profit221
Arizona College - MesaMesaPrivate for-profit161
Carrington College - MesaMesaPrivate for-profit161
Western Maricopa Education CenterGlendalePublic161
Central Arizona CollegeCoolidgePublic11
Northland Pioneer CollegeHolbrookPublic11

What pharmacy technicians earn in Arizona

What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.

Median annual in Arizona
$47,640
Mean annual
$49,760
Jobs in state
12,970
What the range looks like
10th pct$39,040Median$47,64090th pct$60,820
Versus the national median
+4.1%

U.S. median $45,750. Arizona pays above the national figure.

Job concentration
1.32×

Concentrated here: Arizona employs more of this job per worker than the U.S. average.

Metro areas in Arizona

Flagstaff, AZ
$48,800median
130 jobs
Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ
$47,760median
9,780 jobs
Tucson, AZ
$47,310median
1,630 jobs
Prescott Valley-Prescott, AZ
$47,000median
290 jobs
Lake Havasu City-Kingman, AZ
$45,890median
280 jobs
Yuma, AZ
$45,050median
220 jobs
Sierra Vista-Douglas, AZ
$45,990median
130 jobs

Job outlook

Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections, 2024 to 2034.

Projected growth 2024–34
+6.4%
Faster than average
Openings per year
49,000
new jobs plus replacements
Employment change
31,500
490,400 → 521,800
Typical entry education
High school diploma or equivalent
Plus moderate-term on-the-job training

Growth and openings are national. The Bureau of Labor Statistics does not publish employment projections at state level, so these figures describe the occupation across the whole U.S., not this state alone.

How to get in

The full skills, tools, and day-to-day breakdown lives on the national Pharmacy Technicians page.

How to become a Pharmacy Technician

Job zone 3 of 5 · SVP 6.0 to < 7.0
Typical entry education
High school diploma or equivalent
On-the-job training
Moderate-term on-the-job training

Most occupations in this zone require training in vocational schools, related on-the-job experience, or an associate's degree.

Previous work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is required for these occupations. For example, an electrician must have completed three or four years of apprenticeship or several years of vocational training, and often must have passed a licensing exam, in order to perform the job.

Employees in these occupations usually need one or two years of training involving both on-the-job experience and informal training with experienced workers. A recognized apprenticeship program may be associated with these occupations.

Top skills

Active ListeningReading ComprehensionSpeakingCritical ThinkingActive LearningMonitoring

The same job in other states

Where else this occupation employs the most people, and what it pays there.

Related careers in Arizona

Every major mapped to this job

The official federal mapping behind the rankings above.

All 1 majors mapped to Pharmacy Technicians1 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
  • 51.0805Pharmacy Technician/Assistant

Common questions

Answers for people weighing pharmacy technicians programs in Arizona.

What degree do you need to become a Pharmacy Technician?+

High school diploma or equivalent is the typical entry-level education BLS reports for this occupation. The most common program people actually graduate from is Pharmacy Technician/Assistant, which awarded 423 degrees in Arizona in 2024-25, 100.0% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.

Which college majors lead to becoming a Pharmacy Technician?+

The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 1 programs to this occupation. The largest are Allied Health and Medical Assisting Services. Together they graduate about 423 people a year in Arizona.

How much do pharmacy technicians earn in Arizona?+

The median is $47,640 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 4.1% above the U.S. median of $45,750. This is pay for people already working in the occupation, not the same thing as graduate earnings one year after finishing a degree.

Is demand for pharmacy technicians growing?+

BLS projects a +6.4% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, faster than average, with roughly 49,000 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.

How many schools offer programs for this career in Arizona?+

13 institutions in Arizona reported graduates from at least one of the 1 programs that feed this occupation in IPEDS 2024-25. Rankings on this page use graduates per year, because the federal data publishes no enrollment count by program.

What other job titles do pharmacy technicians work under?+

Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Certified Pharmacy Technician (CPhT), RPhT (Registered Pharmacy Technician), OR Pharmacy Tech (Operating Room Pharmacy Tech), Chemotherapy Pharmacy Technician (Chemo Pharmacy Technician) among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 29-2052.

About the data on this page

Rankings use IPEDS completions 2024–25, degrees awarded per year. That is the closest federal measure of how many people a program puts into a career, because no federal dataset publishes enrollment by program. Wages and employment come from BLS OEWS May 2025, growth and openings from BLS Employment Projections 2024-34, and which majors lead to which jobs from the NCES CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk. Occupation descriptions, tasks, skills and tools are O*NET 30.3 (CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor/ETA).

  • BLS Occupational Employment & Wage Statistics

    May 2025

    Wages, employment counts, location quotients and metro breakdowns.

  • BLS Employment Projections

    2024–34

    Projected growth, annual openings and typical entry-level education.

  • IPEDS Completions

    2024-25 (provisional)

    Graduates per year by program and institution — the ranking metric.

  • College Scorecard, Field of Study

    2020-21 cohorts

    Median graduate earnings one year after completion, and median debt.

  • Census Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes

    latest available

    Graduate earnings 1/5/10 years out, where the state participates.

  • NCES CIP 2020 and the CIP-to-SOC 2018 crosswalk

    CIP 2020 / SOC 2018

    Which college programs officially lead to this occupation.

  • O*NET Database 30.3

    30.3

    Tasks, skills, knowledge, tools, job zone and alternate job titles.

    Official source →CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor / ETA

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