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

Best Pharmacy Technician programs in Louisiana, ranked by enrollment

Prepare medications under the direction of a pharmacist.

16 schools in Louisiana run programs that feed this job, graduating 320 people a year. The job pays a median of $44,410 in Louisiana across about 6,700 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
320
in Louisiana
Median pay · Louisiana
$44,410
BLS OEWS May 2025
Jobs in state
6,700
people employed
Schools
16
with a feeder program
Avg graduation rate
48%
across those schools
Median net price
$25,053
per year, IPEDS

Fields of study in Louisiana that lead to this job

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

1 programs in Louisiana that lead to this job

Ranked by graduates per year in Louisiana (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 Louisiana 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 Louisiana
320
100.0%
16$29,507$11,000

Top 16 schools in Louisiana

Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 14 of the 16 schools in this state.

Schools ranked by graduates per year into this occupation
#SchoolGraduates / yrTop feeder programGrad earnings (1 yr)Grad rateNet priceAcceptance
1Ayers Career College
Shreveport, LA Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs
42Pharmacy Technician/Assistant$24,42168%$17,824
2Fortis College - Baton Rouge
Baton Rouge, LA Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs
33Pharmacy Technician/Assistant$25,55650%$25,749
3Unitech Training Academy - Lafayette
Lafayette, LA Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs
33Pharmacy Technician/Assistant$22,50555%$25,472
4Unitech Training Academy - West Monroe
West Monroe, LA Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs
33Pharmacy Technician/Assistant$22,50559%$25,053
5Delgado Community College
New Orleans, LA Public · 1 feeder programs
32Pharmacy Technician/Assistant$45,77324%
6Central Louisiana Technical Community College
Alexandria, LA Public · 1 feeder programs
27Pharmacy Technician/Assistant70%
7Remington College - Lafayette Campus
Lafayette, LA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
23Pharmacy Technician/Assistant$24,03742%$29,720
8Unitech Training Academy - New Orleans
New Orleans, LA Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs
19Pharmacy Technician/Assistant$22,50542%$24,599
9Northshore Technical Community College
Lacombe, LA Public · 1 feeder programs
18Pharmacy Technician/Assistant$25,45140%
10Unitech Training Academy - Alexandria
Alexandria, LA Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs
12Pharmacy Technician/Assistant$22,50555%$20,968
11Unitech Training Academy - Houma
Houma, LA Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs
11Pharmacy Technician/Assistant$22,50557%$21,938
12Remington College - Shreveport Campus
Shreveport, LA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
10Pharmacy Technician/Assistant$24,03733%$31,378
13Louisiana Delta Community College
Monroe, LA Public · 1 feeder programs
9Pharmacy Technician/Assistant30%
14Bossier Parish Community College
Bossier City, LA Public · 1 feeder programs
8Pharmacy Technician/Assistant$49,81915%
15Unitech Training Academy - Baton Rouge
Baton Rouge, LA Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs
8Pharmacy Technician/Assistant$22,50550%$22,687
16Infinity College
Lafayette, LA Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs
2Pharmacy Technician/Assistant$20,69585%

All 16 schools in Louisiana

Every school in Louisiana 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 Louisiana that feed this occupation
SchoolCityControlGraduates / yrFeeder programs
Ayers Career CollegeShreveportPrivate for-profit421
Fortis College - Baton RougeBaton RougePrivate for-profit331
Unitech Training Academy - LafayetteLafayettePrivate for-profit331
Unitech Training Academy - West MonroeWest MonroePrivate for-profit331
Delgado Community CollegeNew OrleansPublic321
Central Louisiana Technical Community CollegeAlexandriaPublic271
Remington College - Lafayette CampusLafayettePrivate not-for-profit231
Unitech Training Academy - New OrleansNew OrleansPrivate for-profit191
Northshore Technical Community CollegeLacombePublic181
Unitech Training Academy - AlexandriaAlexandriaPrivate for-profit121
Unitech Training Academy - HoumaHoumaPrivate for-profit111
Remington College - Shreveport CampusShreveportPrivate not-for-profit101
Louisiana Delta Community CollegeMonroePublic91
Bossier Parish Community CollegeBossier CityPublic81
Unitech Training Academy - Baton RougeBaton RougePrivate for-profit81

What pharmacy technicians earn in Louisiana

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

Median annual in Louisiana
$44,410
Mean annual
$43,650
Jobs in state
6,700
What the range looks like
10th pct$36,100Median$44,41090th pct$52,920
Versus the national median
-2.9%

U.S. median $45,750. Louisiana pays below the national figure.

Job concentration
1.14×

1.00× means the state has its expected share of these jobs.

Metro areas in Louisiana

New Orleans-Metairie, LA
$46,020median
1,410 jobs
Baton Rouge, LA
$45,550median
1,160 jobs
Shreveport-Bossier City, LA
$44,890median
640 jobs
Slidell-Mandeville-Covington, LA
$45,700median
450 jobs
Lafayette, LA
$40,180median
690 jobs
Hammond, LA
$42,790median
180 jobs
Houma-Bayou Cane-Thibodaux, LA
$44,650median
260 jobs
Alexandria, LA
$39,830median
320 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 Louisiana

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 Louisiana.

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 320 degrees in Louisiana 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 320 people a year in Louisiana.

How much do pharmacy technicians earn in Louisiana?+

The median is $44,410 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 2.9% below 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 Louisiana?+

16 institutions in Louisiana 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.

Pharmacy Technicians in other statesCaliforniaTexasFloridaArizonaTennesseeUtahOhioWyoming
Programs in LouisianaPharmacy Technician/Assistant

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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