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

Best Pharmacy Technician programs in Ohio, ranked by enrollment

Prepare medications under the direction of a pharmacist.

6 schools in Ohio run programs that feed this job, graduating 243 people a year. The job pays a median of $40,650 in Ohio across about 17,820 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
243
in Ohio
Median pay · Ohio
$40,650
BLS OEWS May 2025
Jobs in state
17,820
people employed
Schools
6
with a feeder program
Avg graduation rate
45%
across those schools
Median net price
$28,241
per year, IPEDS

Fields of study in Ohio that lead to this job

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

1 programs in Ohio that lead to this job

Ranked by graduates per year in Ohio (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 Ohio 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 Ohio
243
100.0%
6$29,507$11,000

Top 6 schools in Ohio

Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 5 of the 6 schools in this state.

Schools ranked by graduates per year into this occupation
#SchoolGraduates / yrTop feeder programGrad earnings (1 yr)Grad rateNet priceAcceptance
1Ross College - Sylvania
Sylvania, OH Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs
212Pharmacy Technician/Assistant$31,88853%$28,241
2Columbus State Community College
Columbus, OH Public · 1 feeder programs
16Pharmacy Technician/Assistant28%
3Scioto County Career Technical Center
Lucasville, OH Public · 1 feeder programs
6Pharmacy Technician/Assistant$22,80080%
4Cuyahoga Community College District
Cleveland, OH Public · 1 feeder programs
4Pharmacy Technician/Assistant$38,33531%
5Sinclair Community College
Dayton, OH Public · 1 feeder programs
4Pharmacy Technician/Assistant$33,70941%
6North Central State College
Mansfield, OH Public · 1 feeder programs
1Pharmacy Technician/Assistant$34,50336%

All 6 schools in Ohio

Every school in Ohio 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 Ohio that feed this occupation
SchoolCityControlGraduates / yrFeeder programs
Ross College - SylvaniaSylvaniaPrivate for-profit2121
Columbus State Community CollegeColumbusPublic161
Scioto County Career Technical CenterLucasvillePublic61
Cuyahoga Community College DistrictClevelandPublic41
Sinclair Community CollegeDaytonPublic41
North Central State CollegeMansfieldPublic11

What pharmacy technicians earn in Ohio

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

Median annual in Ohio
$40,650
Mean annual
$43,440
Jobs in state
17,820
What the range looks like
10th pct$34,980Median$40,65090th pct$56,520
Versus the national median
-11.1%

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

Job concentration
1.06×

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

Metro areas in Ohio

Columbus, OH
$45,240median
3,480 jobs
Toledo, OH
$44,870median
790 jobs
Dayton-Kettering-Beavercreek, OH
$45,000median
1,260 jobs
Lima, OH
$44,150median
150 jobs
Cleveland, OH
$39,310median
3,970 jobs
Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN
$40,490median
3,380 jobs
Akron, OH
$39,780median
1,020 jobs
Canton-Massillon, OH
$40,900median
610 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 Ohio

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 Ohio.

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 243 degrees in Ohio 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 243 people a year in Ohio.

How much do pharmacy technicians earn in Ohio?+

The median is $40,650 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 11.1% 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 Ohio?+

6 institutions in Ohio 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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