What Pharmacy Technicians earn in Suffolk County, MA
The median pay for Pharmacy Technicians in Suffolk County, MA is $46,890 per year, which works out to $22.54 per hour. The figure comes from the Bureau of Labor Statistics wage survey for the Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH metropolitan area, the labor market that Suffolk County, MA belongs to. Half of the workers in this occupation earn more than the median and half earn less, which makes it a sturdier yardstick than an average that a few very high earners can pull upward.
The mean wage is $51,740, which is 10.3% above the median, a sign that a group of high earners lifts the average. The survey counts about 7,370 people working in this occupation across the Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH metropolitan area, so the estimate rests on a substantial pool of workers. Suffolk County, MA has roughly 785,121 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 Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH metropolitan area is not one number. The lowest-paid tenth of workers earn up to $38,460 a year ($18.49 an hour), while the highest-paid tenth earn $75,190 or more ($36.15 an hour). That is a gap of $36,730 between the bottom and the top of the scale. The middle half of workers falls between $39,610 at the 25th percentile and $61,670 at the 75th percentile. A top-tier earner makes 2.0 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: $22.54 an hour or $46,890 a year at the median for Suffolk County, MA. Before any deductions, that is $3,908 a month, $1,803 every two weeks and $902 each week. After taxes the same job pays $18.12 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 Suffolk County, MA median of $46,890 is 2.5% above it.
How pay in Suffolk County, MA compares
Compared with the Massachusetts average
A worker in this occupation in Suffolk County, MA earns $776 more than the Massachusetts average of $46,114, a premium of 1.7%. Over a year that premium is worth $776 before tax and roughly $624 after tax. Within Massachusetts, Suffolk County, MA already has the highest median we track for this job.
Compared with the national average
The national employment-weighted average for Pharmacy Technicians is $45,239 across the contiguous United States. At $46,890, Suffolk County, MA pays $1,651 more, which is 3.6% above 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 Suffolk County, MA
Among the 581 occupations with published wages in Suffolk County, MA, Pharmacy Technicians ranks number 495 by median pay, ahead of about 15% of them. The best-paying occupation we track here is Natural Sciences Managers at $291,000 a year, which is $244,110 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 Suffolk County, MA median of $46,890, they add up to $9,210. The result is $37,680 of take-home pay a year ($3,140 a month), based on a single filer using the standard deduction.
Put another way, of every $100 earned, about $20 goes to taxes and $80 reaches the paycheck. The overall effective tax rate is 19.6%.
Federal income tax
After the $15,750 standard deduction, taxable income is $31,140. 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 $3,498, an effective 7.5% 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 $2,907 on this salary. Medicare takes 1.45%, or $680. FICA totals $3,587, which is 7.6% of gross pay.
State income tax in Massachusetts
Massachusetts income tax on this salary is $2,125 a year, or 4.5% of gross pay, after the state's own deductions and exemptions are applied. That is 61% of the federal income tax bill, and it comes out to $177 a month. Local taxes such as county or city income taxes are not included, so a few jurisdictions may withhold slightly more.
A cross-check with IRS data for Suffolk County, MA
IRS Statistics of Income data for Suffolk County, MA show an average adjusted gross income of $126,469 per return and an average effective federal income tax rate of 18.3% across all filers. Filers in the $25,000 to under $50,000 bracket, where this salary falls, paid an average of 5.5%, compared with the 7.5% 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 Suffolk County, MA
Take-home pay only means something next to what life costs. We price four basics for one adult in Suffolk County, MA: a one-bedroom apartment, food, home energy and gasoline. All of them are converted to annual figures first, then compared with the $37,680 of take-home pay.
Rent
Housing is the largest line in most budgets. For Suffolk County, MA, HUD sets the Fair Market Rent for a one-bedroom unit at $2,518 a month ($30,216 a year), and at $3,008 for two bedrooms. For Pharmacy Technicians, a one-bedroom absorbs 80.2% of take-home pay and 64.4% 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 7.3% of gross pay for Pharmacy Technicians in Suffolk County, MA. It is a thrifty budget with no restaurant meals, so treat it as a floor.
Energy and gasoline
Using Massachusetts residential prices from the Energy Information Administration and national household averages for consumption, electricity costs about $3,101 a year and other home energy such as natural gas about $867, for $3,968 in total. Gasoline in Massachusetts averages $3.33 per gallon; at about 463 gallons a year (11,106 miles at 24 miles per gallon) fuel adds $1,542.
What is left over
The basics cost $39,161 a year in Suffolk County, MA, but take-home pay for Pharmacy Technicians is $37,680. That is a shortfall of $1,481 a year, or $123 a month, before health care, transportation beyond fuel, debt or savings. Closing the gap would take roughly 82 extra paid hours a year at the take-home hourly rate of $18.12, or a second earner, a cheaper home or a roommate.
Local housing and commute data for Suffolk County, MA
The budget above covers rent, food, energy and gasoline. Three more local facts shape what a paycheck buys in Suffolk County, MA: 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 Suffolk County, MA, set beside the Massachusetts and national medians.
Property taxes in Suffolk County, MA
Homeowners in Suffolk County, MA pay a median of $4,649 a year in real estate taxes, 22% below the Massachusetts median of $5,992 and 49% above the U.S. median of $3,119. Against a median home value of $705,800, the median tax bill is 0.66% of that value (the ratio of the two county medians). For a worker paid the local Pharmacy Technicians median of $46,890, a tax bill of that size would equal 9.9% of gross pay, which matters for anyone planning to buy rather than rent.
Rents, home prices and household income in Suffolk County, MA
Renters in Suffolk County, MA pay a median gross rent of $2,129 a month in the Census survey, 21% above the Massachusetts median of $1,762. HUD's Fair Market Rent for a one-bedroom apartment, which this site uses in the budget, is $2,518 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 $705,800, 26% above the Massachusetts median of $562,100. Median household income is $95,631, 8% below the Massachusetts median of $103,960, so a year of one-bedroom Fair Market Rent equals 31.6% of that income.
Commuting in Suffolk County, MA
Workers in Suffolk County, MA who travel to a workplace spend an average of 30.9 minutes each way, 6% above the Massachusetts average of 29.1. For someone who commutes five days a week, that is 5.2 hours of round-trip travel every week, a cost the budget does not price. 19.9% of workers in Suffolk County, MA work from home, compared with 15.1% nationally, which removes the commute for them.
Can Pharmacy Technicians afford to live in Suffolk County, MA?
The 30% rent guideline
A common rule of thumb says rent should stay under 30% of gross income. For a gross salary of $46,890 that ceiling is $1,172 a month. The one-bedroom Fair Market Rent of $2,518 is $1,346 over it, so rent breaks the guideline. Put as a wage, covering a one-bedroom at the 30% guideline takes $48.42 an hour; the median for Pharmacy Technicians is $22.54, which is 53% below that mark. Another way to see it: at $18.12 of take-home pay an hour, a one-bedroom takes about 32.1 working hours every week.
Splitting a two-bedroom
Sharing a two-bedroom at $3,008 a month means $1,504 each. Compared with renting a one-bedroom alone, that saves $12,168 a year. With a roommate, the yearly margin after the basics becomes $10,687, which turns the shortfall into a surplus.
How fast you can save
With no monthly margin after the four basics, saving requires a change on one side of the ledger: higher pay than the $46,890 median, lower housing costs than the $2,518 one-bedroom rent, or a second income.
Frequently asked questions about Pharmacy Technicians pay in Suffolk County, MA
How much do Pharmacy Technicians make per hour in Suffolk County, MA?
The median is $22.54 per hour, based on $46,890 a year over 2,080 hours. Hourly pay runs from about $18.49 at the 10th percentile to $36.15 at the 90th percentile.
How much do Pharmacy Technicians take home after taxes in Suffolk County, MA?
After federal income tax, FICA and state income tax, the median salary of $46,890 becomes $37,680 a year. That is $3,140 a month, $1,449 every two weeks or $725 a week.
How much tax do Pharmacy Technicians pay in Suffolk County, MA?
Total taxes are $9,210 a year, an effective rate of 19.6%: $3,498 federal income tax, $3,587 FICA and $2,125 Massachusetts income tax.
Do Pharmacy Technicians earn more in Suffolk County, MA than elsewhere in Massachusetts?
Yes. The local median of $46,890 is +1.7% versus the Massachusetts average of $46,114, a difference of $776 a year.
Can Pharmacy Technicians afford a one-bedroom apartment in Suffolk County, MA?
A one-bedroom costs $2,518 a month against take-home pay of $3,140, which is 80.2% of take-home pay. That does not meet the 30%-of-gross guideline, which allows up to $1,172 a month.
What is the monthly budget margin for Pharmacy Technicians in Suffolk County, MA?
Nothing remains: the basics cost $39,161 a year, which is $1,481 more than take-home pay, a monthly shortfall of $123.
What hourly wage covers a one-bedroom in Suffolk County, MA at the 30% guideline?
$48.42 an hour for a full-time schedule, calculated as the $30,216 annual rent divided by 0.30 and by 2,080 hours. The median for Pharmacy Technicians is $22.54.
How we calculated these numbers
Wages are May 2025 medians from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey for the Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH 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 Massachusetts 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.