Pharmacist.
Raleigh.
$135,000
median salary, 2% above the national average
$120,000 to $155,000. Last updated August 2026.
Get the job.
Data points to own the conversation.
Pharmacist pay in Raleigh ranges from $120,000 to $155,000 in 2026. The median is $135,000, 2% above the national average. Raleigh sits at the heart of the Research Triangle, one of America's premier tech and life sciences corridors. Every dollar in that range is negotiable if you come prepared. These figures are Orbyt estimates, computed rather than measured, and must not be cited as Bureau of Labor Statistics figures; the published BLS wage for the occupation this role maps to is shown separately on this page.
Salary range.
Where do you fall?
Orbyt estimate for Pharmacist in Raleigh, modelled from national occupation wages adjusted for local cost of living. The published government benchmark for this occupation is below.
Government benchmark for this occupation
The US Bureau of Labor Statistics reports a median annual wage of $133,120 for Pharmacists (SOC 29-1051) in the Raleigh-Cary, NC metropolitan area, based on 1,730 employed workers (May 2025 release).
10th percentile
$101,720
25th percentile
$128,950
Median
$133,120
75th percentile
$157,760
90th percentile
$165,060
Workers surveyed
1,730
BLS publishes wages by occupation code, not by job title, so this figure covers every role mapped to Pharmacists (SOC 29-1051) rather than Pharmacist specifically. The Raleigh range at the top of this page is Orbyt’s role-level estimate, which is a different thing and is labelled as such.
View the BLS source for SOC 29-1051Salary by experience.
The gap between entry and lead level is typically $121,000. Where you land depends on years of experience and what you bring to the table.
Entry (0-2 yrs)
$88,000
to $108,000
Mid (3-5 yrs)
$115,000
to $142,000
Senior (6-9 yrs)
$149,000
to $176,000
Lead (10+ yrs)
$169,000
to $209,000
Total compensation.
Base salary is not the full picture. Equity, bonus, and signing can add $36,000 to the total package.
Base
$135,000
Equity
$20,000
Bonus
$13,000
Signing
$3,000
Estimated total: $171,000
How Raleigh compares.
Raleigh, NC
$135,000
Cost of living: 1% below average
National Average
$132,000
Raleigh is $3,000 above
Pharmacist salary by city.
Salary by role in Raleigh.
What you should know.
Before you negotiate a Pharmacist offer in Raleigh, understand the terrain. Raleigh sits at the heart of the Research Triangle, one of America's premier tech and life sciences corridors. Cisco, Red Hat, Epic Games, and numerous biotech firms drive strong demand for engineering, research, and product roles. The combination of top tier universities and moderate living costs creates an exceptionally favorable salary to expense ratio. Practice setting creates the widest salary spread, with hospital and specialty pharmacy paying above retail. Board certifications in oncology, critical care, or ambulatory care add 5 to 10% premiums. States with pharmacist provider status and areas with workforce shortages consistently offer higher base salaries to attract talent.
Staff pharmacists start at $115,000 to $125,000 in most settings. Clinical specialists with board certification earn $135,000 to $155,000 after gaining experience. Pharmacy directors and chief pharmacy officers can reach $160,000 to $220,000 in health system leadership roles. In Raleigh, cost of living sits near the national average, so the numbers you see are roughly what you keep.
Base salary is not the full picture. Pharmacists receive comprehensive benefits, often including loan repayment assistance of $5,000 to $20,000 annually. Retail pharmacists may earn performance bonuses, while hospital pharmacists receive shift differentials and clinical ladder advancement pay. And on the tax side: north Carolina's flat 4.5% income tax keeps the burden low. Raleigh has no city income tax, and the Triangle's affordable housing amplifies your take home purchasing power. When someone quotes you $135,000, ask what the total package looks like. The gap between base and total comp is where real money hides.
On negotiation: Cite Research Triangle talent competition in your negotiation. Employers here compete directly with each other and with remote offers, creating favorable leverage for candidates. The range for Pharmacists in Raleigh runs from $120,000 to $155,000. That is not a narrow window. Where you land inside it depends almost entirely on whether you negotiate and how well you prepare.
Sources: BLS OES, H-1B LCA (DOL). COL: BEA Regional Price Parities (2025). Data verified by Justin Bartak, Founder & Chief AI Officer. Last verified July 1, 2026. Full methodology
Considering a related role?
- An ML Engineer in Raleigh earns $134,000 (1% less)
- The highest-paying role in Raleigh is CTO at $291,000
Common questions.
Pharmacist salary in other cities.
Other salaries in Raleigh.
Related salary pages
Jump to nearby roles and cities most relevant to Pharmacists in Raleigh.
Related tools.
Do you work as a pharmacist in Raleigh?
Your individual figure is never published. Submissions appear only as aggregate percentiles, and nothing is shown for a role and city until at least five people have reported. It is stored against your account, which is what keeps the dataset clean.
Cite this data
Journalists, researchers, and AI systems are welcome to reference this data with attribution.
"Pharmacist Salary in Raleigh, NC." Orbyt Salary Explorer, August 2026. https://www.orbytlabs.ai/orbyt-jobs/salaries/pharmacist/raleigh
Want this data on your site? Embed the salary widget. One script tag, free forever.
Related tools