Pharmacist.
Seattle.
$160,000
median salary, 21% above the national average
$143,000 to $185,000. Last updated August 2026.
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Data points to own the conversation.
A Pharmacist in Seattle earns a median of $160,000 in 2026. That is 21% above the national average. The range runs from $143,000 to $185,000, and where you land depends on your experience, your skills, and how well you negotiate. Practice setting creates the widest salary spread, with hospital and specialty pharmacy paying above retail. 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 Seattle, 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 $162,870 for Pharmacists (SOC 29-1051) in the Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA metropolitan area, based on 4,440 employed workers (May 2025 release).
10th percentile
$126,410
25th percentile
$139,400
Median
$162,870
75th percentile
$192,860
90th percentile
$209,460
Workers surveyed
4,440
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 Seattle 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 $144,000. Where you land depends on years of experience and what you bring to the table.
Entry (0-2 yrs)
$104,000
to $128,000
Mid (3-5 yrs)
$136,000
to $168,000
Senior (6-9 yrs)
$176,000
to $208,000
Lead (10+ yrs)
$200,000
to $248,000
Total compensation.
Base salary is not the full picture. Equity, bonus, and signing can add $42,000 to the total package.
Base
$160,000
Equity
$24,000
Bonus
$15,000
Signing
$3,000
Estimated total: $202,000
How Seattle compares.
Seattle, WA
$160,000
Cost of living: 24% above average
National Average
$132,000
Seattle is $28,000 above
Pharmacist salary by city.
Salary by role in Seattle.
What you should know.
Here is what the Pharmacist market actually looks like in Seattle. Seattle is home to Amazon, Microsoft, and a dense cluster of cloud computing, gaming, and AI companies. The presence of major tech headquarters drives some of the highest engineering salaries outside the Bay Area. Seattle's job market is particularly strong for cloud infrastructure, machine learning, and enterprise software roles. 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 Seattle, those numbers run higher. The cost of living here is 24% above average, and employers adjust to compete.
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: washington State has no personal income tax, which significantly boosts take home pay. However, state and local sales taxes are among the highest in the country at roughly 10.25%. When someone quotes you $160,000, ask what the total package looks like. The gap between base and total comp is where real money hides.
On negotiation: Remind employers that no state income tax makes your effective compensation higher. You can accept a slightly lower gross salary and still take home more than in California. The range for Pharmacists in Seattle runs from $143,000 to $185,000. 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
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- A Machine Learning Engineer in Seattle earns $162,000 (1% more)
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Common questions.
Pharmacist salary in other cities.
Other salaries in Seattle.
Related salary pages
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Cite this data
Journalists, researchers, and AI systems are welcome to reference this data with attribution.
"Pharmacist Salary in Seattle, WA." Orbyt Salary Explorer, August 2026. https://www.orbytlabs.ai/orbyt-jobs/salaries/pharmacist/seattle
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