Pharmacy aides
SOC Code: 31-9095
Pharmacy aides carries a 49% AI exposure score (High automation risk), with a median annual wage of $37,000 and -0.1% projected employment growth from 2024 to 2034 (BLS), affecting approximately 41,100 workers. Full task breakdown, skills, and employer data are below.
Proportion of tasks susceptible to AI automation (O*NET analysis)
At 49% AI exposure, Pharmacy aides sits 12 points above the 37.2% average across 832 U.S. occupations - more exposed than 86% of them. Most of its core tasks still require human judgment.
Career outlook score
17/100
Pharmacy aides, weighted across 3 of 3 tracked dimensions
A weighted composite of median wage, projected growth, and AI-automation security (inverted exposure), each benchmarked against every other tracked occupation. It describes this occupation's standing across those three dimensions, not a guarantee of future outcomes.
- Median wage F $37,000
Annual median wage, percentile rank vs all tracked occupations
- Projected growth F -0.1%
Projected employment change, 2024-2034, BLS Employment Projections
- AI exposure (inverted) F 49% exposure
Lower O*NET task-automability scores lower risk; this dimension scores security, not exposure
Home health and personal care aides is #1 of 832 occupations by employment (4.3M, AI exposure rank #392 at 35%) vs. Bookkeeping, accounting, and auditing clerks #1 by AI task exposure (95%, employment rank #17 at 1.6M).
Automation-risk inventory
Exclusive cut of 832 occupations by PlainWorkforce automation-risk band. Orthogonal to the continuous AI-exposure distribution chart below and to this occupation's single risk badge, this is the corpus band mix, with Pharmacy aides in the High band.
Credential × growth standing
Open entry with non-declining BLS pace
Pharmacy aides keeps an HS / some college bar (333 of 832) and sits in Slow growth (245 of 832). Lower formal gates with a non-shrinking employment line - skill and AI desks matter more than credentials here.
Where Pharmacy aides sits among all occupations
AI-exposure score distribution across 832 U.S. occupations (O*NET task analysis). This occupation is marked in rose.
Where Pharmacy aides sits by AI exposure
AI-exposure score distribution across U.S. occupations (O*NET task analysis)
49% Higher than most higher than 86% of 832 occupations
Occupations, banded by AI-exposure score
Each bar is a band; taller bars hold more occupations. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count and share, and where it sits relative to this entry.
Source O*NET task data (U.S. Department of Labor) · BLS 2024–2034
Source: O*NET task data (U.S. Department of Labor); AI-exposure scores are PlainWorkforce's analysis. As of BLS 2024–2034.
Pharmacy aides vs. its occupational neighbors
AI exposure (horizontal) vs projected 2024–2034 growth (vertical) for occupations in the same SOC group. Pharmacy aides is marked in rose; the top-left corner is the most future-proof.
Source: BLS Employment Projections 2024–2034 (growth) and O*NET (AI-exposure analysis by PlainWorkforce).
Employment Projections
Where This Score Comes From
Pharmacy aides's High automation-risk tier is computed from O*NET Database 30.0 task-level analysis, where each documented task the occupation performs is evaluated against current generative AI, robotic process automation, and machine-learning capabilities. A score in the 40–70% range indicates meaningful automation pressure on specific task categories, but the role as a whole still requires human judgment for coordination, exception handling, or client interaction.
The employment, wage, and education figures above come from a second, separate federal source: BLS Employment Projections 2024–2034, matched to the O*NET task data by Standard Occupational Classification (SOC 31-9095) code, with the wage figure cross-validated against the BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) May 2024 survey. BLS figures are presented exactly as published, with no adjustment on our part; the SOC-code match is what lets Pharmacy aides be compared directly against every other tracked occupation on the same basis, not just roles that happen to share a job title.
For career planners, this profile should be read alongside the task, skill, and knowledge breakdowns below and the list of employers whose workforce composition includes Pharmacy aides. Adjacent occupations shown further down offer lateral moves that preserve industry knowledge while potentially reducing exposure.
Education & Entry Requirements
Top Tasks (O*NET)
- 1. Greet customers and help them locate merchandise.
- 2. Prepare prescription labels by typing or operating a computer and printer.
- 3. Accept prescriptions for filling, gathering and processing necessary information.
- 4. Operate cash register to process cash or credit sales.
- 5. Answer telephone inquiries, referring callers to pharmacist when necessary.
- 6. Compound, package, and label pharmaceutical products, under direction of pharmacist.
- 7. Process medical insurance claims, posting bill amounts and calculating copayments.
- 8. Receive, store, and inventory pharmaceutical supplies or medications, check for out-of-date medications, and notify pharmacist when inventory levels are low.
- 9. Unpack, sort, count, and label incoming merchandise, including items requiring special handling or refrigeration.
- 10. Restock storage areas, replenishing items on shelves.
Key Skills Required
- Active Listening
- Speaking
- Service Orientation
- Reading Comprehension
- Social Perceptiveness
- Critical Thinking
- Coordination
- Judgment and Decision Making
- Active Learning
- Writing
Knowledge Areas
- Customer and Personal Service
- English Language
- Administrative
- Sales and Marketing
- Law and Government
- Administration and Management
- Mathematics
- Medicine and Dentistry
- Public Safety and Security
- Computers and Electronics
Frequently Asked Questions
Will AI replace Pharmacy aides?
Pharmacy aides has an AI exposure score of 49%, indicating a high level of automation risk. Some tasks in this role can be augmented or partially automated by AI, but core responsibilities require human judgment.
What is the job outlook for Pharmacy aides?
According to BLS Employment Projections 2024-2034, Pharmacy aides is projected to decline by 0.1% over the decade. Current employment stands at approximately 41,100 workers.
What skills are needed for Pharmacy aides?
Key skills for Pharmacy aides include Active Listening, Speaking, Service Orientation, and others. Typical entry-level education is High school diploma or equivalent.
How much do Pharmacy aides earn?
The median annual wage for Pharmacy aides is $37,000, according to BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (May 2024). Actual earnings vary by location, experience, industry, and employer. The BLS publishes detailed wage percentiles by region in its Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics program.
What education is required for Pharmacy aides?
The typical entry-level education for Pharmacy aides is High school diploma or equivalent. Employers generally expect None of related work experience. On-the-job training typically involves Short-term on-the-job training. Requirements can vary by employer and specialization.
Which companies employ Pharmacy aides?
Pharmacy aides roles exist across many industries and employers. Workforce composition is estimated from BLS industry-occupation employment distributions matched to SEC-registered public companies.
AI Exposure Rating
High automation risk based on 10 analyzed tasks. A moderate share of tasks may be augmented by AI tools.
Nationwide occupations with similar workforce profiles
Two data-derived peer sets for Pharmacy aides: AI-exposure neighbors and BLS 2034 growth neighbors (distinct comparison neighborhoods, cross-occupation).
Similar AI exposure score
Nearest O*NET task-automability scores nationwide (49% here).
- Cartographers and photogrammetrists · AI exposure 49%
- Computer network architects · AI exposure 49%
- Computer numerically controlled tool programmers · AI exposure 49%
- Entertainment and recreation managers, except gambling · AI exposure 49%
Similar projected growth (2024–2034)
Nearest BLS employment change rates nationwide (-0.1% here).
- Demonstrators and product promoters · growth -0.1%
- Labor relations specialists · growth -0.1%
- Miscellaneous assemblers and fabricators · growth -0.1%
- Teachers and instructors, all other · growth -0.1%
Peers are nearest-neighbor matches on published BLS + O*NET metrics among occupations with ≥10,000 workers in 2024; corpus ranks above sort the full tracked set.
Related Occupations
What to do with this
Use Pharmacy aides' numbers above to compare, not just read in isolation.
- Compare Pharmacy aides side by side against another occupation on wage, growth, and AI exposure. Workforce comparison tool
- Understand how the AI exposure score above is actually calculated before treating it as a verdict. Reading AI exposure scores
- See the full ranked list of occupations with the lowest automation exposure nationwide. Safest occupations from AI
AI exposure scores estimate task automatability from O*NET data; they are not a certainty of job loss, and BLS growth projections are estimates, not guarantees.
Data sources: Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections 2024–2034 and O*NET Database 30.0. Employment figures are rounded. Wage data from BLS Occupational Employment Statistics (OES).