AI exposure by occupation, O*NET 29-2052.00
Will AI replace Pharmacy Technicians?
Pharmacy Technicians: AI can already handle 5 of 21 tasks; the work mostly needs a standard-tier model.
Have a team in this role?
Get your free 10-role sample: send this role and up to nine others, and a founder sends a board-pack PDF within two business days.
Every task, scored
The 21 tasks O*NET 30.3 lists for Pharmacy Technicians, from most to least exposed. 5 reach 60 or more, the level at which AI already handles a task.
| Task | AI exposure | Evidence | Model tier |
|---|---|---|---|
| Compute charges for medication or equipment dispensed to hospital patients and enter data in computer. | Estimated | Standard | |
| Order, label, and count stock of medications, chemicals, or supplies and enter inventory data into computer. | Estimated | Standard | |
| Supply and monitor robotic machines that dispense medicine into containers and label the containers. | Estimated | Frontier | |
| Receive written prescription or refill requests and verify that information is complete and accurate. | Estimated | Efficient | |
| Receive and store incoming supplies, verify quantities against invoices, check for outdated medications in current inventory, and inform supervisors of stock needs and shortages. | Estimated | Frontier | |
| Enter prescription information into computer databases. | Estimated | Efficient | |
| Prepare and process medical insurance claim forms and records. | Estimated | Efficient | |
| Answer telephones, responding to questions or requests. | Estimated | Efficient | |
| Assist customers by answering simple questions, locating items, or referring them to the pharmacist for medication information. | Estimated | Efficient | |
| Operate cash registers to accept payment from customers. | Estimated | Efficient | |
| Transfer medication from vials to the appropriate number of sterile, disposable syringes, using aseptic techniques. | Estimated | Efficient | |
| Price and file prescriptions that have been filled. | Estimated | Efficient | |
| Mix pharmaceutical preparations, according to written prescriptions. | Estimated | Efficient | |
| Deliver medications or pharmaceutical supplies to patients, nursing stations, or surgery. | Estimated | Efficient | |
| Price stock and mark items for sale. | Estimated | Standard | |
| Establish or maintain patient profiles, including lists of medications taken by individual patients. | Estimated | Efficient | |
| Maintain proper storage and security conditions for drugs. | Estimated | Standard | |
| Maintain and merchandise home healthcare products or services. | Estimated | Standard | |
| Restock intravenous (IV) supplies and add measured drugs or nutrients to IV solutions under sterile conditions to prepare IV packs for various uses, such as chemotherapy medication. | Estimated | No tier | |
| Clean and help maintain equipment or work areas and sterilize glassware, according to prescribed methods. | Estimated | No tier | |
| Prepack bulk medicines, fill bottles with prescribed medications, and type and affix labels. | Estimated | No tier |
Observed: scored from AI use recorded in the Anthropic Economic Index (June 2026 release), 0 of 21 tasks. Estimated: scored from the task's O*NET 30.3 work activity, 21 of 21. Importance is O*NET's 1 to 5 rating of how central the task is. Model tier is the lowest tier that can do the task under the published rubric; "No tier" marks hands-on work.
The model tier this role needs
A standard-tier model or lower covers 76% of the role's importance-weighted task work. 86% of the work is something AI can address at some tier, and 14% is hands-on.
Efficient, standard and frontier tiers come from the JobRoute model tier reference. The recommended tier is the lowest one that covers 80% of the work AI can address. How the method works.
Wages, employment and outlook
- US employment
- 471,680
- Median annual wage
- $45,750
- Middle half of earners
- $37,850 to $49,990
- Projected change, 2024 to 2034
- +6.4%
Employment and wages: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025, national. Projection: BLS Employment Projections 2024 to 2034.
Adjacent roles
The occupations that reuse the most of this role's skills, with the usual time to move. These are the first places to look when you plan to redeploy or retrain people in this role.
- Pharmacists 71% skill overlap, about 11 months to move Exposure43
- Pharmacy Aides 67% skill overlap, about 12 months to move Exposure40
- Psychiatric Technicians 63% skill overlap, about 13 months to move Exposure34
- Chemical Technicians 62% skill overlap, about 14 months to move Exposure52
- Medical and Clinical Laboratory Technicians 61% skill overlap, about 14 months to move Exposure32
Skill overlap and transition time from the JobRoute role adjacency graph on O*NET 30.3 skills.
Questions about Pharmacy Technicians and AI
Will AI replace Pharmacy Technicians?
AI already handles 5 of the 21 tasks O*NET lists for this occupation, at a task exposure of 60 or more, and the role's importance-weighted exposure is 40 out of 100. JobRoute scores tasks, not whole jobs, so the score shows how much of the work changes rather than whether the job disappears. BLS projects employment to change by +6.4% from 2024 to 2034.
What is the AI exposure of Pharmacy Technicians?
40 out of 100 on JobRoute's task exposure measure, the importance-weighted average of the role's O*NET task scores. Higher means more of the work is AI-doable today. 0 of the 21 task scores are observed in the Anthropic Economic Index (June 2026 release), and the other 21 are estimated from each task's O*NET work activity.
Which Pharmacy Technicians tasks can AI already do?
The tasks with the highest exposure are: Compute charges for medication or equipment dispensed to hospital patients and enter data in computer; Order, label, and count stock of medications, chemicals, or supplies and enter inventory data into computer; Supply and monitor robotic machines that dispense medicine into containers and label the containers. They are three of the 5 tasks that reach 60 or more.
What AI model tier does this role need?
A standard-tier model or lower covers 76% of the role's importance-weighted task work. JobRoute assigns each task the lowest tier that can do it under a published rubric and recommends the lowest tier that covers 80% of the work AI can address.
How many people work as Pharmacy Technicians, and what do they earn?
471,680 people in the United States, with a median annual wage of $45,750 (BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025). BLS Employment Projections expect a change of +6.4% from 2024 to 2034.
How to cite
Data version 2026-11-02, JobRoute method v1.0.0. Download all occupations or this occupation as JSON. Methodology.
JobRoute (2026). AI exposure: Pharmacy Technicians. Data version 2026-11-02, method v1.0.0. Built on O*NET 30.3, BLS OEWS May 2025 and the Anthropic Economic Index (June 2026). CC BY 4.0. https://www.jobroute.ai/jobs/pharmacy-technicians
Have a team in this role?
Get your free 10-role sample. Send this role and up to nine others, with no employee data, and a founder sends a PDF in board-pack format within two business days.
A founder replies within one business day.