Top 10 Worst States to Be a Pharmacist in 2019
The states pharmacists should avoid.
While it might seem that pharmacies will be stressful no matter what, location really can make a huge difference.From factors like how stressed out your customers are to how much money you’ll make-and, perhaps more importantly, how far that money will go-different places have different perks and different benefits.These are not those places.Drug Topics compiled a list of the best and worst states in the country, based on a variety of factors that impact how you do your job. We already brought you the best states to be a pharmacist, now take a look at the worst.From money matters to the overall comfort of the state, utilizing data from sources like the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), WalletHub, and U.S. News and World report, we pooled together nine factors that have a direct impact on how a state will affect how you live and work. They are: Average annual salary: How much money the average pharmacist made in a state. Cost of living: How far all of that money will go when living day to day. Housing affordability: Compares median household prices with median household incomes. If you want to live in a mansion on your salary, you should probably steer clear of states with hyper-expensive real estate costs. Employment: The raw number of jobs in a state. Obviously, more pharmacists means you have a better chance of getting a job in your desired location. Location quotient: Per BLS, “The location quotient is the ratio of the area concentration of occupational employment to the national average concentration. A location quotient greater than one indicates the occupation has a higher share of employment than average, and a location quotient less than one indicates the occupation is less prevalent in the area than average.” A lower score in this category indicates you’ll be unlikely to find any camaraderie with fellow pharmacists in your area. Stress levels: How stressed out people in your state are, on average. Safety: Even beyond comparatively-rare pharmacy robberies, overall safety in a state is important, especially when taking factors like natural disasters into account. Overall happiness: Nothing makes a pharmacy more stressful than having stressed out or rude customers, so it might be worth looking at states where populations have the highest happiness levels. Uninsured rate: The share of patients in the state who lack any kind of insurance, which can make your job harder.Every state was ranked using each of those nine factors, and given a score from 1 to 50, with 1 being the best in a category and 50 being the worst. Scores were then added up and states were ranked based on how high or low their scores were.Here are the 10 worst states for pharmacists.
41. Florida
- Average annual salary: 33
- Cost of living: 28
- Housing affordability: 42
- Employment: 3
- Location quotient: 15
- Stress levels: 11
- Safety: 48
- Overall happiness: 28
- Uninsured rate: 46
Total score: 254
While Florida might have sunshine, beaches, and high pharmacy employment numbers, it’s also unsafe and has a high number of uninsured patients (13% of the population). The state also offers pharmacists relatively low salaries, all while saddling them with higher costs.
42 (tie) Nevada
- Average annual salary: 16
- Cost of living: 38
- Housing affordability: 45
- Employment: 35
- Location quotient: 42
- Stress levels: 8
- Safety: 20
- Overall happiness: 13
- Uninsured rate: 43
Total score: 260
While Nevada might pay well (the average salary is $124,430), those dollars don’t necessarily go all that far. Add to that the low number of jobs and poor location quotient, and the state seems like a poor place to use your pharmacy degree. It is saved from a lower spot, however, by low stress and high happiness-which if misery really does love company, might make it even worse.
42 (tie) Oklahoma
- Average annual salary: 48
- Cost of living: 2
- Housing affordability: 7
- Employment: 28
- Location quotient: 29
- Stress levels: 10
- Safety: 44
- Overall happiness: 43
- Uninsured rate: 49
Total score: 260
First, the good news: While the average salary ($115,000) in Oklahoma isn’t great compared to the rest of the country, that money will get you pretty far. The bad news though, is that the state carries a significant risk of harm, has an unhappy populace, and a very high uninsured rate (14%).
44. Idaho
- Average annual salary: 25
- Cost of living: 18
- Housing affordability: 40
- Employment: 41
- Location quotient: 37
- Stress levels: 37
- Safety: 19
- Overall happiness: 6
- Uninsured rate: 41
Total score: 264
Idaho might be a happy state for the general public, but it’s not doing pharmacists any favors.
High costs, low employment, and a significant population of uninsured patients makes this state one of the worst for pharmacists.
45. Utah
- Average annual salary: 40
- Cost of living: 24
- Housing affordability: 44
- Employment: 34
- Location quotient: 49
- Stress levels: 49
- Safety: 4
- Overall happiness: 2
- Uninsured rate: 32
Total score: 278
While Utah might be safe and happy, it also suffers from poor pharmacy salaries ($117,570) and high housing costs.
46 (tie) South Dakota
- Average annual salary: 44
- Cost of living: 29
- Housing affordability: 10
- Employment: 44
- Location quotient: 4
- Stress levels: 46
- Safety: 41
- Overall happiness: 27
- Uninsured rate: 36
Total score: 281
While South Dakota as a whole is stressed, it should be especially stressful for pharmacists to make less money and have access to fewer jobs.
46 (tie) Wyoming
- Average annual salary: 38
- Cost of living: 10
- Housing affordability: 38
- Employment: 49
- Location quotient: 26
- Stress levels: 31
- Safety: 10
- Overall happiness: 34
- Uninsured rate: 45
Total score: 281
Wyoming is another state brought down by low employment for pharmacists and a high share of uninsured patients.
48. Colorado
- Average annual salary: 30
- Cost of living: 34
- Housing affordability: 48
- Employment: 22
- Location quotient: 38
- Stress levels: 38
- Safety: 36
- Overall happiness: 19
- Uninsured rate: 23
Total score: 288
Colorado is all beautiful mountains and skiing. The population isn’t exactly happy all the time, safety is a big issue, and housing is expensive.
49. Montana
- Average annual salary: 49
- Cost of living: 33
- Housing affordability: 43
- Employment: 42
- Location quotient: 3
- Stress levels: 41
- Safety: 42
- Overall happiness: 31
- Uninsured rate: 34
Total score: 318
Known for wide open spaces and scenic views, Montana is also known for low pharmacy salaries and a high cost of living. It’s also dangerous and proves that even being known for natural beauty doesn’t make a place any less stressful to live.
50. Alaska
- Average annual salary: 1
- Cost of living: 44
- Housing affordability: 36
- Employment: 50
- Location quotient: 50
- Stress levels: 9
- Safety: 35
- Overall happiness: 48
- Uninsured rate: 48
Total score: 321
Speaking of beautiful states, the Last Frontier takes our spot as the worst state for pharmacists in 2019. While pharmacists might get the most amount of money ($139,880), that money won’t get you that far. And good luck getting that money-there are only a handful of jobs in the entire state, treating an unhappy, uninsured group of people.