Despite making up a majority of those employed in the profession, female pharmacists continue to receive financial compensation well below their male counterparts, according to a new report from the U.S. Census Bureau. The report revealed that the number of pharmacists rose from more than 286,000 in 2018 to 337,4000 in 2023, a near 18 percent increase. Of those pharmacists employed in the industry, up to 62 percent are female.

Presently, women have made up about 47 percent of the overall workforce in the United States since 2018, but they have a much higher representation in the pharmacy profession.

The report noted that male pharmacists’ annual salaries decreased from $153,800 in 2018 to $136,200 in 2023, however, female pharmacists continued to still make less than their male counterparts. Female pharmacists’ annual salaries also declined from $147,800 in 2018 to $130,500 in 2023, a difference of more than 4.5 percent. 

According to the Census Bureau, the earnings disparity between male and female workers, including pharmacists, reflects the continued gender inequality in the workplace.

The pharmacist profession is less diverse than the U.S. workforce as a whole, the report noted.  White workers made up the majority (58 percent) of adults ages 25 to 64 in the workforce in 2023, down from 62 percent in 2018. New data finds that the share of White pharmacists also declined, from 65 percent in 2018 to 61 percent in 2023, yet they remained a significant majority.

Asian workers made up a small but growing proportion of the total workforce, increasing from 6 percent in 2018 to 7 percent in 2023. They were also overrepresented in the pharmacy field, with their share increasing from 22 percent in 2018 to 23 percent in 2023.

The percentage of Black workers in the total workforce remained relatively stable, fluctuating between 11 percent and 12 percent from 2018 to 2023. However, Black pharmacists were underrepresented in the overall workforce, ranging from a 6 percent to 9 percent share of the workforce during the period.

Although the pharmacist profession experienced growth, in both employment and the representation of women, challenges such as gender pay disparities and racial and ethnic underrepresentation persisted.