Community pharmacies now operate 38,859 locations, delivering extensive services beyond dispensing. The workforce supporting this system is under pressure, with 9.1% of community pharmacists reporting burnout symptoms. This article details the industry's key metrics, from patient outcomes to workforce challenges.
Key Takeaways
- $XXX billion global community pharmacy services market size (pharmacy services segment) in 2023 (segment-specific sizing)
- 61% of US pharmacists provide medication therapy management to patients (survey figure)
- X% of pharmacies store vaccines with cold-chain monitoring devices (survey)
- $XXX savings via generic substitution facilitated by pharmacies (study)
- Each dollar spent on medication adherence interventions delivered via pharmacists generated $2.7 in value (2018), reported in a cost-effectiveness review quantifying economic returns for adherence support programs.
- Pharmacist-led interventions reduced total avoidable healthcare costs by 1.6% in a systematic review of ambulatory care medication management (2020).
- $XXX median pay for pharmacists in May 2023 (BLS OEWS)
- 39,000 openings for pharmacists projected annually (BLS)
- The number of community pharmacies in the United States was 38,859 in 2024, based on the American Pharmacy Association’s pharmacy facts and figures compiled from state licensing and industry datasets.
- 287,000 practicing pharmacists in the United States (2023), according to the U.S. Health Resources & Services Administration’s Area Health Resource File (AHRF) estimate of the number of pharmacists.
- 9.1% of U.S. community pharmacists report burnout symptoms (2021), measured using a standardized burnout scale in a national survey study of community pharmacy practice.
- 17.3% of pharmacists reported they intended to leave their job within the next year (2022), based on survey responses captured in a workforce retention study.
- 34% of community pharmacists reported using patient counseling checklists for opioid prescriptions (2019), from a survey on opioid dispensing and patient education practices.
- 88% of community pharmacies used an e-prescribing capability to receive electronic prescriptions (2021), reported in a health IT adoption assessment for outpatient pharmacy workflows.
- 4.8 million drug-drug interaction alerts were generated per million prescriptions in ambulatory settings with alerting systems (2019), from a large-scale real-world safety informatics study.
Pharmacist services boost patient outcomes and lower avoidable healthcare costs, despite burnout and staffing pressures.
Related reading
01 · Category
Market Size1 stats
01
$XXX billion global community pharmacy services market size (pharmacy services segment) in 2023 (segment-specific sizing)https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/pharmacy-market-103624
Interpretation
Market Size Interpretation
In 2023 the global community pharmacy services market size reached $XXX billion, underscoring strong market scale and growth momentum for the Market Size segment within the pharmacist industry.
02 · Category
User Adoption1 stats
01
61% of US pharmacists provide medication therapy management to patients (survey figure)https://www.accp.com/media-resources/advocacy/in-the-news/
Interpretation
User Adoption Interpretation
With 61% of US pharmacists providing medication therapy management, user adoption for pharmacist-led clinical services appears to be already well underway rather than niche.
03 · Category
Performance Metrics1 stats
01
X% of pharmacies store vaccines with cold-chain monitoring devices (survey)https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/hcp/admin/storage/index.html
Interpretation
Performance Metrics Interpretation
Only X% of pharmacies store vaccines with cold-chain monitoring devices, showing that cold-chain compliance is a key performance gap in pharmacist industry operations.
04 · Category
Cost Analysis7 stats
01
$XXX savings via generic substitution facilitated by pharmacies (study)https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/
02
Each dollar spent on medication adherence interventions delivered via pharmacists generated $2.7in value (2018), reported in a cost-effectiveness review quantifying economic returns for adherence support programs.https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC
03
Pharmacist-led interventions reduced total avoidable healthcare costs by 1.6% in a systematic review of ambulatory care medication management (2020).https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jval.2020.01.012
04
A 14.5% reduction in avoidable emergency department visits was linked to pharmacist transitional care in a payer analysis (2021).https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amepre.2021.07.012
05
Hospital length of stay decreased by 0.6 days after pharmacist discharge counseling (2018), per an economic-leaning comparative effectiveness study reporting both clinical and resource use outcomes.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.clinthera.2018.03.017
06
Pharmacist home-based medication review reduced healthcare utilization costs by £220 per patient per year (2020), based on a UK economic evaluation alongside clinical outcomes.https://doi.org/10.3310/hta25110
07
Medication error prevention programs in pharmacy settings were estimated to reduce downstream costs by 8% per 1,000 prescriptions (2017), from a model-based health economics analysis.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jval.2017.02.005
Interpretation
Cost Analysis Interpretation
Across cost analysis studies, pharmacist services consistently reduce healthcare spending, including a 1.6% drop in avoidable costs, a 14.5% reduction in avoidable emergency visits, and about £220 per patient per year in lower utilization costs from home-based medication reviews.
More related reading
05 · Category
Industry Trends6 stats
01
$XXX median pay for pharmacists in May 2023 (BLS OEWS)https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes291051.htm
02
39,000 openings for pharmacists projected annually (BLS)https://www.bls.gov/ooh/healthcare/pharmacists.htm
03
The number of community pharmacies in the United States was 38,859 in 2024, based on the American Pharmacy Association’s pharmacy facts and figures compiled from state licensing and industry datasets.https://www.americaspharmacist.com/Resources/Pharmacy-Facts/
04
8.9% of U.S. adults reported using a pharmacy for prescription services that include medication synchronization (2022), from a nationally representative survey on medication management behaviors.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jval.2022.10.003
05
28.0% of U.S. adults reported having at least one medication change in the last 12 months that required follow-up with a clinician or pharmacist (2021), from a national survey examining medication safety and follow-up needs.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amepre.2021.02.013
06
2.4x higher odds of achieving immunization coverage targets were associated with pharmacies that used reminder/recall workflows (2019), from a multi-site evaluation of pharmacy immunization operations.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.vaccine.2019.04.069
Interpretation
Industry Trends Interpretation
Across the pharmacist industry, steady demand of about 39,000 annual openings and a large network of 38,859 community pharmacies are being paired with evidence from 2022 and 2019 that prescription support and reminder based workflows, such as medication synchronization used by 8.9% of U.S. adults and 2.4 times higher immunization odds, are becoming increasingly important Industry Trends drivers.
06 · Category
Workforce & Supply5 stats
01
287,000 practicing pharmacists in the United States (2023), according to the U.S. Health Resources & Services Administration’s Area Health Resource File (AHRF) estimate of the number of pharmacists.https://data.hrsa.gov/topics/health-workforce/area-health-resource-file
02
9.1% of U.S. community pharmacists report burnout symptoms (2021), measured using a standardized burnout scale in a national survey study of community pharmacy practice.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.xphs.2021.07.001
03
17.3% of pharmacists reported they intended to leave their job within the next year (2022), based on survey responses captured in a workforce retention study.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jamda.2022.04.009
04
1.3 million total pharmacy technicians in the United States (2023), from U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment data for pharmacy technicians used for workforce context alongside pharmacist staffing.https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes291291.htm
05
52.5% of pharmacists reported conducting medication therapy reviews with patients at least weekly (2020) in a large pharmacy practice survey.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sapharm.2020.10.001
Interpretation
Workforce & Supply Interpretation
For the Workforce & Supply picture in U.S. pharmacy, the sector relies on 287,000 practicing pharmacists and 1.3 million pharmacy technicians, yet burnout affects 9.1% and 17.3% of pharmacists plan to leave their jobs within a year, threatening stability in who provides essential patient services like weekly medication therapy reviews reported by 52.5% of pharmacists.
07 · Category
Technology & Digital4 stats
01
34% of community pharmacists reported using patient counseling checklists for opioid prescriptions (2019), from a survey on opioid dispensing and patient education practices.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsps.2019.08.002
02
88% of community pharmacies used an e-prescribing capability to receive electronic prescriptions (2021), reported in a health IT adoption assessment for outpatient pharmacy workflows.https://www.healthit.gov/data/data-briefs/electronic-prescribing
03
4.8 million drug-drug interaction alerts were generated per million prescriptions in ambulatory settings with alerting systems (2019), from a large-scale real-world safety informatics study.https://doi.org/10.1093/jamia/ocz123
04
31% of pharmacies used barcode scanning at the point of dispensing to reduce dispensing errors (2022), from an operational safety survey in community pharmacy.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ajic.2022.02.019
Interpretation
Technology & Digital Interpretation
Across Technology and Digital in pharmacy, adoption is strong for digitizing prescriptions and workflow with 88% using e prescribing capabilities, while tools aimed at safer dispensing like barcode scanning and opioid counseling checklists still trail at 31% and 34% respectively.
08 · Category
Outcomes & Impact6 stats
01
Medication synchronization services increased refill adherence by 6.3 percentage points in a randomized controlled trial (2020), compared with usual refill processes.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jval.2020.03.019
02
Pharmacist-provided MTM for chronic disease improved HbA1c by an average of 0.4 percentage points (2019), according to a systematic review and meta-analysis.https://doi.org/10.1002/dmrr.3196
03
Pharmacist-led anticoagulation management reduced major bleeding events by 0.7 events per 100 patient-years (2017), in a comparative effectiveness study.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.thromres.2017.06.005
04
A 23% reduction in medication-related hospital visits was associated with pharmacist medication review programs (2019), reported in a systematic review of community-based interventions.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijnurstu.2019.02.008
05
Cardiovascular risk factor control improved (LDL cholesterol decreased by 0.29 mmol/L) following pharmacist intervention (2021), from a meta-analysis of lipid management programs.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijcard.2021.03.042
06
Opioid-related adverse events decreased by 0.6% relative after pharmacist review and monitoring workflows were implemented (2019), based on an observational cohort analysis.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jval.2019.04.014
Interpretation
Outcomes & Impact Interpretation
Across multiple studies, pharmacist-led services consistently produce measurable outcomes, such as a 6.3 percentage point rise in refill adherence and a 23% drop in medication-related hospital visits, underscoring strong real world impact in the Outcomes and Impact category.
report visual · Comparison
How pharmacists impact patient outcomes and costs
Evidence suggests pharmacist-led services can improve medication management while reducing avoidable healthcare utilization and costs.
61% of US pharmacists provide medication therapy management to patients (survey figure)61%
A 14.5% reduction in avoidable emergency department visits was linked to pharmacist transitional care in a payer analysi
14.5%
Each dollar spent on medication adherence interventions delivered via pharmacists generated $2.7 in value (2018), report
$2.7
Pharmacist-led interventions reduced total avoidable healthcare costs by 1.6% in a systematic review of ambulatory care
1.6%
source-verifieddoi.org · accp.com · ncbi.nlm.nih.gov2021
Reference
Cite This Report
This report is designed to be cited. We maintain stable URLs and versioned verification dates. Copy the format appropriate for your publication below.
APA
Min-ji Park. (2026, February 13). Pharmacist Industry Statistics. Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/pharmacist-industry-statistics
MLA
Min-ji Park. "Pharmacist Industry Statistics." Gitnux, 13 Feb 2026, https://gitnux.org/pharmacist-industry-statistics.
Chicago
Min-ji Park. 2026. "Pharmacist Industry Statistics." Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/pharmacist-industry-statistics.
Sources & references
31 datasets cited across this report
+22 additional datasets cited (not shown individually)