What is the real (cost-adjusted) Pharmacist salary in Virginia?

After BEA RPP adjustment (regional price parity index 101.3 for Virginia), the real-wage equivalent is $135,664 — what the $137,470 nominal salary actually buys. Quartiles in real terms: $126,141 to $155,895.

How are Virginia Pharmacist salaries calculated on this page?

Nominal wages come from BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OES) — annual employer surveys, May 2026 reference period. Real-wage figures use BEA Regional Price Parities (2023 vintage) to adjust for state-level cost of living. No self-report or jobs-board data is mixed in.

How many Pharmacists does Virginia employ?

BLS OES counts 7,700 Pharmacists employed in Virginia in the most recent release. Employment density relative to population determines whether wage tiers reflect a robust competitive market or a thinner labor pool.

How wide is the wage spread in Virginia?

P10 to P90 spans $99,130 to $169,950. That spread captures entry-level to top-quartile pay, including specialty differentials and metro-area variance within the state.

What are the limits of these Pharmacist salary numbers?

BLS OES is an employer survey of W-2 wages — it excludes contractor pay, bonuses outside the base wage definition, equity compensation, and tip income. Self-employed practitioners and gig workers are not represented. For occupations with significant non-W-2 income, the BLS figure is a floor, not a complete picture.

When does this data update?

BLS OES releases a new May reference set roughly each spring; we re-run the ETL pipeline within two weeks of release. BEA RPP refreshes annually. The last-synced timestamp at the top of this page reflects the most recent build.

Is the pharmacist labor market oversupplied in Virginia?

Virginia pharmacist labor markets vary. National PharmD graduate output peaked around 2018 and has stayed above retiree replacement rates, contributing to chain-pharmacy hour cuts and offers below historical BLS norms in saturated metros. Rural Virginia markets remain undersupplied — sign-on bonuses of $20-50K for rural retail or hospital roles are common. Hospital and clinical roles requiring PGY-1/PGY-2 residency are not oversupplied; specialty boards (BCPS, BCOP, BCACP) are still differentiators that push pay above the BLS median.

Virginia Pharmacist Salary: BLS $137K Median, Real $136K (2026)

TL;DR

BLS reports Virginia Pharmacist median pay at $137,470. Adjusted for state cost of living, real purchasing power equals $135,664.
State ranks #19 nationally on nominal wage, #42 on real (RPP-adjusted) wage.
Cost adjustment is small — neither an arbitrage state nor a high-cost penalty.
P25-P75 spread runs $127,820 to $157,970; P10 floor $99,130, P90 ceiling $169,950.

Wage breakdown — Virginia

Percentile	Nominal (BLS)	Real (BEA RPP-adjusted)
P10 (entry tier)	$99,130	$97,828
P25 (lower quartile)	$127,820	$126,141
P50 (median)	$137,470	$135,664
P75 (upper quartile)	$157,970	$155,895
P90 (top tier)	$169,950	$167,718
Mean	$137,920	$136,108
Employment	7,700 Pharmacists in Virginia

Cost of living — BEA Regional Price Parity

Component	Virginia index (US = 100)
All-items RPP	101.3
Goods	101.1
Services	92.4
Rents	105.6

Virginia's overall RPP (101.3) is close to the national 100 baseline; nominal and real wage move roughly together.

After-tax take-home — Virginia (2024 BLS · 2024 tax year, single filer)

Layer-by-layer take-home math at the BLS median

Layer	Amount	Note
Gross BLS P50 (Pharmacist)	$137,470	nominal median
Federal income tax	−$21,811	15.9% effective; std deduction $15,750 applied
State income tax	−$7,158	2–5.75% (graduated)
FICA (SS 6.2% + Medicare 1.45%)	−$10,516	SS capped at $183,600 wage base
Take-home (after-tax)	$97,984	71.3% of gross
Real take-home (RPP-adjusted)	$96,697	÷ (101.3 / 100) BEA cost-of-living

What the Virginia state-tax burden means for Pharmacist take-home

Mid-band state-tax burden at 5.2% effective. Combined with federal and FICA, take-home is $97,984 (71.3% of gross). After the 101.3 RPP, real take-home is $96,697.

Computed from 2026 IRS federal brackets (Rev. Proc. 2025-32), 2026 state DOR brackets, and 2026 FICA rates. Single filer, standard deduction, no other adjustments. See methodology · tax for limitations (married filers, ITM/SALT itemizers, retirement deferrals, HSA, dependent credits, etc.).

National context

Across the United States, BLS reports a national median of $137,480 for Pharmacists with mean pay of $137,210 and total employment of 328,870. Virginia sits at #19 on nominal pay and #42 on real (cost-adjusted) pay among the 51 states and DC. After cost adjustment, Virginia falls 23 positions — the cost premium eats into the headline wage.

Frequently asked questions

What is the real (cost-adjusted) Pharmacist salary in Virginia?: After BEA RPP adjustment (regional price parity index 101.3 for Virginia), the real-wage equivalent is $135,664 — what the $137,470 nominal salary actually buys. Quartiles in real terms: $126,141 to $155,895.
How are Virginia Pharmacist salaries calculated on this page?: Nominal wages come from BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OES) — annual employer surveys, May 2026 reference period. Real-wage figures use BEA Regional Price Parities (2023 vintage) to adjust for state-level cost of living. No self-report or jobs-board data is mixed in.
How many Pharmacists does Virginia employ?: BLS OES counts 7,700 Pharmacists employed in Virginia in the most recent release. Employment density relative to population determines whether wage tiers reflect a robust competitive market or a thinner labor pool.
How wide is the wage spread in Virginia?: P10 to P90 spans $99,130 to $169,950. That spread captures entry-level to top-quartile pay, including specialty differentials and metro-area variance within the state.
What are the limits of these Pharmacist salary numbers?: BLS OES is an employer survey of W-2 wages — it excludes contractor pay, bonuses outside the base wage definition, equity compensation, and tip income. Self-employed practitioners and gig workers are not represented. For occupations with significant non-W-2 income, the BLS figure is a floor, not a complete picture.
When does this data update?: BLS OES releases a new May reference set roughly each spring; we re-run the ETL pipeline within two weeks of release. BEA RPP refreshes annually. The last-synced timestamp at the top of this page reflects the most recent build.
Is the pharmacist labor market oversupplied in Virginia?: Virginia pharmacist labor markets vary. National PharmD graduate output peaked around 2018 and has stayed above retiree replacement rates, contributing to chain-pharmacy hour cuts and offers below historical BLS norms in saturated metros. Rural Virginia markets remain undersupplied — sign-on bonuses of $20-50K for rural retail or hospital roles are common. Hospital and clinical roles requiring PGY-1/PGY-2 residency are not oversupplied; specialty boards (BCPS, BCOP, BCACP) are still differentiators that push pay above the BLS median.

Sources & methodology

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics — Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OES), SOC 29-1051, 2024 reference period.
U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis — Regional Price Parities, 2023 vintage (all-items, goods, services, rents).
Real-wage figures = nominal BLS wage ÷ (state RPP / 100).
See the methodology page for full computation details and limitations.

By Marcus Liang · Founder & Editor · Last synced 2026-05-05.

Cross-comparison: see how Virginia Pharmacist pay ranks against the other 254 state × occupation pages on the Real Wage Atlas → — four-way ranking by real wage, after-tax take-home, state-tax savings, and cost-of-living arbitrage.