Skip to content
Singulariki

Pharmacies and Drug Retailers

National industry · NAICS 456110

Take this to your AI
Download .md

A source-stamped Markdown brief of this occupation — paste it into an agent, or fetch /industries/456110/context.md directly.

Pharmacies and Drug Retailers is a U.S. industry in the NAICS classification. The Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates about 708,550 workers across 132 detailed occupations in it. A typical worker earns around $57,682 a year (Singulariki estimate, see below).

This industry comprises establishments generally known as pharmacies and drug retailers engaged in retailing prescription or nonprescription drugs and medicines. Cross-References. Establishments primarily engaged in--

Employment is national May 2024 OEWS. "Typical pay" is Singulariki's own figure — the employment-weighted average of each occupation's national median wage — a rough center of the industry, not an official BLS number.

How exposed this industry is to AI

Weighting every occupation in this industry by its employment and its unified AI-exposure index (the OpenAI "GPTs are GPTs" human-rated task overlap folded with the Felten/Raj/Seamans AIOE index), this industry sits in the High band — 71st percentile across all industries.

Exposure measures how much of the work overlaps with what today's AI can do, not a prediction of automation; high-exposure industries are where AI is most likely to reshape tasks. Employment-weighted across 114 occupations that carry an exposure score. Compare every industry on the AI exposure hub.

How AI is actually used in this industry

Among measured Claude.ai (Free and Pro) conversations mapped to O*NET task statements (Anthropic Economic Index, 2026-01-15), these patterns are most associated with the occupations in this industry, weighted by its employment mix. They are shares of observed AI conversations — not of worker time, revenue, or what could be automated — and reflect one AI assistant's consumer sample, not all AI.

Signal coverage 93.8% of employment · 79/120 occupations have AEI task data
Augmentation vs. automation 33.9% working with AI · 25.8% handed to AI
Most common pattern none ·
Typical AI autonomy 3.2 / 5 · higher = AI acts more independently

Tasks driving the signal

The task families that account for the most AI activity across this industry's occupations (employment × observed usage), each attributed to the occupation it comes from.

Task Occupation How Share of signal
Answer customers' questions, and provide information on procedures or policies. Cashiers Directive 51.1%
Provide information and advice regarding drug interactions, side effects, dosage, and proper medication storage. Pharmacists Learning 15.4%
Assist customers by providing information and resolving their complaints. Cashiers Iteration 7.0%
Troubleshoot problems involving office equipment, such as computer hardware and software. Office Clerks, General Feedback loop 4.0%
Answer telephones, responding to questions or requests. Pharmacy Technicians none 2.6%
Greet customers entering establishments. Cashiers none 2.4%
Assess the identity, strength, or purity of medications. Pharmacists Learning 1.5%
Provide customers with information about the uses, effects, or interactions of drugs. Pharmacy Aides Learning 1.1%
Receive payment by cash, check, credit cards, vouchers, or automatic debits. Cashiers Learning 1.0%
Compound and dispense medications as prescribed by doctors and dentists, by calculating, weighing, measuring, and mixing ingredients, or oversee these activities. Pharmacists Learning 0.9%
Recommend, select, and help locate or obtain merchandise based on customer needs and desires. Retail Salespersons Iteration 0.9%
Greet customers and ascertain what each customer wants or needs. Retail Salespersons none 0.8%

Occupations behind the signal

The occupations whose AI-touched tasks contribute most to this industry's signal, by employment here.

Occupation Workers Share How they use AI
Pharmacy Technicians 256,330 36.2% none
Cashiers 135,420 19.1% Directive
Pharmacists 125,310 17.7% Learning
Pharmacy Aides 27,500 3.9% Learning
General and Operations Managers 26,190 3.7% Iteration
First-Line Supervisors of Retail Sales Workers 11,430 1.6% Iteration
Customer Service Representatives 11,260 1.6% Directive
Retail Salespersons 11,100 1.6% none
Shipping, Receiving, and Inventory Clerks 5,520 0.8% Iteration
Driver/Sales Workers 5,410 0.8% none
Office Clerks, General 4,930 0.7% Feedback loop
First-Line Supervisors of Office and Administrative Support Workers 4,090 0.6% Iteration

This rollup is only as complete as the occupation-task matches available for the industry; the coverage figure above is shown so sparse industries do not look falsely precise. AI exposure is not the same as replacement.

Skill & tool metabolism

What this industry's work actually runs on. Each figure is the share of the industry's workers in occupations that significantly rely on a skill, knowledge area, or ability (O*NET importance ≥ 3 of 5), or that use a tool category — its employment reach. This is a measure of how widespread a requirement is across the workforce, not how intensively any one worker uses it. Shares are independent and need not add to 100%.

Based on 99.4% of this industry's employment that maps to a detailed occupation with an O*NET skill profile.

Skills

Skill Employment reach Workers
Active Listening 99.1% 702,140
Speaking 96.3% 682,520
Social Perceptiveness 92.0% 651,910
Service Orientation 91.5% 648,640
Reading Comprehension 79.7% 564,400
Critical Thinking 77.1% 546,100
Time Management 73.2% 518,340
Monitoring 71.8% 508,660
Coordination 70.9% 502,040
Writing 69.7% 494,200
Judgment and Decision Making 68.5% 485,340
Complex Problem Solving 66.5% 471,440

Knowledge areas

Knowledge area Employment reach Workers
English Language 99.1% 701,850
Customer and Personal Service 98.2% 695,930
Administrative 72.1% 510,900
Mathematics 67.6% 478,650
Computers and Electronics 63.6% 450,380
Medicine and Dentistry 55.2% 391,000
Production and Processing 41.4% 293,620
Law and Government 37.9% 268,270
Sales and Marketing 28.8% 203,800
Education and Training 22.3% 158,050
Psychology 19.6% 139,060
Biology 18.4% 130,220

Abilities

Abilitie Employment reach Workers
Near Vision 99.4% 703,970
Oral Comprehension 99.4% 703,970
Oral Expression 99.2% 702,970
Speech Recognition 99.0% 701,250
Information Ordering 98.9% 700,790
Speech Clarity 98.8% 700,030
Written Comprehension 98.8% 699,970
Problem Sensitivity 96.4% 682,850
Deductive Reasoning 75.4% 534,120
Written Expression 74.5% 528,140
Category Flexibility 72.5% 513,350
Inductive Reasoning 71.6% 507,010

Tool categories

Tool category Employment reach Workers
Office suite software 99.6% 705,700
Spreadsheet software 99.6% 705,750
Data base user interface and query software 99.0% 701,390
Internet browser software 91.5% 648,280
Medical software 84.0% 595,380
Electronic mail software 79.5% 563,370
Word processing software 77.9% 552,300
Presentation software 74.7% 529,370
Inventory management software 64.3% 455,600
Enterprise resource planning ERP software 55.4% 392,650
Label making software 54.7% 387,470
Accounting software 51.8% 367,290
Operating system software 42.9% 303,780
Billing and invoicing software 38.9% 275,780
Document management software 34.1% 241,700

Reach = share of industry employment in occupations where the requirement is significant; it is not a per-worker usage or proficiency measure. Skill, knowledge, and ability importance is from O*NET; tool use is reported presence of a technology category.

Largest occupations

Exposure quadrant: AI task-overlap percentile vs Median pay AI task-overlap (horizontal) versus median pay (vertical), each as a percentile across all scored occupations, for 39 occupations in Pharmacies and Drug Retailers. Overlap measures shared tasks with AI, not automation. Lower overlap · higher pay Higher overlap · higher pay Higher overlap · lower pay Lower overlap · lower pay Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand Packers and Packagers, Hand Light Truck Drivers Pharmacy Aides Registered Nurses Cashiers First-Line Supervisors of Retail Sales Workers General and Operations Managers Managers, All Other Compliance Officers Medical and Health Services Managers Business Operations Specialists, All Other Data Entry Keyers First-Line Supervisors of Office and Administrative Support Workers Bookkeeping, Accounting, and Auditing Clerks Human Resources Specialists Order Clerks AI task-overlap percentile → ↑ Median pay
The largest occupations in this industry with both an AI task-overlap score and a wage, plotted by task-overlap percentile (horizontal) and median-pay percentile (vertical). Overlap measures shared tasks with AI, not automation.

The occupations that employ the most people in this industry, with their share of the industry's workforce and national median pay for the occupation (not industry-specific pay).

Occupation Workers Share National median pay
Pharmacy Technicians 256,330 36.2% $37,900
Cashiers 135,420 19.1% $34,720
Pharmacists 125,310 17.7% $131,640
Pharmacy Aides 27,500 3.9% $36,120
General and Operations Managers 26,190 3.7% $65,860
Stockers and Order Fillers 17,220 2.4% $36,110
Light Truck Drivers 12,330 1.7% $34,170
First-Line Supervisors of Retail Sales Workers 11,430 1.6% $47,540
Customer Service Representatives 11,260 1.6% $42,350
Retail Salespersons 11,100 1.6% $35,050
Shipping, Receiving, and Inventory Clerks 5,520 0.8% $42,410
Driver/Sales Workers 5,410 0.8% $32,790
Office Clerks, General 4,930 0.7% $36,910
First-Line Supervisors of Office and Administrative Support Workers 4,090 0.6% $53,690
Registered Nurses 3,750 0.5% $97,620
Bookkeeping, Accounting, and Auditing Clerks 3,620 0.5% $48,860
Medical and Health Services Managers 3,450 0.5% $156,530
Billing and Posting Clerks 3,220 0.5% $45,330
Business Operations Specialists, All Other 2,370 0.3% $62,400
Market Research Analysts and Marketing Specialists 2,230 0.3% $43,150
Secretaries and Administrative Assistants, Except Legal, Medical, and Executive 1,740 0.2% $42,430
Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand 1,510 0.2% $39,360
Software Developers 1,380 0.2% $135,850
Insurance Claims and Policy Processing Clerks 1,380 0.2% $46,680
Buyers and Purchasing Agents 1,360 0.2% $44,720
Data Entry Keyers 1,270 0.2% $44,970
Management Analysts 990 0.1% $106,720
Couriers and Messengers 930 0.1% $33,330
Packers and Packagers, Hand 890 0.1% $38,590
Order Clerks 860 0.1% $43,710
Sales Representatives, Wholesale and Manufacturing, Except Technical and Scientific Products 850 0.1% $59,140
Human Resources Specialists 810 0.1% $65,960
Compliance Officers 750 0.1% $46,960
Accountants and Auditors 730 0.1% $74,530
Janitors and Cleaners, Except Maids and Housekeeping Cleaners 710 0.1% $31,750
Sales Representatives of Services, Except Advertising, Insurance, Financial Services, and Travel 700 0.1% $76,080
Managers, All Other 670 0.1% $149,990
Medical Records Specialists 650 0.1% $54,750
Computer and Information Systems Managers 640 0.1% $166,850
Financial Managers 590 0.1% $124,990

Showing the top 40 of 132 occupations by employment.

Most distinctive occupations

The occupations most unusually concentrated in this industry compared with the economy as a whole. The location quotient is how many times more common an occupation is here versus its economy-wide share (a value of 5 means five times as concentrated).

Occupation Concentration Workers
Pharmacy Aides 145.6× 27,500
Pharmacy Technicians 114.32× 256,330
Pharmacists 82.92× 125,310
Cashiers 9.36× 135,420
Driver/Sales Workers 2.82× 5,410
Couriers and Messengers 2.81× 930
Light Truck Drivers 2.7× 12,330
Order Clerks 2.24× 860
First-Line Supervisors of Retail Sales Workers 2.23× 11,430
Data Entry Keyers 2.04× 1,270
Billing and Posting Clerks 1.68× 3,220
General and Operations Managers 1.59× 26,190
Shipping, Receiving, and Inventory Clerks 1.4× 5,520
Stockers and Order Fillers 1.35× 17,220
Medical and Health Services Managers 1.33× 3,450
Insurance Claims and Policy Processing Clerks 1.31× 1,380
Sales and Related Workers, All Other 1.1× 500
Medical Equipment Repairers 0.93× 260
Customer Service Representatives 0.9× 11,260
Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Workers, All Other 0.77× 130
Write a report on thisheadline · factoids · citation

The Pharmacies and Drug Retailers workforce sits at the 71st percentile of AI task overlap — 708,550 U.S. workers

  • Weighting every occupation by its real share of Pharmacies and Drug Retailers employment, the industry's workforce ranks in the 71st percentile (High band) for AI task overlap — overlap with what AI can attempt, not a measure of jobs at risk.Eloundou et al. + Felten AIOE, weighted by BLS OEWS
  • The industry employs about 708,550 U.S. workers across 132 occupations.BLS OEWS (May 2024)
  • Employment-weighted typical annual pay is about $57,682.BLS OEWS (May 2024)
  • Of AI use observed across this industry's occupations, 34% looks like augmentation rather than automation — from a Claude.ai sample, not a census.Anthropic Economic Index
Copy the whole kit
The Pharmacies and Drug Retailers workforce sits at the 71st percentile of AI task overlap — 708,550 U.S. workers

• Weighting every occupation by its real share of Pharmacies and Drug Retailers employment, the industry's workforce ranks in the 71st percentile (High band) for AI task overlap — overlap with what AI can attempt, not a measure of jobs at risk. (Eloundou et al. + Felten AIOE, weighted by BLS OEWS)
• The industry employs about 708,550 U.S. workers across 132 occupations. (BLS OEWS (May 2024))
• Employment-weighted typical annual pay is about $57,682. (BLS OEWS (May 2024))
• Of AI use observed across this industry's occupations, 34% looks like augmentation rather than automation — from a Claude.ai sample, not a census. (Anthropic Economic Index)

Source: Singulariki — "Pharmacies and Drug Retailers". https://singulariki.com/industries/456110
Note: AI task overlap measures what today's AI can attempt, not automation, job loss, or a forecast.

AssetsShare imageMethodology & sourcesPress & newsroomThe newsroom

Every line is built only from figures this page already shows and cites. AI task overlap means what today's AI can attempt — not automation, job loss, or a forecast.

Sources for this page

Every figure above traces to a named public dataset and the exact release below — not hand-written opinion. See the full methodology for what each measure does and does not mean.

Data compiled June 3, 2026. Figures are estimates, not advice.

Cite this page
Plain

Singulariki. "Pharmacies and Drug Retailers." Singulariki: a source-backed encyclopedia of work. Built from O*NET 30.3; BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) May 2024; Census NAICS 2022; Anthropic Economic Index v4 (2026-01-15) + v2 (2025-03-27); “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130; AI Occupational Exposure (AIOE) Felten, Raj & Seamans. Accessed June 7, 2026. https://singulariki.com/industries/456110

APA

Singulariki. (2026). Pharmacies and Drug Retailers. Singulariki: a source-backed encyclopedia of work. Retrieved June 7, 2026, from https://singulariki.com/industries/456110

BibTeX 
@misc{singulariki-456110,
  title  = {Pharmacies and Drug Retailers},
  author = {{Singulariki}},
  year   = {2026},
  note   = {O*NET 30.3; BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) May 2024; Census NAICS 2022; Anthropic Economic Index v4 (2026-01-15) + v2 (2025-03-27); “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130; AI Occupational Exposure (AIOE) Felten, Raj & Seamans. Accessed June 7, 2026},
  url    = {https://singulariki.com/industries/456110}
}

Citations name the underlying public dataset releases — they reflect what this page is built from, not just the URL.