Pharmacist Income (after tax) in WA, TX

[unit18]

Hey everyone. Im a pharmacy student in Alberta, Canada and Im planning to work in the US when I graduate.

I was just wondering how much do pharmacists get taxed in Washington and Texas, becuase those are the 2 places I will want to work.

Assuming I get paid ~$55/hr (maybe more due to inflation). How much money can I realistically expect to make per month (after Taxes, 401K, insurance, etc) but before (entertainment, food, rent, transport, etc)

I know that Texas doesnt tax very heavily, so any opinion from people living in Washington and Texas would be helpful.

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[justyliz]

http://paycheckcity.com/netpaycalc/netpaycalculator.asp

I've used that website to figure out how much my net income would be in different states... you can also add in deductions to figure out income after insurance/401k/etc. It's been pretty accurate, within 20 dollars of the actual amount of money I've brought him.

 

[unit18]

Thanks for the site, I checked it out...

I cant really trust the results from these things because they are too generalized. I would really like a first hand opinion..

Anyone work as a pharmacist in Texas?

 

[Rumplestiltazepam]

Why not just bust out the old calculator and run the numbers yourself? It is pretty easy and will give you a good idea because it is going to vary depending on if you own a home or rent, if you are married, have kids, have a side business etc.

Say you worked 40 hours/week at $55/hr.

40x55x52= 114400

114400-15500(max out 401k)=98900

28% fed tax leaves you with 71208 and then professional liability insurance will probably run you around $150/year so in your pocket you will have something like:
$71,058/year
$5,921/month

Just a rough estimate but I bet it is not far off for those who are single and renting.

 

[unit18]

Those numbers seems a little low...

Im sure you can get some tax write-offs if you have a small home business. I know people who pay very little tax because they are just writing things off..

Anyone have any experience with that?

 

[bananaface]

WA doesn't have state income tax, so you'd just have to pay the federal income tax, property tax (if you own), and sales tax. Sales tax is about 8% (varies by county).

What geographical area within WA? I'm originally from Tacoma.

WA is not known for being especially high or low on the pharmacist wage scale. If you want money you can find it. But, there are alot of good opportunities to make a little less and enjoy your job a whole lot more.

 

[unit18]

I would be looking to work in the Seattle or Bellingham areas.

I checked out salary.com and pharmacists in Seattle make above average for the country, but I guess thats because of high cost of living.

How much does the avg retail pharmacist make in those areas?

 

[unit18]

Some people say the quotes from salary.com and other sites include part-time pharmacists aswell, that may decrease the numbers they come up with

 

[Aznfarmerboi]

Salary.com is pretty accurate. To find out how much your paycheck will be, go to the paycheck tab, enter your zip, and enter your wage.

 

[bananaface]

I would be looking to work in the Seattle or Bellingham areas.

I checked out salary.com and pharmacists in Seattle make above average for the country, but I guess thats because of high cost of living.

How much does the avg retail pharmacist make in those areas?

I don't have exact salary information, just some trends. And, alot of it is secondhand and not all current, so keep that in mind. If you join the WA state pharm assoc www.wsparx.com you can get access to their salary survey and get real detailed information.

I have friends who have looked for retail jobs in Seattle in the past year and they are pretty hard to find. You would probably have to work in an outlying area and transfer in when there is room, unless you happen to be lucky. Thing is, the metro area is huge and alot of the suburbs are nicer places to live/work than the city itself.

Bellingham is the town that I did my undergrad in. When I was there (until 2002) we had a pharmacist who was working p/t in our store and pt in a location 30 miles away to get full time work. It took her a couple of years to find f/t work in a store she liked, b/c there wasn't a ton of turnover in the retail chains. The one exception to that was Walgreens, where the turnover was rampant and salaries were higher than average. Apparently no one would work the overnight shift and the company would often hire Canadian pharmacists who would periodically just get sick of the commute from BC. I don't know if the same kind of conditions are still in place there.