Why is the pay for retail pharmacists in rural California so high?

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According to posts here I've heard that the pay for retail pharmacists in rural California can easily be 155-165K. With overtime apparently people can make 200k if they hustle. If that's the case then why do people still complain that "pharmacy degree is not worth it"? Everybody should just move to California and make good money there.

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According to posts here I've heard that the pay for retail pharmacists in rural California can easily be 155-165K. With overtime apparently people can make 200k if they hustle. If that's the case then why do people still complain that "pharmacy degree is not worth it"? Everybody should just move to California and make good money there.
Is the cost of living higher in California?
 
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According to posts here I've heard that the pay for retail pharmacists in rural California can easily be 155-165K. With overtime apparently people can make 200k if they hustle. If that's the case then why do people still complain that "pharmacy degree is not worth it"? Everybody should just move to California and make good money there.
I looked at a job that would pay around 225k per the recruiter, I currently make 170k - but my house would go for triple what it is here. (And I don't live in a LCOL area by any means). Ya- I could get a job in Merced, but if I am going to live in Cali I want to be near the sand
 
Have you visited Central California? Have you worked in a retail pharmacy there?
Pretty sure if you move to Utqiagvik (formerly Barrow), Alaska like @5minutes from 10 years ago you could make pretty good money there as well, yet we don't see tons of pharmacists signing up to work in rural Alaska.

I know some pharmacists who bought homes and had kids in Central California because they gave up hope of ever landing a decent job in the coastal areas. Metro SF, LA, OC, SD counties are where their entire support systems are but not where the jobs are.
 
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