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Curricula · Hands-On Healthcare · The Tri-Cities

Pharmacy & the Lab: the Tri-Cities Path

Pharmacy and the medical laboratory both start with a paying job while young. At the top of the pharmacy ladder, the pharmacist clears every income bar. The rest of both ladders falls short of a family income, and parts of this work are among the most exposed to automation on the list.

Ed. 2026–27Builds on the Tri-Cities Hands-On Healthcare core pathChecked 2026-09-26

Why this field is on the list · as of September 2026

$158,130Median pharmacist pay, Tri-Cities
$54,070Median pharmacy technician pay, Tri-Cities
$105,298Benton County living wage, one earner, three children

The pharmacist clears the three-child bar; everyone else falls short. Pharmacy technicians ($54,070), lab technologists ($60,150) and phlebotomists ($47,640) are short of the one-child bar ($83,987).

Treat the short rungs as jobs, not careers. A pharmacy tech or phlebotomy job pays for college, and lab work is a good second income for a careful worker.

AI and automation exposure is mixed. Counting pills and running routine tests are largely done by machines. Catching a dangerous drug interaction or drawing blood from a frightened child is not.

Watch for: retail pharmacy has been closing stores nationwide, while hospital and clinic pharmacy has held up better. Ask where the jobs are before starting a PharmD.

01 · The ladderTwo ladders that start young

  1. Pharmacy technician

    Washington licenses pharmacy technicians through the Pharmacy Quality Assurance Commission after an approved training program. Ask about the minimum age before planning on a high-school job.

    Tri-Cities median $54,070 · 25th percentile $48,570 · a job, not a family income

  2. Phlebotomist

    Washington certifies phlebotomists as medical assistant-phlebotomists through the Department of Health after a short course.

    Tri-Cities median $47,640 · 25th percentile $39,870 · stepping stone

  3. Medical laboratory technician or scientist

    A two-year MLT degree or a four-year medical laboratory science degree.

    Where: the NAACLS program finder.

    Tri-Cities median $60,150 · 25th percentile $48,050 · short of the bar

  4. Pharmacist

    Pre-pharmacy courses, then a four-year Doctor of Pharmacy.

    Where: the WSU College of Pharmacy in Spokane (ask about its Yakima site).

    Tri-Cities median $158,130 · 25th percentile $133,170 · clears the three-child bar

02 · BranchesWhere the work leads

Hospital and clinic pharmacy

Hospital pharmacists work with doctors on dosing and drug choices at Kadlec Regional Medical Center in Richland and similar hospitals.

Schedule: Around the clock in hospitals; daytime in clinics.

Community pharmacy

Chain and independent drugstores. An independent pharmacy is a small business.

Schedule: Retail hours, including evenings and weekends.

The hospital lab

Lab staff run the blood counts, cultures and blood bank that every diagnosis depends on.

Schedule: Day, evening and night shifts.

03 · For the familyThe schedule, for a father and for a mother

04 · The home-school yearsWhat to add to the core path

Grades 9–10

  • Everything in the shared core, with full-year chemistry and biology with labs
  • Careful math: ratios, unit conversions and dosage problems

Grades 11–12

  • A pharmacy-tech job once the age rules allow
  • Chemistry, biology and math through Running Start

After high school

  • Pre-pharmacy courses or a lab-science degree

Tie to the Verification Track

A pharmacist checks the prescription against the patient: the dose, the other drugs, the kidneys, the allergy list. A lab technician reruns a result that makes no sense before it reaches the doctor. The Verification Track trains that habit.

05 · SourcesWhere these facts come from

Checked 2026-09-26