Pharmacies in the United States


There are approximately 88,000 pharmacies in the United States. Over half are located within drug stores, grocery stores, hospitals, department stores, medical clinics, surgery clinics, universities, nursing homes, prisons, and other facilities. The remaining pharmacies are considered to be independent or privately owned. The top 25 pharmacy chain stores represent about 38,000 pharmacy locations in the U.S. and employ about 149,000 on-staff pharmacists. California has 8,015 pharmacies, the most of any state. Texas, Florida, New York, and Pennsylvania round out the top five states for pharmacy locations. Nationwide, the number of community pharmacies increased by 6.3% between 2007-2015, and the number of pharmacies per 10,000 people did not change. However, the number of pharmacies per-capita varies substantially across counties, ranging from 0 to 13.6 per- 10,000 people in 2015.

Pharmacy chain

The table below shows the top 25 pharmacy chains in the United States ranked by total number of pharmacists, according to the U.S. National Pharmacy Market Summary done by IQVIA in 2019.
RankPharmacy ChainHeadquartersPharmacistsStore
1Walgreens CompanyDeerfield, Illinois48,9869,323
2CVS HealthWoonsocket, Rhode Island31,2359,054
3Walmart Stores IncBentonville, Arkansas15,3694,865
4Rite Aid CorpCamp Hill, Pennsylvania10,8692,721
5Kroger CompanyCincinnati, Ohio7,5161,956
6Albertsons IncBoise, Idaho6,1571,713
7AmerisourceBergen CorporationChesterbrook, Pennsylvania4,8521,961
8Publix Super Markets IncLakeland, Florida4,7001,084
9McKesson CorpSan Francisco, California4,5241,556
10Costco Wholesale CorpIssaquah, Washington2,179500
11Cardinal Health IncDublin, Ohio1,382518
12Ahold Delhaize UsaCarlisle, Pennsylvania1,380521
13H E Butt Grocery CompanySan Antonio, Texas1,310270
14Meijer Great Lakes Limited PartnershipGrand Rapids, Michigan1,080238
15Southeastern Grocers LLCJacksonville, Florida1,059327
16 Hy Vee IncWest Des Moines, Iowa1,006249
17Sears Holdings Corp Hoffman Estates, Illinois945306
18Kaiser PermanenteOakland, California892131
19Freds Inc Memphis, Tennessee778301
20Pharmerica CorpLouisville, Kentucky61489
21Giant Eagle IncPittsburgh, Pennsylvania594204
22Shopko Stores Operating Company LLC Green Bay, Wisconsin574206
23Ahold Delhaize AmericaSalisbury, North Carolina484170
24Wegmans Food Markets IncRochester, New York47988
25Kinney Drugs IncGouverneur, New York437113