Business phone system for pharmacies and drug stores

Pharmacies and drug stores in the United States

County Business Patterns counted 41,792 pharmacies and drug stores in the U.S. in 2023 (NAICS 446110, Pharmacies and Drug Stores). They employed 691,152 people in mid-March and paid $30.7 billion in annual payroll. The average establishment has 16.5 employees. That is 12.3 establishments for every 100,000 residents.

New York has the most (4,253), followed by California (4,247), Texas (3,146), and Florida (2,828). Relative to population, West Virginia leads with 21.7 per 100,000 residents, and Alaska has the fewest at 4.5.

Why the phone matters for pharmacies and drug stores

Independent pharmacies take refill requests, prescriber calls and insurance questions throughout the day, often while pharmacists are filling prescriptions. Sorting calls by purpose keeps prescribers and patients from waiting in the same queue.

Calls pharmacies and drug stores commonly handle:

• A customer calls to request a refill.
• A prescriber's office calls to clarify a prescription.
• A customer calls to ask whether a prescription is ready.
• The pharmacy calls a prescriber for a refill authorization.
• A customer calls to ask about vaccine availability.

Texting and after-hours calls

Independent pharmacies text customers when a prescription is ready for pickup and when a refill needs attention.

After-hours messages are mostly refill requests that staff can process at opening.

Practices that handle protected health information should review their own privacy obligations before recording calls, enabling AI summaries or texting appointment details, and keep clinical conversations out of text messages unless their policies allow it.

How big pharmacies and drug stores are

18.4% of U.S. pharmacies and drug stores with employees had fewer than five people in March 2023. 38.7% had fewer than ten. Most phone decisions in this industry are made for small teams, where one shared number and sensible routing matter more than a desk phone per person.

Pharmacies and drug stores by state

Establishment counts for the 51 states (and DC) where Census published a figure, with the rate per 100,000 residents.

Largest metro areas for pharmacies and drug stores

Census published pharmacy counts for 840 metro and micropolitan areas. The 25 largest:

Callata vs. per-seat pricing for pharmacies and drug stores in the U.S.

The average U.S. pharmacy has 16.5 employees, so the comparison uses a 17-person team. Per-seat business phone plans bill every one of those people. At month-to-month list prices checked September 28, 2026, 17 users on RingCentral RingEX Core cost $510.00 a month and 17 on Ooma Office Pro cost $424.15. Callata comes to $339.00 a month for 17 users ($99 a month with 5 users included, then $20 per additional user), below both.

Over a year, that is $2,052 less than RingCentral for a pharmacy in the U.S. of that size. Annual contracts lower some competitors' prices, so compare the plan you would actually sign.

How Callata works for pharmacies and drug stores

Callata is a business phone system priced at $99 a month with 5 users included, then $20 per additional user. Callata Office includes up to 3 local business numbers, unlimited inbound calling, 1,500 pooled outbound US and Canada minutes per user each month, a browser softphone that can also ring your cell, voicemail with transcription, call recording with AI summaries, business-hours routing and E911 on every number.

Texting from a local number requires carrier registration (10DLC), a one-time $49 fee. Porting an existing number is free.

AI agents are optional: an AI receptionist or scheduler can pick up when the team is busy or closed, take a message, send a text or email, or transfer the call. They draw on prepaid AI minutes ($0.25/minute), disclose that they are AI, and outbound AI calls require prior consent and are limited to 8am–9pm.