Pharmacies open on Sunday in California

Sunday is the trickiest day of the week for pharmacy planning. Many independent drugstores are closed all day, chain stores often run shortened hours, and even big-box pharmacies inside Costco, Sam's Club, and many supermarkets close earlier than the front-of-store. We've indexed 93 pharmacies in California with confirmed Sunday hours pulled from public OpenStreetMap data. Use this list to plan a Sunday refill, transfer, or vaccination appointment without driving to a closed counter — and double-check by phone before relying on any single listing.

How to plan a Sunday pharmacy visit

Pharmacies in California typically run a shortened Sunday schedule — most chain pharmacy counters open at 9 or 10 am and close between 5 and 7 pm, even when the front of the store stays open later. Independent and community drugstores frequently close all day Sunday, and small grocery-store pharmacies (Publix, H-E-B, Albertsons family) often follow the supermarket's reduced Sunday hours. The locations below are filtered to those with publicly listed Sunday opening hours.

Common Sunday pitfalls

Three things to watch for: (1) the pharmacist counter inside a Walmart, Target, or grocery store sometimes closes much earlier than the store itself, (2) Sunday hours can shift seasonally — many stores in college towns and tourist destinations run different schedules in summer and winter, and (3) prescription transfers between pharmacies require the sending pharmacist to be on-duty, so even if your destination store is open, the originating store may not be. Build in a buffer of at least 30 minutes between when you plan to arrive and when the counter is scheduled to close.

Tips for a smoother pharmacy visit

• Call before driving. Listed hours can change for staffing, holidays, or temporary closures, especially overnight and on weekends.
• Bring an ID and the original bottle. Speeds up emergency refills and out-of-state transfers significantly.
• Ask about 90-day fills. Most chronic medications can be filled in 90-day supplies, often at a lower per-day cost and with fewer pharmacy visits.
• Use prescription transfer for one-off needs. You don't have to permanently switch pharmacies to fill a single prescription somewhere convenient.
• Mind controlled-substance rules. Schedule II prescriptions can't be transferred and require the original written or e-prescribed order, which limits your options for after-hours pickup.

How this list is built

Every listing on this page comes from public OpenStreetMap data, supplemented by community corrections. We index brand, city, state, ZIP, opening hours, and contact details — but not prescription pricing or insurance acceptance, which change too frequently to maintain reliably. For pricing or coverage questions, call the pharmacy directly or check your insurance plan's pharmacy network.