Veterinary Technologists and Technicians salary

SOC 29-2056 · BLS OEWS May 2025

Median

$47,380

per year, nationally

Middle half

$38,910–$57,650

25th to 75th percentile

Employed

129,140

in the U.S.

Growth 2024–34

+9.1%

14,300 openings/yr

What the range looks like

A single median hides most of what a job pays. The bar below is the full national range: the wash spans the 10th to 90th percentile, the solid bar is the middle half, and the tick is the median.

$35,710$63,180

10th: $35,710
25th: $38,910
Median: $47,380
75th: $57,650
90th: $63,180

Getting in

Typical education to enter: Associate's degree
Related work experience: None
On-the-job training: None

Entry requirements describe what is typical, not mandatory. Source: BLS Employment Projections, 2024–34.

Where veterinary technologists and technicians earn the most

Nominal pay and pay adjusted for local prices rank states differently — a high-wage state with high costs can be worse off in real terms than a middling one. Switch between the two below.

The median wage as published, before local prices are taken into account.

#	State	Median	Cost of living	Employed	Concentrationvs. national
1	District of Columbia	$61,270	109.9	120	0.21×
2	California	$60,630	110.7	11,310	0.75×
3	Washington	$59,740	107.0	2,290	0.78×
4	New York	$59,010	107.9	5,350	0.66×
5	Minnesota	$57,270	98.6	3,560	1.45×
6	Oregon	$55,810	103.4	1,120	0.69×
7	Virginia	$52,090	101.1	2,790	0.82×
8	Connecticut	$50,950	103.6	1,690	1.20×
9	Maine	$50,810	97.0	910	1.71×
10	Nevada	$50,250	100.0	1,120	0.87×
11	Michigan	$49,710	96.2	2,550	0.70×
12	Colorado	$49,650	103.1	3,720	1.56×
13	Massachusetts	$49,540	105.8	3,990	1.32×
14	Vermont	$49,490	98.0	390	1.53×
15	New Jersey	$49,050	108.8	2,910	0.82×
16	North Dakota	$48,790	89.0	340	0.97×
17	New Hampshire	$48,780	104.2	870	1.53×
18	Indiana	$48,720	93.3	1,820	0.68×
19	Hawaii	$48,550	110.0	270	0.52×
20	Delaware	$48,370	99.8	530	1.30×
21	Ohio	$47,990	92.8	4,790	1.04×
22	North Carolina	$47,620	94.3	2,580	0.63×
23	Maryland	$47,350	105.0	2,540	1.11×
24	Wisconsin	$47,020	94.1	2,590	1.06×
25	Alaska	$46,480	102.4	380	1.42×
26	Illinois	$46,440	100.0	5,040	0.99×
27	Pennsylvania	$46,430	97.6	6,620	1.31×
28	Florida	$46,380	103.4	11,380	1.38×
29	Arizona	$46,300	100.7	3,970	1.48×
30	Kansas	$45,810	90.1	1,270	1.06×
31	Iowa	$45,560	87.8	1,220	0.94×
32	Rhode Island	$45,310	102.3	530	1.27×
33	South Dakota	$45,300	88.6	300	0.79×
34	New Mexico	$44,790	92.2	890	1.23×
35	Nebraska	$43,680	90.1	690	0.81×
36	Missouri	$43,520	90.8	2,040	0.84×
37	Georgia	$43,060	96.3	2,410	0.59×
38	Tennessee	$42,810	91.9	1,640	0.60×
39	Idaho	$42,120	95.5	790	1.12×
40	Montana	$41,170	94.6	480	1.12×
41	Utah	$40,560	98.9	1,550	1.08×
42	Kentucky	$39,590	90.2	1,670	1.01×
43	Texas	$39,410	97.1	16,730	1.43×
44	Oklahoma	$39,100	87.8	1,060	0.74×
45	South Carolina	$39,020	93.7	2,540	1.33×
46	Wyoming	$38,650	92.7	310	1.33×
47	Arkansas	$38,360	86.9	320	0.30×
48	West Virginia	$37,700	89.5	400	0.69×
49	Alabama	$36,590	88.8	1,880	1.07×
50	Mississippi	$36,380	87.0	650	0.67×
51	Louisiana	$35,530	88.2	2,220	1.38×

Cost of living is the BEA regional price parity for all items, where 100 is the national average. Concentration is the BLS location quotient: how much more of the local workforce does this job than the national average, so 2.00× means twice the national share. It is often the reason wages differ — a place that concentrates an occupation has the employers and the competition for it. States where veterinary technologists and technicians wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Best paying metro areas for veterinary technologists and technicians

The 40 highest-paying metros with a published estimate. BLS suppresses roughly half of all occupation-by-metro cells, so a metro absent here has no local figure rather than a low one.

The median wage as published, before local prices are taken into account.

#	Metro area	Median	Cost of living	Employed	Concentrationvs. national
1	San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA	$71,090	115.6	1,220	0.62×
2	Corvallis, OR	$67,960	104.0	80	2.57×
3	San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA	$67,280	110.4	470	0.50×
4	Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA	$62,810	109.9	150	1.79×
5	Santa Rosa-Petaluma, CA	$61,940	107.8	250	1.46×
6	Salinas, CA	$61,330	109.0	130	0.83×
7	Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA	$61,260	111.1	1,170	0.68×
8	Vallejo, CA	$61,230	108.5	110	0.93×
9	Kennewick-Richland, WA	$61,070	100.1	50	0.46×
10	Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA	$60,970	106.7	1,010	1.13×
11	Mount Vernon-Anacortes, WA	$60,830	102.4	40	0.87×
12	Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA	$60,670	113.6	3,640	0.70×
13	Napa, CA	$60,410	112.6	30	0.48×
14	Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, CA	$60,410	110.5	390	1.44×
15	San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA	$60,280	111.9	1,330	1.04×
16	New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ	$59,680	112.6	4,850	0.62×
17	Bellingham, WA	$59,360	103.3	100	1.35×
18	Modesto, CA	$59,360	104.1	140	0.88×
19	Chico, CA	$59,300	101.2	70	1.04×
20	Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater, WA	$59,260	103.7	90	0.82×
21	Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI	$59,090	104.8	2,520	1.55×
22	Kingston, NY	$59,060	100.7	60	1.24×
23	Albany-Schenectady-Troy, NY	$58,750	99.6	440	1.17×
24	San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles, CA	$58,690	108.6	120	1.20×
25	Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA	$58,510	106.4	910	0.64×
26	Santa Maria-Santa Barbara, CA	$58,490	108.8	160	0.97×
27	Yuba City, CA	$58,310	104.2	40	0.86×
28	Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA	$58,300	105.4	760	0.76×
29	Reno, NV	$58,160	101.0	280	1.23×
30	Fresno, CA	$58,080	102.2	220	0.55×
31	Bremerton-Silverdale-Port Orchard, WA	$57,720	105.6	90	1.18×
32	Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV	$57,630	108.9	2,150	0.83×
33	Spokane-Spokane Valley, WA	$57,100	100.3	170	0.80×
34	Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO	$56,580	105.8	1,780	1.33×
35	Ithaca, NY	$56,420	103.3	80	1.94×
36	Bridgeport-Stamford-Danbury, CT	$56,410	106.9	490	1.47×
37	Stockton-Lodi, CA	$56,010	105.1	140	0.60×
38	Rochester, MN	$55,750	90.8	140	1.36×
39	Bakersfield-Delano, CA	$55,730	100.9	120	0.42×
40	Kahului-Wailuku, HI	$54,950	109.4	30	0.55×

Cost of living is the BEA regional price parity for all items, where 100 is the national average. Concentration is the BLS location quotient: how much more of the local workforce does this job than the national average, so 2.00× means twice the national share. It is often the reason wages differ — a place that concentrates an occupation has the employers and the competition for it. Metro areas where veterinary technologists and technicians wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Similar occupations

Other jobs in the same field, with what each pays nationally.

Licensed Practical and Licensed Vocational Nurses$64,400
Pharmacy Technicians$45,750
Clinical Laboratory Technologists and Technicians$62,930
Radiologic Technologists and Technicians$80,110
Medical Records Specialists$51,140
Health Technologists and Technicians, All Other$50,290
Emergency Medical Technicians$44,470
Psychiatric Technicians$45,130

Veterinary Technologists and Technicians salary

What the range looks like

Getting in

Where veterinary technologists and technicians earn the most

Best paying metro areas for veterinary technologists and technicians

Similar occupations

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