Veterinary technicians earned a national median of $47,380 in May 2025, which is $22.78 an hour, according to the BLS's Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics. The state spread is enormous: DC and California pay $61,270 and $60,630 medians, while Louisiana pays $35,530, a $26,000 gap for the same credential. The job is growing fast, 9% projected through 2035, with about 13,400 openings a year. This guide walks the full table, the assistant-and-veterinarian comparison, and the levers that actually raise a tech's pay.
Percentiles say more than a single median. In May 2025, the 10th percentile of vet techs earned under $35,710, the 25th under $38,910, the median was $47,380, the 75th $57,650, and the 90th $63,180. In other words: a quarter of the field works for less than $19 an hour, and the top decile, research and specialty hospital roles, mostly, clears $30. For context, the median across all US occupations was $50,980, so vet teching pays slightly below the national middle for a job with one of the highest injury rates in the country. Everyone in the field knows this arithmetic; it's why the raise conversation matters.
Where the jobs are: about 131,400 people held the role in 2025, 89% of them in veterinary services (clinics and hospitals), with educational institutions paying meaningfully more ($52,200 median) than private practice ($47,170), and social advocacy organizations ($45,970) below that.
| Rank | State | Median | Hourly | Band (10th – 90th) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | District of Columbia | $61,270 | $29.46 | $50,390 – $81,990 |
| 2 | California | $60,630 | $29.15 | $48,240 – $75,860 |
| 3 | Washington | $59,740 | $28.72 | $46,390 – $77,300 |
| 4 | New York | $59,010 | $28.37 | $47,640 – $78,760 |
| 5 | Minnesota | $57,270 | $27.53 | $42,640 – $65,120 |
| 6 | Oregon | $55,810 | $26.83 | $39,920 – $77,710 |
| 7 | Virginia | $52,090 | $25.04 | $35,590 – $75,770 |
| 8 | Connecticut | $50,950 | $24.50 | $41,480 – $75,090 |
| … | … | … | … | … |
| 47 | Arkansas | $38,360 | $18.44 | $27,250 – $47,820 |
| 48 | West Virginia | $37,700 | $18.13 | $29,430 – $48,170 |
| 49 | Alabama | $36,590 | $17.59 | $28,590 – $49,060 |
| 50 | Mississippi | $36,380 | $17.49 | $29,120 – $46,710 |
| 51 | Louisiana | $35,530 | $17.08 | $28,490 – $47,690 |
The full interactive table, all 51 areas with ranks and percentile bands, lives in the calculator below. Two patterns worth pulling out here. Texas, despite its size, ranks 43rd at $39,410, its low cost of doing business showing up as low wages. And the states just above the bottom, Alabama and Mississippi, are close enough together that the effective floor for the profession is about $36,000.
The percentile band is the more useful negotiation number than the median. New Jersey runs $37,870 at the 10th percentile to $75,310 at the 90th, a 1.99× spread: the same license, within one small state, paying two very different wages depending on the employer. South Dakota's band, $35,780 to $50,440, is a 1.41× spread. Where bands are wide, which hospital hires you matters more than which state you're in.
All 51 BLS May 2025 medians with ranks, hourly conversions, a where-do-you-fall percentile finder, and a raise projector.
Open the Vet Tech Salary Calculator →| Role | Median (May 2025) | Education |
|---|---|---|
| Veterinary assistant | $38,150 | High school diploma, trained on the job |
| Veterinary technician/technologist | $47,380 | Associate (tech) or bachelor's (technologist) + credentialing exam |
| Veterinarian | $130,100 | DVM/VMD, 4-year doctorate + license, usually 8 yrs total |
The assistant-to-tech gap is $9,230 a year for a two-year degree, which is a solid return as those things go. The tech-to-vet gap is $82,720 for four more years of school and, at many programs, $200,000-plus of debt; plenty of techs run that ROI and stay put. A fair comparison the other direction: human-hospital roles with similar technical depth. Phlebotomists median $45,230, roughly parity. Radiologic and MRI technologists, the people doing for humans exactly what imaging techs do for animals, median $81,390. That gap is the strongest argument for the specialty and research paths below.
Because the field's raises are small, they compound quietly. A Florida tech at the state median, $46,380, earning 4% annual raises lands at $52,171 in year four and $144,780 cumulative over the three years. That final salary passes the current medians of 22 states, including Texas and Ohio. A tech negotiating 6% instead of 3% for the same period ends nearly $3,300 a year ahead by year four, permanently. Annual-percentage differences this small are why switching employers, which resets you to market, beats waiting for step raises in most of this field.
For the broader context, the teacher salary by state table shows the same structure in a different profession, and the veterinary imaging cost calculator prices the MRI and CT equipment whose bills techs help generate.
The national median was $47,380 a year, $22.78 an hour, in May 2025 per the BLS. The 10th percentile earned under $35,710 and the 90th over $63,180. About 131,400 people held the job, and the field is projected to grow 9% through 2035 with roughly 13,400 openings a year.
Washington, DC at a $61,270 median, then California ($60,630), Washington state ($59,740), New York ($59,010), and Minnesota ($57,270). Louisiana is lowest at $35,530. The $26,000 top-to-bottom spread shrinks considerably once cost of living is applied, but not to zero.
Credentialing and about $9,230 a year. Technicians complete an AVMA-accredited degree (usually an associate) and pass a state credentialing exam; assistants typically learn on the job with a high school diploma. Medians in May 2025: assistants $38,150, technicians $47,380. Assistants feed, clean, restrain, and support; techs run anesthesia, take radiographs, perform lab tests, and administer treatments under a veterinarian's supervision.
It's tight in low-paying states and workable in high ones. The national median of $47,380 sits below the $50,980 all-occupation median, and the bottom decile earns under $35,710. The levers that move pay without a DVM: specialty credentials (VTS) in anesthesia, emergency, or dentistry; research and industry roles, which pay above clinical practice; relief work at premium hourly rates; and geography, worth up to $26,000 a year at the extremes of the state table.
Two years for an associate degree in veterinary technology from an AVMA-accredited program, followed by your state's credentialing exam (the VTNE in most states). Bachelor's-level veterinary technologist programs take four years and open more research doors. Compare that against the veterinarian path: eight or more years and $200,000-plus of education for a $130,100 median.