Vet assistant pay in the US
Vet assistants in the US: $16 to $24 an hour in job ads
From 2,267 job ads at 1,313 employers, updated Oct 15, 2026
Hourly and yearly ads, kept apart
Posted hourly
$16 to $24
2,267 ads, median $19
Posted yearly
$45,000 to $58,000
23 ads, median $52,000
Each range runs from the 10th to the 90th percentile of the ads' stated pay (the middle of each ad's range). An ad that states no unit is not counted, and hourly is never converted to yearly.
Pay by state
| State | Posted range | Ads | BLS median |
|---|---|---|---|
| California | $20 to $28 an hour | 293 | $22.24 |
| Maine | $19 to $25 an hour | 9 | $21.88 |
| Rhode Island | $20 to $29 an hour | 5 | $23.93 |
| Connecticut | $20 to $25 an hour | 20 | $21.28 |
| Maryland | $18 to $25 an hour | 49 | $21.52 |
| Montana | $17 to $22 an hour | 12 | $18.43 |
| New Jersey | $18 to $22 an hour | 54 | $22.19 |
| New York | $18 to $25 an hour | 126 | $21.52 |
| Oregon | $18 to $25 an hour | 47 | $21.33 |
| Washington | $19 to $27 an hour | 94 | $21.23 |
| Colorado | $17 to $24 an hour | 91 | $18.70 |
| Hawaii | $19 to $28 an hour | 6 | $21.19 |
| Illinois | $17 to $23 an hour | 59 | $18.02 |
| Massachusetts | $17 to $27 an hour | 94 | $22.44 |
| New Hampshire | $18 to $21 an hour | 14 | $17.74 |
| New Mexico | $17 to $22 an hour | 8 | $18.03 |
| Vermont | $18 to $21 an hour | 5 | $17.93 |
| Virginia | $17 to $23 an hour | 96 | $18.01 |
| Idaho | $16 to $20 an hour | 8 | $18.04 |
| Michigan | $16 to $20 an hour | 24 | $18.25 |
| Minnesota | $16 to $23 an hour | 65 | $21.77 |
| Georgia | $14 to $20 an hour | 83 | $17.24 |
| Kansas | $16 to $18 an hour | 17 | $17.16 |
| Missouri | $17 to $19 an hour | 25 | $17.62 |
| Nevada | $17 to $22 an hour | 18 | $17.75 |
| Pennsylvania | $16 to $22 an hour | 56 | $17.86 |
| Texas | $16 to $21 an hour | 138 | $16.75 |
| Utah | $17 to $22 an hour | 16 | $18.06 |
| Arizona | $16 to $21 an hour | 47 | $18.39 |
| Florida | $16 to $20 an hour | 185 | $18.19 |
| Indiana | $16 to $18 an hour | 28 | $17.51 |
| Iowa | $17 to $18 an hour | 6 | $17.18 |
| Kentucky | $16 to $19 an hour | 20 | $16.41 |
| Mississippi | $14 to $18 an hour | 5 | $14.60 |
| North Carolina | $15 to $20 an hour | 91 | $17.82 |
| Ohio | $15 to $19 an hour | 52 | $17.47 |
| Oklahoma | $12 to $20 an hour | 22 | $16.76 |
| South Carolina | $16 to $20 an hour | 42 | $17.78 |
| Tennessee | $16 to $19 an hour | 51 | $17.46 |
| Wisconsin | $13 to $20 an hour | 21 | $17.71 |
| Alabama | $15 to $18 an hour | 22 | $17.21 |
| Louisiana | $13 to $17 an hour | 15 | $14.65 |
States with 5 or more vet assistant ads stating pay, Oct 15, 2026.
What the jobs offer
17%
CE allowance, 810 of 4,831 ads
19%
mentorship, 925 of 4,831 ads
7%
new grads welcome, 350 of 4,831 ads
1%
four-day week, 64 of 4,831 ads
0%
signing bonus, 6 of 4,831 ads
Counted only where the ad's own words say it, Oct 15, 2026.
Hiring now
Questions
What does a vet assistant make?
Job ads in the US offer vet assistants $16 to $24 an hour, median $19, from 2,267 ads at 1,313 employers (Oct 15, 2026). The BLS median for vet assistants in the US was $18.34 an hour in May 2025.
Which states pay vet assistants the most?
Among states with 5 or more vet assistant ads stating pay, the highest medians are California at $22 an hour (293 ads), Maine at $22 an hour (9 ads), Rhode Island at $22 an hour (5 ads), as of Oct 15, 2026.
What benefits do vet assistant jobs offer?
Of 4,831 vet assistant ads, 810 mention a CE allowance, 925 mention mentorship, 350 mention welcoming new grads, 64 mention a four-day week, 6 mention a signing bonus, as of Oct 15, 2026. Only what the ad itself says is counted.
Job-ad pay is read from employers' own job feeds and careers pages, each figure kept with the ad's own sentence. See also how often vets leave their practice.