Veterinary Assistant Salary in Arkansas
Veterinary assistants and laboratory animal caretakers in Arkansas — BLS publishes the two as one combined occupation, SOC 31-9096 — earned a median annual wage of $34,570 in the May 2025 estimates, $3,580 or 9% below the national median of $38,150.
That ranks 47th of the 51 jurisdictions that publish a median.
The distinctive part is the compression: the Arkansas 10th percentile sits only 8% below national, while the 75th is 19% below.
What these figures cover
10th percentile
$27,860
25th percentile
$29,500
75th percentile
$36,830
90th percentile
$42,180
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May 2025 state estimates — Arkansas, SOC 31-9096 (Veterinary Assistants and Laboratory Animal Caretakers). Retrieved 2026-09-16 from the BLS Public Data API.
How to read these figures
Arkansas vs. the national figures
The Arkansas median is below the national median by 9%. Among the 51 jurisdictions (states plus DC) where BLS publishes a Veterinary Assistants and Laboratory Animal Caretakers (SOC 31-9096) median for May 2025, it ranks 47th, and 27th by estimated employment.
Differences are whole percentages, rounded half away from zero, computed from the figures shown.
Below the national figures at every percentile — the gap is deepest in the middle band
Arkansas sits below the national figures at every published percentile, and not by a uniform margin.
The 10th percentile, $27,860, is 8% below the national $30,120 — the smallest gap anywhere in the range.
The shortfall widens through the middle: the 25th percentile, $29,500, is 17% below the national $35,660, and the 75th percentile, $36,830, is 19% below the national $45,710, the widest gap in dollars and in percent.
The 90th percentile, $42,180, is 14% below the national $49,150.
Someone benchmarking an Arkansas offer against national figures would therefore overstate the middle of the state's distribution by $3,580 at the median.
A narrower band than the national one, with the median sitting high
Half of the Arkansas workers counted earned between $29,500 and $36,830, a band $7,330 wide — narrower than the national band of $10,050.
From the 10th to the 90th percentile the state spans $14,320, against $19,030 nationally.
The median's placement flips as well: it sits $5,070 above the Arkansas 25th percentile and only $2,260 below the 75th, whereas the national median sits low in its band, $2,490 above the national 25th percentile and $7,560 below the national 75th.
OEWS does not publish why a distribution has this shape, so this page does not assign it a cause.
Holding an hourly posting against these figures
The hourly median in Arkansas is $16.62, against $18.34 nationally — $1.72 less, the same 9% gap as the annual median.
The data set carries hourly pay at the median only, so it is the one figure to hold an hourly posting against.
For the rest of the range, ask how many hours a week the role is scheduled before comparing a posted rate with the annual percentiles.
The 27th-ranked employment estimate, for a combined occupation
BLS estimates 1,460 people were employed in this combined occupation in Arkansas, 27th among the jurisdictions that publish an employment figure.
That count includes laboratory animal caretakers as well as veterinary assistants, in a split BLS does not publish.
It is a headcount of people in jobs during the survey period — not a count of openings, and not a measure of how quickly positions are filled.
Against the Arkansas vet tech median
In the same release, Arkansas's veterinary technologists and technicians have a median of $38,360, which is $3,790, or 11%, above the median for this occupation.
The technician median is 1.1 times this occupation's median.
Read that as the distance between two BLS occupations in one state, not as a raise any one person should expect: the two rows count different groups of workers.
Same release, same state: veterinary technologists and technicians (SOC 29-2056) in Arkansas have a median of $38,360 ($18.44/hr) — $3,790 above the veterinary assistants and laboratory animal caretakers median shown on this page. Vet tech salary in Arkansas →
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the median veterinary assistant salary in Arkansas?
BLS does not publish veterinary assistants on their own.
The closest figure is SOC 31-9096, Veterinary Assistants and Laboratory Animal Caretakers, whose Arkansas median annual wage was $34,570 in May 2025, or $16.62 an hour.
Half of those counted earned more and half earned less.
The national median for the same occupation is $38,150, so Arkansas sits 9% below it.
How much do the top-paid workers in this occupation earn in Arkansas?
The Arkansas 90th percentile is $42,180, meaning one in ten workers counted in SOC 31-9096 earned more than that.
Nationally the 90th percentile is $49,150, so the Arkansas figure is $6,970, or 14%, lower.
Because the occupation combines veterinary assistants with laboratory animal caretakers, the figure cannot say which of the two groups sits at the top.
How does this compare with vet tech pay in Arkansas?
In the same BLS release, veterinary technologists and technicians in Arkansas have a median of $38,360, against $34,570 for veterinary assistants and laboratory animal caretakers — a difference of $3,790, or 11%.
The technician median is 1.1 times this occupation's median.
The two figures describe different occupations counting different workers, so the gap is context for a career decision, not a promised raise.
How many veterinary assistants work in Arkansas?
BLS estimates 1,460 people employed in SOC 31-9096 in Arkansas, 27th among the jurisdictions that publish an employment figure.
That number combines veterinary assistants with laboratory animal caretakers, so it overstates clinic assistants alone by an amount BLS does not publish.
It is a headcount of people in jobs, not a count of vacancies.
More Arkansas Veterinary Assistant Resources
Sources
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May 2025 state estimates — Arkansas, SOC 31-9096 Veterinary Assistants and Laboratory Animal Caretakers, and SOC 29-2056 for the technician comparison (BLS Public Data API) (retrieved 2026-09-16)
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, OEWS May 2025 national estimates — SOC 31-9096 (via O*NET OnLine) (retrieved 2026-08-15)
Wage figures: BLS OEWS May 2025 state and national estimates, SOC 31-9096, retrieved 2026-09-16. Page last updated 2026-09-24.