Veterinary Assistant Salary in California
Veterinary assistants and laboratory animal caretakers in California — BLS publishes the two as one combined occupation, SOC 31-9096 — earned a median annual wage of $46,260 in the May 2025 estimates, $8,110 or 21% above the national median of $38,150.
That ranks 4th of the 51 jurisdictions that publish a median.
The distinctive part is the floor: the California 10th percentile is 25% above the national one, while the lead narrows to 8% at the 75th percentile.
What these figures cover
10th percentile
$37,800
25th percentile
$39,760
75th percentile
$49,290
90th percentile
$57,940
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May 2025 state estimates — California, SOC 31-9096 (Veterinary Assistants and Laboratory Animal Caretakers). Retrieved 2026-09-16 from the BLS Public Data API.
How to read these figures
California vs. the national figures
The California median is above the national median by 21%. 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 4th, and 1st by estimated employment.
Differences are whole percentages, rounded half away from zero, computed from the figures shown.
Ahead at every percentile, most of all at the floor
California sits above the national figures at every published percentile, but not by the same margin.
The 10th percentile, $37,800, is 25% above the national $30,120, and the 25th percentile is 11% above.
At the median the lead is 21%, and then it narrows: the 75th percentile, $49,290, is only 8% above the national $45,710, while the 90th is 18% above at $57,940.
Someone holding a California offer against national figures would understate the middle of the California distribution by $8,110 at the median.
A middle band a little narrower than the national one
Half of the California workers counted earned between $39,760 and $49,290, a band $9,530 wide — slightly narrower than the national band of $10,050.
From the 10th to the 90th percentile California spans $20,140, against $19,030 nationally.
Inside the middle band the median sits high: $6,500 above the 25th percentile and only $3,030 below the 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 California is $22.24, against $18.34 nationally — $3.90 more, the same 21% 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 largest employment estimate — for a combined occupation
BLS estimates 16,080 people were employed in this combined occupation in California, 1st 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 California vet tech median
In the same release, California's veterinary technologists and technicians have a median of $60,630, which is $14,370, or 31%, above the median for this occupation.
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 California have a median of $60,630 ($29.15/hr) — $14,370 above the veterinary assistants and laboratory animal caretakers median shown on this page. Vet tech salary in California →
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the median veterinary assistant salary in California?
BLS does not publish veterinary assistants on their own.
The closest figure is SOC 31-9096, Veterinary Assistants and Laboratory Animal Caretakers, whose California median annual wage was $46,260 in May 2025, or $22.24 an hour.
Half of those counted earned more and half earned less.
The national median for the same occupation is $38,150, so California sits 21% above it.
How much do the top-paid workers in this occupation earn in California?
The California 90th percentile is $57,940, meaning one in ten workers counted in SOC 31-9096 earned more than that.
Nationally the 90th percentile is $49,150, so the California figure is $8,790, or 18%, higher.
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 California?
In the same BLS release, veterinary technologists and technicians in California have a median of $60,630, against $46,260 for veterinary assistants and laboratory animal caretakers — a difference of $14,370.
The technician median is 1.3 times this occupation's median.
The two figures describe different occupations, so the gap is context for a career decision, not a promised raise.
How many veterinary assistants work in California?
BLS estimates 16,080 people employed in SOC 31-9096 in California, 1st 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 California Veterinary Assistant Resources
Sources
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May 2025 state estimates — California, 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 2026-09-23.