Veterinary Assistant Salary in Colorado
Veterinary assistants and laboratory animal caretakers in Colorado — BLS publishes the two as one combined occupation, SOC 31-9096 — earned a median annual wage of $38,900 in the May 2025 estimates, 2% above the national median of $38,150.
That ranks 14th of the 51 jurisdictions that publish a median.
The distinctive part is the shape: the 10th percentile sits 19% above the national floor, while the 90th falls 3% below the national ceiling — a much tighter range than the country as a whole.
What these figures cover
10th percentile
$35,710
25th percentile
$37,020
75th percentile
$45,030
90th percentile
$47,450
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May 2025 state estimates — Colorado, SOC 31-9096 (Veterinary Assistants and Laboratory Animal Caretakers). Retrieved 2026-09-16 from the BLS Public Data API.
How to read these figures
Colorado vs. the national figures
The Colorado median is above the national median by 2%. 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 14th, and 17th by estimated employment.
Differences are whole percentages, rounded half away from zero, computed from the figures shown.
Above at the floor, below at the ceiling
Colorado sits above the national figures at the bottom half of the distribution and below them at the top.
The 10th percentile, $35,710, is $5,590 or 19% above the national $30,120, and the 25th percentile, $37,020, is $1,360 or 4% above.
At the median the lead is thin — 2% — and the ordering then flips: the 75th percentile, $45,030, is 1% below the national $45,710, while the 90th percentile, $47,450, is $1,700 or 3% below the national $49,150.
A reader benchmarking a Colorado offer against national figures would understate the bottom of the range and overstate the top.
A much narrower range than the national one
Half of the Colorado workers counted earned between $37,020 and $45,030, a band $8,010 wide — noticeably narrower than the national band of $10,050.
From the 10th to the 90th percentile Colorado spans $11,740, against $19,030 nationally.
Inside the middle band the median sits low: $1,880 above the 25th percentile and $6,130 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 Colorado is $18.70, against $18.34 nationally — $0.36 more, the same 2% 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.
A mid-sized employment estimate — for a combined occupation
BLS estimates 2,910 people were employed in this combined occupation in Colorado, 17th 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 Colorado vet tech median
In the same release, Colorado's veterinary technologists and technicians have a median of $49,650, which is $10,750, or 28%, above the median for this occupation.
The technician median is 1.3 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 Colorado have a median of $49,650 ($23.87/hr) — $10,750 above the veterinary assistants and laboratory animal caretakers median shown on this page. Vet tech salary in Colorado →
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the median veterinary assistant salary in Colorado?
BLS does not publish veterinary assistants on their own.
The closest figure is SOC 31-9096, Veterinary Assistants and Laboratory Animal Caretakers, whose Colorado median annual wage was $38,900 in May 2025, or $18.70 an hour.
Half of those counted earned more and half earned less.
The national median for the same occupation is $38,150, so Colorado sits 2% above it.
How much do the top-paid workers in this occupation earn in Colorado?
The Colorado 90th percentile is $47,450, meaning one in ten workers counted in SOC 31-9096 earned more than that.
Nationally the 90th percentile is $49,150, so the Colorado figure is $1,700, or 3%, lower.
Because the occupation combines veterinary assistants with laboratory animal caretakers, the figure cannot say which of the two groups sits at the top.
What does the low end of pay look like in Colorado?
The Colorado 10th percentile is $35,710 — one in ten workers counted earned less than that — and the 25th percentile is $37,020.
The low end is where Colorado stands furthest above the national figures: the 10th percentile is $5,590, or 19%, above the national $30,120.
How does this compare with vet tech pay in Colorado?
In the same BLS release, veterinary technologists and technicians in Colorado have a median of $49,650, against $38,900 for veterinary assistants and laboratory animal caretakers — a difference of $10,750.
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 Colorado?
BLS estimates 2,910 people employed in SOC 31-9096 in Colorado, 17th 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 Colorado Veterinary Assistant Resources
Sources
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May 2025 state estimates — Colorado, 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.