Veterinary Assistant Salary in Connecticut
Veterinary assistants and laboratory animal caretakers in Connecticut — BLS publishes the two as one combined occupation, SOC 31-9096 — earned a median annual wage of $44,250 in the May 2025 estimates, $6,100 or 16% above the national median of $38,150.
That ranks 11th of the 51 jurisdictions that publish a median.
The lead is uneven: the 90th percentile runs 22% above the national one, while the 25th percentile sits just 3% above.
What these figures cover
10th percentile
$35,920
25th percentile
$36,720
75th percentile
$51,470
90th percentile
$59,950
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May 2025 state estimates — Connecticut, SOC 31-9096 (Veterinary Assistants and Laboratory Animal Caretakers). Retrieved 2026-09-16 from the BLS Public Data API.
How to read these figures
Connecticut vs. the national figures
The Connecticut median is above the national median by 16%. 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 11th, and 29th 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 top
Connecticut sits above the national figures at every published percentile, but not by the same margin.
The 10th percentile, $35,920, is 19% above the national $30,120, yet the 25th percentile, $36,720, is only 3% above the national $35,660 — the narrowest lead in the distribution.
At the median the gap is 16%, at the 75th percentile it is 13%, and at the 90th percentile it widens to 22%, $59,950 against $49,150.
Benchmarking a Connecticut offer against national figures would understate the top of the range by $10,800 at the 90th percentile.
A middle band wider than the national one
Half of the Connecticut workers counted earned between $36,720 and $51,470, a band $14,750 wide — noticeably wider than the national band of $10,050.
From the 10th to the 90th percentile Connecticut spans $24,030, against $19,030 nationally.
Inside the middle band the median sits close to centered: $7,530 above the 25th percentile and $7,220 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 Connecticut is $21.28, against $18.34 nationally — $2.94 more, the same 16% 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 small estimated workforce, counted as one occupation
BLS estimates 1,390 people were employed in this combined occupation in Connecticut, 29th 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 Connecticut vet tech median
In the same release, Connecticut's veterinary technologists and technicians have a median of $50,950, which is $6,700, or 15%, above the median for this occupation — the technician figure is 1.2 times it.
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 Connecticut have a median of $50,950 ($24.49/hr) — $6,700 above the veterinary assistants and laboratory animal caretakers median shown on this page. Vet tech salary in Connecticut →
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the median veterinary assistant salary in Connecticut?
BLS does not publish veterinary assistants on their own.
The closest figure is SOC 31-9096, Veterinary Assistants and Laboratory Animal Caretakers, whose Connecticut median annual wage was $44,250 in May 2025, or $21.28 an hour.
Half of those counted earned more and half earned less.
The national median for the same occupation is $38,150, so Connecticut sits 16% above it.
How much do the top-paid workers in this occupation earn in Connecticut?
The Connecticut 90th percentile is $59,950, meaning one in ten workers counted in SOC 31-9096 earned more than that.
Nationally the 90th percentile is $49,150, so the Connecticut figure is $10,800, or 22%, higher.
Because the occupation combines veterinary assistants with laboratory animal caretakers, the figures cannot say which of the two groups sits at the top.
What does the low end of the range look like in Connecticut?
The Connecticut 10th percentile is $35,920, 19% above the national 10th percentile of $30,120.
The 25th percentile, $36,720, sits just $1,060 — 3% — above the national $35,660, the smallest lead anywhere in the state's distribution.
These are positions in the distribution, not career stages, so they describe where the lower tail falls rather than what any stage of a career pays.
How does this compare with vet tech pay in Connecticut?
In the same BLS release, veterinary technologists and technicians in Connecticut have a median of $50,950, against $44,250 for veterinary assistants and laboratory animal caretakers — a difference of $6,700, or 15% on this occupation's median.
The technician median is 1.2 times it.
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 Connecticut?
BLS estimates 1,390 people employed in SOC 31-9096 in Connecticut, 29th 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 Connecticut Veterinary Assistant Resources
Sources
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May 2025 state estimates — Connecticut, 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.