Veterinary Assistant Salary in Delaware
Veterinary assistants and laboratory animal caretakers in Delaware — BLS publishes the two as one combined occupation, SOC 31-9096 — earned a median annual wage of $38,610 in the May 2025 estimates, 1% above the national median of $38,150, ranking 15th of the 51 jurisdictions that publish a median.
The shape is the story: a 10th percentile 15% above the national floor and a 90th percentile 18% above the national ceiling, around a middle that tracks the national figures closely.
What these figures cover
10th percentile
$34,680
25th percentile
$37,070
75th percentile
$46,850
90th percentile
$57,930
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May 2025 state estimates — Delaware, SOC 31-9096 (Veterinary Assistants and Laboratory Animal Caretakers). Retrieved 2026-09-16 from the BLS Public Data API.
How to read these figures
Delaware vs. the national figures
The Delaware median is above the national median by 1%. 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 15th.
Differences are whole percentages, rounded half away from zero, computed from the figures shown.
Close to the national figures in the middle, ahead at both ends
Delaware tracks the national distribution closely through its middle: the 25th percentile, $37,070, is 4% above the national $35,660, the median is 1% above, and the 75th percentile, $46,850, is 2% above the national $45,710.
The ends pull away.
The 10th percentile, $34,680, is 15% above the national $30,120, and the 90th percentile, $57,930, is 18% above the national $49,150 — a lead of $8,780.
Benchmarking a Delaware offer against the national figures, the middle of the range will match almost exactly; the tails sit higher.
A middle band slightly narrower than the national one, with a longer tail span
Half of the Delaware workers counted earned between $37,070 and $46,850, a band $9,780 wide — slightly narrower than the national band of $10,050.
From the 10th to the 90th percentile, Delaware spans $23,250, against $19,030 nationally.
Inside the middle band the median sits low: $1,540 above the 25th percentile and $8,240 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 Delaware is $18.56, against $18.34 nationally — $0.22 more, the same 1% 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.
Against the Delaware vet tech median
In the same release, Delaware's veterinary technologists and technicians have a median of $48,370, which is $9,760, or 25%, above the median for this occupation; on an hourly basis the technician median is $23.25 against $18.56.
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 Delaware have a median of $48,370 ($23.25/hr) — $9,760 above the veterinary assistants and laboratory animal caretakers median shown on this page. Vet tech salary in Delaware →
No employment estimate for this row in Delaware
BLS publishes no employment estimate for this combined occupation in Delaware in the May 2025 release, so this page carries no workforce count or employment rank for the state.
The omission is a property of the data, not a statement about the occupation: an employment estimate is a headcount of people in jobs during the survey period, not a count of openings.
The wage percentiles on this page stand on their own and do not depend on it.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the median veterinary assistant salary in Delaware?
BLS does not publish veterinary assistants on their own.
The closest figure is SOC 31-9096, Veterinary Assistants and Laboratory Animal Caretakers, whose Delaware median annual wage was $38,610 in May 2025, or $18.56 an hour.
Half of those counted earned more and half earned less.
The national median for the same occupation is $38,150, so Delaware sits 1% above it.
How much do the top-paid workers in this occupation earn in Delaware?
The Delaware 90th percentile is $57,930, meaning one in ten workers counted in SOC 31-9096 earned more than that.
Nationally the 90th percentile is $49,150, so the Delaware figure is $8,780, or 18%, 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 pay look like in Delaware?
The Delaware 10th percentile is $34,680, meaning one in ten workers counted earned less than that.
That floor is $4,560, or 15%, above the national 10th percentile of $30,120.
As with every figure on this page, the count includes laboratory animal caretakers as well as veterinary assistants, in a split BLS does not publish.
How does this compare with vet tech pay in Delaware?
In the same BLS release, veterinary technologists and technicians in Delaware have a median of $48,370, against $38,610 for veterinary assistants and laboratory animal caretakers — a difference of $9,760, or 25%.
The technician median is 1.3 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 Delaware?
This row publishes no employment estimate for Delaware, so no workforce count or employment rank can be stated from the May 2025 data.
An employment figure counts people in jobs during the survey period, not vacancies, and its absence here leaves the size of the occupation unstated; the wage figures on this page are unaffected.
More Delaware Veterinary Assistant Resources
Sources
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May 2025 state estimates — Delaware, 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.