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; the national median is $38,150.
BLS publishes no employment estimate for this row in Delaware, so the sample behind the figures is unknown, and this page treats them as a rough signal: it does not rank the state or measure it against the national figures.
What these figures cover
A low-reliability estimate
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
BLS's May 2025 estimate puts the Delaware median at $38,610; for reference, the national median is $38,150.
Because the Delaware estimate rests on a small or imprecise sample, this page does not rank it or measure it against the national figures. In the same release, kennel attendant pay in Delaware has a $33,910 median, 25th of 51, between North Dakota ($34,040) and New Mexico ($33,570).
No differences are computed: the state estimate is low reliability (see the note above), so the figures are shown side by side only.
Delaware's published figures beside the national ones
BLS publishes the full Delaware distribution: a 10th percentile of $34,680, a 25th of $37,070, a median of $38,610, a 75th of $46,850 and a 90th of $57,930.
The national figures for the same occupation are $30,120, $35,660, $38,150, $45,710 and $49,150.
With no employment estimate behind the Delaware row, a gap between the two sets may reflect sampling as much as pay, so this page shows them side by side and does not measure the difference.
How far the Delaware figures spread
Half of the Delaware workers counted earned between $37,070 and $46,850, a band $9,780 wide.
From the 10th to the 90th percentile, the Delaware figures span $23,250.
Inside the middle band the median sits low: $1,540 above the 25th percentile and $8,240 below the 75th.
Without an employment estimate, read these as the rough shape of the distribution BLS measured; 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; the national figure is $18.34.
The data set carries hourly pay at the median only, so it is the one figure to hold an hourly posting against, bearing in mind the unknown sample behind the Delaware row.
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, or $23.25 an hour.
Because BLS publishes no employment estimate for the assistant row in Delaware, this page does not measure the step between the two medians.
The two rows count different groups of workers in any case, so neither figure describes a raise any one person should expect.
Vet tech pay in Delaware has a $48,370 median ($23.25/hr), ranked 20th of 51, between Hawaii and Ohio. This page's own figure rests on a small or imprecise sample, so it does not measure the step between the two.
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.
BLS publishes no employment estimate for the Delaware row, so treat the figure as a rough signal.
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; the national 90th percentile is $49,150.
With no employment estimate behind the Delaware row, treat the figure as a rough signal.
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; the national 10th percentile is $30,120.
With no employment estimate behind the Delaware row, treat it as a rough signal.
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.
BLS publishes no employment estimate for the assistant row in Delaware, so this page does not measure the gap between the two.
The figures describe different occupations counting different workers, so read them as 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 2026-09-25.