Veterinary Assistant Salary in Florida
Veterinary assistants and laboratory animal caretakers in Florida — BLS publishes the two as one combined occupation, SOC 31-9096 — earned a median annual wage of $37,830 in the May 2025 estimates, 1% below the national median of $38,150.
That ranks 20th of the 51 jurisdictions that publish a median.
The distinctive part is the flip across the range: Florida sits above the national figures at the bottom — the 10th percentile is 3% higher — and below them from the median up, with the 90th percentile 4% lower.
What these figures cover
10th percentile
$31,090
25th percentile
$36,160
75th percentile
$44,930
90th percentile
$47,270
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May 2025 state estimates — Florida, SOC 31-9096 (Veterinary Assistants and Laboratory Animal Caretakers). Retrieved 2026-09-16 from the BLS Public Data API.
How to read these figures
Florida vs. the national figures
The Florida median is below 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 20th, and 4th by estimated employment.
Differences are whole percentages, rounded half away from zero, computed from the figures shown.
Above the national figures at the floor, behind them from the median up
Florida's position against the national figures flips sign between the 25th percentile and the median.
The 10th percentile, $31,090, is 3% above the national $30,120, and the 25th percentile, $36,160, is 1% above.
From the median up Florida runs behind: the median is 1% below the national $38,150, the 75th percentile, $44,930, is 2% below the national $45,710, and the 90th percentile, $47,270, is $1,880, or 4%, below the national $49,150.
Someone benchmarking a Florida offer against these national figures should expect the bottom of the range to run slightly ahead and the middle and top to run behind.
A range narrower than the national one at both ends
Half of the Florida workers counted earned between $36,160 and $44,930, a band $8,770 wide — narrower than the national band of $10,050, and pulled in from both ends: the 25th percentile sits 1% above the national one while the 75th sits 2% below.
From the 10th to the 90th percentile Florida spans $16,180, against $19,030 nationally.
Inside the middle band the median sits low — $1,670 above the 25th percentile and $7,100 below the 75th — so most of the band stretches upward from the median.
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 Florida is $18.19, against $18.34 nationally — $0.15 less, 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.
The employment estimate, for a combined occupation
BLS estimates 6,790 people were employed in this combined occupation in Florida, 4th 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 Florida vet tech median
In the same release, Florida's veterinary technologists and technicians have a median of $46,380, which is $8,550, or 23%, above the median for this occupation.
The technician median is 1.2 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 Florida have a median of $46,380 ($22.30/hr) — $8,550 above the veterinary assistants and laboratory animal caretakers median shown on this page. Vet tech salary in Florida →
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the median veterinary assistant salary in Florida?
BLS does not publish veterinary assistants on their own.
The closest figure is SOC 31-9096, Veterinary Assistants and Laboratory Animal Caretakers, whose Florida median annual wage was $37,830 in May 2025, or $18.19 an hour.
Half of those counted earned more and half earned less.
The national median for the same occupation is $38,150, so Florida sits 1% below it.
How much do the top-paid workers in this occupation earn in Florida?
The Florida 90th percentile is $47,270, meaning one in ten workers counted in SOC 31-9096 earned more than that.
Nationally the 90th percentile is $49,150, so the Florida figure is $1,880, or 4%, 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 Florida?
The Florida 10th percentile is $31,090 — one in ten workers counted earned less than that.
It runs 3% above the national 10th percentile of $30,120, and the 25th percentile is ahead of its national counterpart too, by 1%.
A percentile is a position in the state's distribution, not a job title or a career stage.
How does this compare with vet tech pay in Florida?
In the same BLS release, veterinary technologists and technicians in Florida have a median of $46,380, against $37,830 for veterinary assistants and laboratory animal caretakers — a difference of $8,550.
The technician median is 1.2 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 Florida?
BLS estimates 6,790 people employed in SOC 31-9096 in Florida, 4th 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 Florida Veterinary Assistant Resources
Sources
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May 2025 state estimates — Florida, 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.