Veterinary Assistant Salary in Hawaii
Veterinary assistants and laboratory animal caretakers in Hawaii — BLS publishes the two as one combined occupation, SOC 31-9096 — earned a median annual wage of $44,070 in the May 2025 estimates, $5,920 or 16% above the national median of $38,150.
That ranks 13th of the 51 jurisdictions that publish a median.
The distinctive part is the top of the range: the Hawaii 75th percentile sits 1% below the national figure, and the 90th only 1% above, so the lead is at the floor and the middle.
What these figures cover
10th percentile
$35,200
25th percentile
$36,330
75th percentile
$45,120
90th percentile
$49,400
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May 2025 state estimates — Hawaii, SOC 31-9096 (Veterinary Assistants and Laboratory Animal Caretakers). Retrieved 2026-09-16 from the BLS Public Data API.
How to read these figures
Hawaii vs. the national figures
The Hawaii 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 13th, and 40th by estimated employment.
Differences are whole percentages, rounded half away from zero, computed from the figures shown.
Ahead at the floor and the middle, level at the top
Hawaii sits above the national figures at the floor and the middle, then the two distributions converge at the top.
The 10th percentile, $35,200, is 17% above the national $30,120 — the widest lead in the distribution.
The 25th percentile is 2% above.
At the median the lead is 16%, or $5,920.
From there it disappears: the 75th percentile, $45,120, is 1% below the national $45,710, and the 90th percentile, $49,400, only 1% above the national $49,150.
Someone benchmarking a Hawaii offer against national figures would understate the middle of the Hawaii distribution by $5,920.
A narrower range than the national one, with the median high in the band
Half of the Hawaii workers counted earned between $36,330 and $45,120, a band $8,790 wide — narrower than the national band of $10,050.
From the 10th to the 90th percentile the Hawaii figures span $14,200, against $19,030 nationally, so the whole distribution is more compressed.
Inside the middle band the median sits high: $7,740 above the 25th percentile and only $1,050 below the 75th.
OEWS does not publish why a distribution has this shape, so this page does not assign it a cause.
Reading an hourly posting against these figures
The hourly median in Hawaii is $21.19, against $18.34 nationally — $2.85 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 workforce in a combined occupation
BLS estimates 570 people were employed in this combined occupation in Hawaii, 40th among the jurisdictions that publish an employment figure.
The count includes laboratory animal caretakers as well as veterinary assistants, in a split BLS does not publish, and with a count this small the estimates can move between releases.
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 Hawaii vet tech median
In the same release, Hawaii's veterinary technologists and technicians have a median of $48,550, which is $4,480, or 10%, above the median for this occupation — 1.1 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 Hawaii have a median of $48,550 ($23.34/hr) — $4,480 above the veterinary assistants and laboratory animal caretakers median shown on this page. Vet tech salary in Hawaii →
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the median veterinary assistant salary in Hawaii?
BLS does not publish veterinary assistants on their own.
The closest figure is SOC 31-9096, Veterinary Assistants and Laboratory Animal Caretakers, whose Hawaii median annual wage was $44,070 in May 2025, or $21.19 an hour.
Half of those counted earned more and half earned less.
The national median for the same occupation is $38,150, so Hawaii sits 16% above it.
How much do the top-paid workers in this occupation earn in Hawaii?
The Hawaii 90th percentile is $49,400, meaning one in ten workers counted in SOC 31-9096 earned more than that.
Nationally the 90th percentile is $49,150, so the Hawaii figure is 1% higher.
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 the range look like in Hawaii?
The 10th percentile in Hawaii is $35,200 — one in ten workers counted earned less than that, and the figure is 17% above the national 10th percentile of $30,120.
The 25th percentile is $36,330, 2% above the national $35,660.
So even the bottom of the Hawaii distribution sits above the national one.
How does this compare with vet tech pay in Hawaii?
In the same BLS release, veterinary technologists and technicians in Hawaii have a median of $48,550, against $44,070 for veterinary assistants and laboratory animal caretakers — a difference of $4,480.
The technician median is 1.1 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 Hawaii?
BLS estimates 570 people employed in SOC 31-9096 in Hawaii, 40th 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 Hawaii Veterinary Assistant Resources
Sources
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May 2025 state estimates — Hawaii, 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.