Veterinary Assistant Salary in Idaho
Veterinary assistants and laboratory animal caretakers in Idaho — BLS publishes the two as one combined occupation, SOC 31-9096 — earned a median annual wage of $37,530 in the May 2025 estimates, 2% below the national median of $38,150.
That ranks 22nd of the 51 jurisdictions that publish a median.
The distinctive part is the shape: the middle band is $3,800 wide against $10,050 nationally, while the 10th percentile sits 20% below the national floor.
What these figures cover
10th percentile
$24,230
25th percentile
$35,360
75th percentile
$39,160
90th percentile
$44,730
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May 2025 state estimates — Idaho, SOC 31-9096 (Veterinary Assistants and Laboratory Animal Caretakers). Retrieved 2026-09-16 from the BLS Public Data API.
How to read these figures
Idaho vs. the national figures
The Idaho median is below the national median by 2%. 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 22nd, and 38th by estimated employment.
Differences are whole percentages, rounded half away from zero, computed from the figures shown.
Level with the national figures at the 25th percentile and the median only
Idaho matches the national figures at only two points: the 25th percentile and the median.
The 25th is $35,360, just 1% below the national $35,660, and the median is 2% below $38,150.
Everywhere else the state sits lower.
The 10th percentile, $24,230, is 20% below the national $30,120.
Above the median the gap is largest in dollars at the 75th — $6,550, or 14%, below the national $45,710 — then narrows to $4,420, or 9%, at the 90th.
Someone benchmarking an Idaho offer against national figures should read the comparison percentile by percentile: only near the 25th and the median do the two line up.
A much tighter middle band than the national one
Half of the Idaho workers counted earned between $35,360 and $39,160, a band just $3,800 wide against a national band of $10,050 — the most distinctive feature of this row.
The band is narrow because its two edges sit at different distances from the national figures: the bottom, $35,360, is just 1% under the national 25th percentile of $35,660, while the top, $39,160, is 14% under the national 75th of $45,710.
From the 10th to the 90th percentile Idaho spans $20,500, slightly more than the national $19,030.
Inside the band the median sits toward the top, $2,170 above the 25th percentile and only $1,630 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 Idaho is $18.04, against $18.34 nationally — $0.30 less, the same 2% 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 employment estimate for a combined occupation
BLS estimates 680 people were employed in this combined occupation in Idaho, 38th 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 Idaho vet tech median
In the same release, Idaho's veterinary technologists and technicians have a median of $42,120, which is $4,590, or 12%, above the median for this occupation.
Hourly, the technician median is $20.25 against $18.04, a difference of $2.21.
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 Idaho have a median of $42,120 ($20.25/hr) — $4,590 above the veterinary assistants and laboratory animal caretakers median shown on this page. Vet tech salary in Idaho →
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the median veterinary assistant salary in Idaho?
BLS does not publish veterinary assistants on their own.
The closest figure is SOC 31-9096, Veterinary Assistants and Laboratory Animal Caretakers, whose Idaho median annual wage was $37,530 in May 2025, or $18.04 an hour.
Half of those counted earned more and half earned less.
The national median for the same occupation is $38,150, so Idaho sits 2% below it.
How much do the top-paid workers in this occupation earn in Idaho?
The Idaho 90th percentile is $44,730, meaning one in ten workers counted in SOC 31-9096 earned more than that.
Nationally the 90th percentile is $49,150, so the Idaho figure is $4,420, or 9%, lower.
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 Idaho?
The Idaho 10th percentile is $24,230, meaning one in ten workers counted earned less than that.
That is $5,890, or 20%, below the national 10th percentile of $30,120 — the largest percentage gap of the five percentiles.
The 25th percentile, by contrast, is just 1% below the national $35,660.
Above the median the shortfall returns: the 75th is $6,550, or 14%, under the national $45,710.
How does this compare with vet tech pay in Idaho?
In the same BLS release, veterinary technologists and technicians in Idaho have a median of $42,120, against $37,530 for veterinary assistants and laboratory animal caretakers — a difference of $4,590, or 12%.
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 Idaho?
BLS estimates 680 people employed in SOC 31-9096 in Idaho, 38th 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 Idaho Veterinary Assistant Resources
Sources
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May 2025 state estimates — Idaho, 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.