Veterinary Assistant Salary in Illinois
Veterinary assistants and laboratory animal caretakers in Illinois — BLS publishes the two as one combined occupation, SOC 31-9096 — earned a median annual wage of $37,480 in the May 2025 estimates, 2% below the national median of $38,150.
That ranks 24th of the 51 jurisdictions that publish a median.
The distinctive part is the shape: the Illinois 10th percentile sits 5% above the national one, while every percentile above the floor sits below the national figures.
What these figures cover
10th percentile
$31,550
25th percentile
$35,110
75th percentile
$43,420
90th percentile
$47,000
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May 2025 state estimates — Illinois, SOC 31-9096 (Veterinary Assistants and Laboratory Animal Caretakers). Retrieved 2026-09-16 from the BLS Public Data API.
How to read these figures
Illinois vs. the national figures
The Illinois 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 24th, and 14th by estimated employment.
Differences are whole percentages, rounded half away from zero, computed from the figures shown.
Above the national line only at the floor
Illinois sits above the national figures at the 10th percentile and below them at every other published point.
The Illinois 10th percentile, $31,550, is $1,430 or 5% above the national $30,120 — the only place the state leads.
From there it falls behind: the 25th percentile, $35,110, is 2% below the national $35,660, the median is 2% below at $37,480, and the shortfall reaches $2,290 at the 75th percentile ($43,420 against $45,710) and $2,150 at the 90th ($47,000 against $49,150).
For someone benchmarking an Illinois offer, national figures slightly overstate the middle and the ceiling of the state distribution and slightly understate its floor.
A tighter range than the national one
Half of the Illinois workers counted earned between $35,110 and $43,420, a band $8,310 wide — against a national band of $10,050.
From the 10th to the 90th percentile Illinois spans $15,450, against $19,030 nationally.
Inside that narrower band the median sits low: $2,370 above the 25th percentile and $5,940 below the 75th, so the upper half of the Illinois distribution stretches less than the national upper half does.
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 Illinois is $18.02, against $18.34 nationally — $0.32 less, the same 2% shortfall 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.
What the employment estimate counts
BLS estimates 3,270 people were employed in this combined occupation in Illinois, tied for 14th 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.
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 Illinois vet tech median
In the same release, Illinois's veterinary technologists and technicians have a median of $46,440, which is $8,960, or 24%, above the median for this occupation.
On hourly medians the distance is $4.31 ($22.33 against $18.02).
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, and nothing in these figures describes a promotion path between them.
Same release, same state: veterinary technologists and technicians (SOC 29-2056) in Illinois have a median of $46,440 ($22.33/hr) — $8,960 above the veterinary assistants and laboratory animal caretakers median shown on this page. Vet tech salary in Illinois →
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the median veterinary assistant salary in Illinois?
BLS does not publish veterinary assistants on their own.
The closest figure is SOC 31-9096, Veterinary Assistants and Laboratory Animal Caretakers, whose Illinois median annual wage was $37,480 in May 2025, or $18.02 an hour.
Half of those counted earned more and half earned less.
The national median for the same occupation is $38,150, so Illinois sits 2% below it.
How much do the top-paid workers in this occupation earn in Illinois?
The Illinois 90th percentile is $47,000, meaning one in ten workers counted in SOC 31-9096 earned more than that.
Nationally the 90th percentile is $49,150, so the Illinois figure is $2,150, or 4%, lower.
At the other end, the 10th percentile is $31,550, $1,430 above the national figure of $30,120.
Because the occupation combines veterinary assistants with laboratory animal caretakers, the figures cannot say which of the two groups sits at either end.
How does this compare with vet tech pay in Illinois?
In the same BLS release, veterinary technologists and technicians in Illinois have a median of $46,440, against $37,480 for veterinary assistants and laboratory animal caretakers — a difference of $8,960, or 24% on this occupation's median.
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 Illinois?
BLS estimates 3,270 people employed in SOC 31-9096 in Illinois, tied for 14th 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 during the survey period, not a count of vacancies.
What does the low end of pay look like in Illinois?
The Illinois 10th percentile is $31,550 and the 25th is $35,110 — one in four workers counted in SOC 31-9096 earned less than $35,110.
The 10th percentile sits $1,430, or 5%, above the national $30,120, while the 25th is 2% below the national $35,660.
A percentile is a position in the state's distribution, not a career stage.
More Illinois Veterinary Assistant Resources
Sources
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May 2025 state estimates — Illinois, 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.