Veterinary Assistant Salary in Iowa
Veterinary assistants and laboratory animal caretakers in Iowa — BLS publishes the two as one combined occupation, SOC 31-9096 — earned a median annual wage of $35,720 in the May 2025 estimates, $2,430 or 6% below the national median of $38,150, ranking 42nd of the 51 jurisdictions that publish a median.
The shortfall is not even: the middle of Iowa's distribution sits furthest below the national figures, while the floor and ceiling land within 4%.
What these figures cover
10th percentile
$29,440
25th percentile
$30,590
75th percentile
$39,020
90th percentile
$47,220
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May 2025 state estimates — Iowa, SOC 31-9096 (Veterinary Assistants and Laboratory Animal Caretakers). Retrieved 2026-09-16 from the BLS Public Data API.
How to read these figures
Iowa vs. the national figures
The Iowa median is below the national median by 6%. 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 42nd, and 30th by estimated employment.
Differences are whole percentages, rounded half away from zero, computed from the figures shown.
Below the national figures, most in the middle
Iowa sits below the national figures at every published percentile, but not by the same margin.
The 10th percentile, $29,440, is only 2% below the national $30,120, and the 90th, $47,220, is $1,930 below the national $49,150 — gaps of 2% and 4%.
The middle is where the state falls furthest behind: the 25th percentile, $30,590, is $5,070, or 14%, below the national $35,660, and the 75th, $39,020, is $6,690, or 15%, below the national $45,710.
At the median the gap is $2,430, or 6%.
Someone benchmarking an Iowa offer against the national figures would overstate the middle of the Iowa distribution most, and least near the ends of the range.
A narrower band with the median sitting high inside it
Half of the Iowa workers counted earned between $30,590 and $39,020, a band $8,430 wide — narrower than the national band of $10,050.
From the 10th to the 90th percentile Iowa spans $17,780, against $19,030 nationally.
Inside the middle band the median sits high: $5,130 above the 25th percentile and just $3,300 below the 75th, whereas the national median sits low, $2,490 above its 25th percentile and $7,560 below its 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 Iowa is $17.18, against $18.34 nationally — $1.16 less, the same 6% 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.
What the employment estimate counts
BLS estimates 1,380 people were employed in this combined occupation in Iowa, 30th 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 Iowa vet tech median
In the same release, Iowa's veterinary technologists and technicians have a median of $45,560, which is $9,840, or 28%, above the median for this occupation.
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 Iowa have a median of $45,560 ($21.90/hr) — $9,840 above the veterinary assistants and laboratory animal caretakers median shown on this page. Vet tech salary in Iowa →
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the median veterinary assistant salary in Iowa?
BLS does not publish veterinary assistants on their own.
The closest figure is SOC 31-9096, Veterinary Assistants and Laboratory Animal Caretakers, whose Iowa median annual wage was $35,720 in May 2025, or $17.18 an hour.
Half of those counted earned more and half earned less.
The national median for the same occupation is $38,150, so Iowa sits 6% below it.
How much do the top-paid workers in this occupation earn in Iowa?
The Iowa 90th percentile is $47,220, meaning one in ten workers counted in SOC 31-9096 earned more than that.
Nationally the 90th percentile is $49,150, so the Iowa figure is $1,930, 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 Iowa?
One in ten workers counted in Iowa earned less than the 10th-percentile figure of $29,440, and a quarter earned less than $30,590.
The floor is the part of the Iowa distribution closest to the national one — just 2% below the national 10th percentile of $30,120 — while the gap at the 25th percentile widens to $5,070.
How does this compare with vet tech pay in Iowa?
In the same BLS release, veterinary technologists and technicians in Iowa have a median of $45,560, against $35,720 for veterinary assistants and laboratory animal caretakers — a difference of $9,840.
The technician median is 1.3 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 Iowa?
BLS estimates 1,380 people employed in SOC 31-9096 in Iowa, 30th 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 Iowa Veterinary Assistant Resources
Sources
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May 2025 state estimates — Iowa, 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.