Veterinary Assistant Salary in Maryland
Veterinary assistants and laboratory animal caretakers in Maryland — BLS publishes the two as one combined occupation, SOC 31-9096 — earned a median annual wage of $44,770 in the May 2025 estimates, $6,620 or 17% above the national median of $38,150.
That ranks 8th of the 51 jurisdictions that publish a median.
The lead holds at every percentile but is widest at the ends: the 10th percentile sits 23% above the national floor, the 90th sits 24% above the national ceiling, and the gap narrows to 8% at the 75th.
What these figures cover
10th percentile
$37,150
25th percentile
$39,440
75th percentile
$49,230
90th percentile
$60,710
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May 2025 state estimates — Maryland, SOC 31-9096 (Veterinary Assistants and Laboratory Animal Caretakers). Retrieved 2026-09-16 from the BLS Public Data API.
How to read these figures
Maryland vs. the national figures
The Maryland median is above the national median by 17%. 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 8th, and 19th by estimated employment.
Differences are whole percentages, rounded half away from zero, computed from the figures shown.
Above the national at every percentile, most of all at the ends
Maryland sits above the national figures at every published percentile, but not by the same margin.
The 10th percentile, $37,150, is 23% above the national $30,120, and the 25th percentile, $39,440, is 11% above.
At the median the lead is 17%, and then it narrows: the 75th percentile, $49,230, is only 8% above the national $45,710, while the 90th percentile, $60,710, is 24% above the national $49,150 — an $11,560 gap, the widest dollar gap at any point in the distribution.
Someone benchmarking a Maryland offer against national figures would understate the middle of the Maryland distribution by $6,620 at the median — but by only $3,520 at the 75th percentile.
A narrower middle band around a wider overall span
Half of the Maryland workers counted earned between $39,440 and $49,230, a band $9,790 wide — slightly narrower than the national band of $10,050.
From the 10th to the 90th percentile, Maryland spans $23,560, against $19,030 nationally, and the extra width lives above the 75th percentile, where the state's $60,710 sits well clear of the national $49,150.
Inside the middle band the median sits in the upper half: $5,330 above the 25th percentile and $4,460 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 Maryland is $21.52, against $18.34 nationally — $3.18 more, the same 17% 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 mid-sized employment estimate — for a combined occupation
BLS estimates 2,220 people were employed in this combined occupation in Maryland, 19th 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 Maryland vet tech median
In the same release, Maryland's veterinary technologists and technicians have a median of $47,350, which is $2,580, or 6%, above the median for this occupation — the technician median is 1.1 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 Maryland have a median of $47,350 ($22.77/hr) — $2,580 above the veterinary assistants and laboratory animal caretakers median shown on this page. Vet tech salary in Maryland →
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the median veterinary assistant salary in Maryland?
BLS does not publish veterinary assistants on their own.
The closest figure is SOC 31-9096, Veterinary Assistants and Laboratory Animal Caretakers, whose Maryland median annual wage was $44,770 in May 2025, or $21.52 an hour.
Half of those counted earned more and half earned less.
The national median for the same occupation is $38,150, so Maryland sits 17% above it.
How much do the top-paid workers in this occupation earn in Maryland?
The Maryland 90th percentile is $60,710, meaning one in ten workers counted in SOC 31-9096 earned more than that.
Nationally the 90th percentile is $49,150, so the Maryland figure is $11,560, or 24%, 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 pay look like in Maryland?
The Maryland 10th percentile is $37,150 — one in ten workers counted earned less, and the figure is 23% above the national 10th percentile of $30,120.
The 25th percentile is $39,440, 11% above the national $35,660.
From the 10th to the 90th percentile the state spans $23,560, wider than the national span of $19,030.
How does this compare with vet tech pay in Maryland?
In the same BLS release, veterinary technologists and technicians in Maryland have a median of $47,350, against $44,770 for veterinary assistants and laboratory animal caretakers — a difference of $2,580.
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 Maryland?
BLS estimates 2,220 people employed in SOC 31-9096 in Maryland, 19th 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 Maryland Veterinary Assistant Resources
Sources
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May 2025 state estimates — Maryland, 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.