Veterinary Assistant Salary in Minnesota
Veterinary assistants and laboratory animal caretakers in Minnesota — BLS publishes the two as one combined occupation, SOC 31-9096 — earned a median annual wage of $45,280 in the May 2025 estimates, $7,130 or 19% above the national median of $38,150.
That ranks 7th of the 51 jurisdictions that publish a median.
The distinctive part is the shape: Minnesota's range is far tighter than the national one, with the strongest margin at the floor and almost none of it left by the 75th percentile.
What these figures cover
10th percentile
$36,410
25th percentile
$38,000
75th percentile
$46,500
90th percentile
$49,060
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May 2025 state estimates — Minnesota, SOC 31-9096 (Veterinary Assistants and Laboratory Animal Caretakers). Retrieved 2026-09-16 from the BLS Public Data API.
How to read these figures
Minnesota vs. the national figures
The Minnesota median is above the national median by 19%. 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 7th, and 28th by estimated employment.
Differences are whole percentages, rounded half away from zero, computed from the figures shown.
Ahead at every percentile through the 75th, level at the 90th
Minnesota sits above the national figures at every percentile through the 75th, but by margins that swing widely.
The strongest position is the floor: the 10th percentile, $36,410, is $6,290 or 21% above the national $30,120.
At the 25th percentile the margin dips to 7% ($38,000 against $35,660), then returns to 19% at the median, $7,130 above $38,150.
Above the middle the lead collapses: the 75th percentile is only 2% above the national figure, and the 90th percentile, $49,060, sits level with the national $49,150.
An offer at the Minnesota median would come in $7,130 stronger than national figures suggest; near the top of the range the national figures match.
A much tighter range than the national one
Half of the Minnesota workers counted earned between $38,000 and $46,500, a middle band $8,500 wide against the national band of $10,050.
The 10th-to-90th span is tighter still: $12,650 in Minnesota against $19,030 nationally.
Inside the middle band the median sits high — $7,280 above the 25th percentile and only $1,220 below the 75th — whereas the national median sits low in its own band.
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 Minnesota is $21.77, against $18.34 nationally — $3.43 more, the same 19% 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.
The employment estimate, for a combined occupation
BLS estimates 1,450 people were employed in this combined occupation in Minnesota, 28th 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 Minnesota vet tech median
In the same release, Minnesota's veterinary technologists and technicians have a median of $57,270, which is $11,990, or 26%, 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 Minnesota have a median of $57,270 ($27.54/hr) — $11,990 above the veterinary assistants and laboratory animal caretakers median shown on this page. Vet tech salary in Minnesota →
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the median veterinary assistant salary in Minnesota?
BLS does not publish veterinary assistants on their own.
The closest figure is SOC 31-9096, Veterinary Assistants and Laboratory Animal Caretakers, whose Minnesota median annual wage was $45,280 in May 2025, or $21.77 an hour.
Half of those counted earned more and half earned less.
The national median for the same occupation is $38,150, so Minnesota sits 19% above it.
How much do the top-paid workers in this occupation earn in Minnesota?
The Minnesota 90th percentile is $49,060, meaning one in ten workers counted in SOC 31-9096 earned more than that.
Nationally the 90th percentile is $49,150, so the two ceilings sit at essentially the same level — in contrast to the state's clear lead at the median.
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 pay range look like in Minnesota?
The Minnesota 10th percentile is $36,410, meaning one in ten workers counted in SOC 31-9096 earned less than that.
It is $6,290, or 21%, above the national 10th percentile of $30,120 — the strongest margin of any percentile in the state.
A percentile marks a position in the distribution, not an experience level, and the occupation includes laboratory animal caretakers as well as veterinary assistants.
How does this compare with vet tech pay in Minnesota?
In the same BLS release, veterinary technologists and technicians in Minnesota have a median of $57,270, against $45,280 for veterinary assistants and laboratory animal caretakers — a difference of $11,990.
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 Minnesota?
BLS estimates 1,450 people employed in SOC 31-9096 in Minnesota, 28th 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 Minnesota Veterinary Assistant Resources
Sources
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May 2025 state estimates — Minnesota, 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.