Veterinary Assistant Salary in Mississippi
Veterinary assistants and laboratory animal caretakers in Mississippi — BLS publishes the two as one combined occupation, SOC 31-9096 — earned a median annual wage of $30,360 in the May 2025 estimates, $7,790 or 20% below the national median of $38,150.
That ranks 51st of the 51 jurisdictions that publish a median.
The shortfall is widest in the middle of the distribution — 22% below at the 25th percentile — and narrows to 8% at the 90th.
What these figures cover
10th percentile
$26,060
25th percentile
$27,880
75th percentile
$36,840
90th percentile
$45,440
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May 2025 state estimates — Mississippi, SOC 31-9096 (Veterinary Assistants and Laboratory Animal Caretakers). Retrieved 2026-09-16 from the BLS Public Data API.
How to read these figures
Mississippi vs. the national figures
The Mississippi median is below the national median by 20%. 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 51st, and 41st by estimated employment.
Differences are whole percentages, rounded half away from zero, computed from the figures shown.
Below the national figures at every percentile, most in the middle
Mississippi sits below the national figures at every published percentile, but not by the same margin.
The 10th percentile, $26,060, is 13% below the national $30,120.
The 25th percentile, $27,880, is 22% below the national $35,660 — the widest gap in the distribution — and the median of $30,360 is 20% below the national $38,150.
The 75th percentile, $36,840, is 19% below the national $45,710, and the gap narrows to 8% at the 90th percentile, $45,440 against $49,150.
Someone benchmarking a Mississippi offer against national figures would overstate the middle of this distribution by $7,790 at the median.
A narrower middle band with the median sitting low in it
Half of the Mississippi workers counted earned between $27,880 and $36,840, a band $8,960 wide — narrower than the national band of $10,050.
From the 10th to the 90th percentile the state spans $19,380, slightly wider than the national span of $19,030.
Inside the middle band the median sits low: $2,480 above the 25th percentile and $6,480 below the 75th, so the upper half of the band carries more of the range than the lower half does.
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 Mississippi is $14.60, against $18.34 nationally — $3.74 less, the same 20% 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.
560 employed — 41st among the estimates BLS publishes
BLS estimates 560 people were employed in this combined occupation in Mississippi, 41st 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.
At this size the estimate is a broad gauge of how many people hold the job, not a precise count.
Against the Mississippi vet tech median
In the same release, Mississippi's veterinary technologists and technicians have a median of $36,380, which is $6,020, or 20%, above the median for this occupation.
On hourly figures the gap is $17.49 against $14.60, $2.89 more.
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 Mississippi have a median of $36,380 ($17.49/hr) — $6,020 above the veterinary assistants and laboratory animal caretakers median shown on this page. Vet tech salary in Mississippi →
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the median veterinary assistant salary in Mississippi?
BLS does not publish veterinary assistants on their own.
The closest figure is SOC 31-9096, Veterinary Assistants and Laboratory Animal Caretakers, whose Mississippi median annual wage was $30,360 in May 2025, or $14.60 an hour.
Half of those counted earned more and half earned less.
The national median for the same occupation is $38,150, so Mississippi sits 20% below it.
How much do the top-paid workers in this occupation earn in Mississippi?
The Mississippi 90th percentile is $45,440, meaning one in ten workers counted in SOC 31-9096 earned more than that.
Nationally the 90th percentile is $49,150, so the Mississippi figure is $3,710, or 8%, 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 the range look like in Mississippi?
The Mississippi 10th percentile is $26,060, meaning one in ten workers counted in SOC 31-9096 earned less than that.
The national 10th percentile is $30,120, so the Mississippi floor is $4,060, or 13%, lower.
From there the distribution rises slowly: the 25th percentile is $27,880, $1,820 higher, and the median another $2,480 up at $30,360.
How does this compare with vet tech pay in Mississippi?
In the same BLS release, veterinary technologists and technicians in Mississippi have a median of $36,380, against $30,360 for veterinary assistants and laboratory animal caretakers — a difference of $6,020.
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 Mississippi?
BLS estimates 560 people employed in SOC 31-9096 in Mississippi, 41st 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 Mississippi Veterinary Assistant Resources
Sources
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May 2025 state estimates — Mississippi, 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.