Veterinary Assistant Salary in Missouri
Veterinary assistants and laboratory animal caretakers in Missouri — BLS publishes the two as one combined occupation, SOC 31-9096 — earned a median annual wage of $36,660 in the May 2025 estimates, $1,490 or 4% below the national median of $38,150.
That ranks 34th of the 51 jurisdictions that publish a median.
The distinctive part is the shape: the 10th percentile sits 1% above the national floor, while the shortfall widens to 9% below at the 75th percentile.
What these figures cover
10th percentile
$30,280
25th percentile
$34,150
75th percentile
$41,650
90th percentile
$45,940
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May 2025 state estimates — Missouri, SOC 31-9096 (Veterinary Assistants and Laboratory Animal Caretakers). Retrieved 2026-09-16 from the BLS Public Data API.
How to read these figures
Missouri vs. the national figures
The Missouri median is below the national median by 4%. 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 34th, and 22nd by estimated employment.
Differences are whole percentages, rounded half away from zero, computed from the figures shown.
Holds even at the floor, falls away up the range
Missouri tracks the national figures at the floor and falls behind above it.
The state's 10th percentile, $30,280, sits 1% above the national $30,120, but the 25th percentile, $34,150, is 4% below the national $35,660, and the median is 4% below at $36,660.
The gap widens through the upper half: the 75th percentile, $41,650, is 9% below the national $45,710, and the 90th, $45,940, is $3,210 or 7% below the national $49,150.
Someone benchmarking a Missouri offer against national figures therefore finds the shortfall widest in the upper-middle of the distribution, not at the median.
A compressed middle band, with the median sitting low
Half of Missouri's workers in this combined occupation earned between $34,150 and $41,650, a middle band $7,500 wide — narrower than the national band of $10,050.
From the 10th to the 90th percentile the state spans $15,660, against $19,030 nationally.
Inside the band the median sits low: $2,510 above the 25th percentile and $4,990 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 Missouri is $17.62, against $18.34 nationally — $0.72 less, the same 4% 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 2,010 people were employed in this combined occupation in Missouri, 22nd 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 Missouri vet tech median
In the same release, Missouri's veterinary technologists and technicians have a median of $43,520, which is $6,860, or 19%, above the median for this occupation.
On an hourly basis the technician median is $20.92 against $17.62 — $3.30 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 Missouri have a median of $43,520 ($20.92/hr) — $6,860 above the veterinary assistants and laboratory animal caretakers median shown on this page. Vet tech salary in Missouri →
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the median veterinary assistant salary in Missouri?
BLS does not publish veterinary assistants on their own.
The closest figure is SOC 31-9096, Veterinary Assistants and Laboratory Animal Caretakers, whose Missouri median annual wage was $36,660 in May 2025, or $17.62 an hour.
Half of those counted earned more and half earned less.
The national median for the same occupation is $38,150, so Missouri sits 4% below it.
How much do the top-paid workers in this occupation earn in Missouri?
The Missouri 90th percentile is $45,940, meaning one in ten workers counted in SOC 31-9096 earned more than that.
Nationally the 90th percentile is $49,150, so the Missouri figure is $3,210, or 7%, 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 Missouri?
The Missouri 10th percentile is $30,280 — 1% above the national floor of $30,120, the one point where the state's distribution holds its own.
The 25th percentile is $34,150, 4% below the national $35,660.
A percentile is a position in a distribution, not an experience level, so these figures say where the lower part of the range falls, not what any career stage earns.
How does this compare with vet tech pay in Missouri?
In the same BLS release, veterinary technologists and technicians in Missouri have a median of $43,520, against $36,660 for veterinary assistants and laboratory animal caretakers — a difference of $6,860, or 19% 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 Missouri?
BLS estimates 2,010 people employed in SOC 31-9096 in Missouri, 22nd 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 Missouri Veterinary Assistant Resources
Sources
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May 2025 state estimates — Missouri, 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.