Veterinary Assistant Salary in New Jersey
Veterinary assistants and laboratory animal caretakers in New Jersey — BLS publishes the two as one combined occupation, SOC 31-9096 — earned a median annual wage of $46,160 in the May 2025 estimates, $8,010 or 21% above the national median of $38,150.
That ranks 5th of the 51 jurisdictions that publish a median.
The distribution is compressed in the middle: the 25th-to-75th band is narrower than the national one, while the 10th-to-90th span is wider.
What these figures cover
10th percentile
$36,720
25th percentile
$39,700
75th percentile
$48,190
90th percentile
$57,670
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May 2025 state estimates — New Jersey, SOC 31-9096 (Veterinary Assistants and Laboratory Animal Caretakers). Retrieved 2026-09-16 from the BLS Public Data API.
How to read these figures
New Jersey vs. the national figures
The New Jersey median is above the national median by 21%. 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 5th, and 14th by estimated employment.
Differences are whole percentages, rounded half away from zero, computed from the figures shown.
Ahead at every percentile — most at the floor, least at the 75th
New Jersey sits above the national figures at every published percentile, but not by the same margin.
The 10th percentile, $36,720, is 22% above the national $30,120 — the largest relative lead in the row.
The 25th percentile, $39,700, is 11% above, and the median is 21% above, $8,010 over $38,150.
The lead then narrows sharply: the 75th percentile, $48,190, is only 5% above the national $45,710.
At the 90th percentile the gap opens again — $57,670 is 17%, or $8,520, above the national $49,150.
Someone benchmarking a New Jersey offer against national figures would understate the middle of this distribution by $8,010.
A compressed middle band with a wider top-to-bottom span
Half of the New Jersey workers counted earned between $39,700 and $48,190, a band $8,490 wide — narrower than the national band of $10,050.
The 10th-to-90th span runs the other way: $20,950, against $19,030 nationally.
So the middle of this distribution is compressed while the outer tails stretch.
Inside the band the median sits high — $6,460 above the 25th percentile and only $2,030 below the 75th — where the national median sits $2,490 above its 25th 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 New Jersey is $22.19, against $18.34 nationally — $3.85 more, the same 21% 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 count for a combined occupation
BLS estimates 3,270 people were employed in this combined occupation in New Jersey, 14th 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 New Jersey vet tech median
In the same release, New Jersey's veterinary technologists and technicians have a median of $49,050, which is $2,890, 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 New Jersey have a median of $49,050 ($23.58/hr) — $2,890 above the veterinary assistants and laboratory animal caretakers median shown on this page. Vet tech salary in New Jersey →
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the median veterinary assistant salary in New Jersey?
BLS does not publish veterinary assistants on their own.
The closest figure is SOC 31-9096, Veterinary Assistants and Laboratory Animal Caretakers, whose New Jersey median annual wage was $46,160 in May 2025, or $22.19 an hour.
Half of those counted earned more and half earned less.
The national median for the same occupation is $38,150, so New Jersey sits 21% above it.
What does the low end of pay look like in New Jersey?
The New Jersey 10th percentile is $36,720 — one in ten workers counted in SOC 31-9096 earned less than that.
It sits $6,600, or 22%, above the national 10th percentile of $30,120, the largest relative lead of any percentile in this row.
Even the floor of this distribution clears the national figure by a wide margin.
How much do the top-paid workers in this occupation earn in New Jersey?
The New Jersey 90th percentile is $57,670, meaning one in ten workers counted in SOC 31-9096 earned more than that.
Nationally the 90th percentile is $49,150, so the New Jersey figure is $8,520, or 17%, higher.
Because the occupation combines veterinary assistants with laboratory animal caretakers, the figure cannot say which of the two groups sits at the top.
How does this compare with vet tech pay in New Jersey?
In the same BLS release, veterinary technologists and technicians in New Jersey have a median of $49,050, against $46,160 for veterinary assistants and laboratory animal caretakers — a difference of $2,890.
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 New Jersey?
BLS estimates 3,270 people employed in SOC 31-9096 in New Jersey, 14th 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 New Jersey Veterinary Assistant Resources
Sources
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May 2025 state estimates — New Jersey, 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.