Veterinary Assistant Salary in Oklahoma
Veterinary assistants and laboratory animal caretakers in Oklahoma — BLS publishes the two as one combined occupation, SOC 31-9096 — earned a median annual wage of $34,850 in the May 2025 estimates, $3,300 or 9% below the national median of $38,150.
That ranks 44th of the 51 jurisdictions that publish a median.
The distinctive part is the shape: a middle band much narrower than the national one, and a stretch from the 75th percentile to the 90th far longer than the national gap.
What these figures cover
10th percentile
$23,170
25th percentile
$29,810
75th percentile
$36,380
90th percentile
$46,810
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May 2025 state estimates — Oklahoma, SOC 31-9096 (Veterinary Assistants and Laboratory Animal Caretakers). Retrieved 2026-09-16 from the BLS Public Data API.
How to read these figures
Oklahoma vs. the national figures
The Oklahoma median is below the national median by 9%. 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 44th, and 24th by estimated employment.
Differences are whole percentages, rounded half away from zero, computed from the figures shown.
Below the national figures at every percentile, widest just above the middle
Oklahoma sits below the national figures at every published percentile, but not by a uniform margin.
The 10th percentile, $23,170, is 23% below the national $30,120, and the 25th percentile, $29,810, is 16% below.
At the median the gap narrows to $3,300, or 9%.
It then widens again before the ceiling: the 75th percentile, $36,380, is $9,330, or 20%, below the national $45,710 — the largest dollar shortfall of any percentile — while the 90th percentile, $46,810, is only $2,340, or 5%, below the national figure.
Benchmarking an Oklahoma offer against the national median alone would miss how uneven the shortfall is across the range.
A compressed middle band, and a long reach to the 90th percentile
Half of the Oklahoma workers counted earned between $29,810 and $36,380, a band $6,570 wide — considerably narrower than the national band of $10,050.
Inside that band the median sits high: $5,040 above the 25th percentile and only $1,530 below the 75th, whereas the national median sits $7,560 below its own 75th percentile.
Yet the full span from the 10th to the 90th percentile is $23,640, wider than the national $19,030, because the stretch from the 75th percentile to the 90th runs $10,430 against $3,440 nationally.
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 Oklahoma is $16.76, against $18.34 nationally — $1.58 less, the same 9% 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 1,740 people were employed in this combined occupation in Oklahoma, 24th 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 Oklahoma vet tech median
In the same release, Oklahoma's veterinary technologists and technicians have a median of $39,100, which is $4,250, or 12%, above the median for this occupation.
On an hourly basis the technician median is $18.80 against $16.76, a difference of $2.04.
Read that as the distance between two BLS occupations in one state — the technician median is 1.1 times this occupation's median — 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 Oklahoma have a median of $39,100 ($18.80/hr) — $4,250 above the veterinary assistants and laboratory animal caretakers median shown on this page. Vet tech salary in Oklahoma →
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the median veterinary assistant salary in Oklahoma?
BLS does not publish veterinary assistants on their own.
The closest figure is SOC 31-9096, Veterinary Assistants and Laboratory Animal Caretakers, whose Oklahoma median annual wage was $34,850 in May 2025, or $16.76 an hour.
Half of those counted earned more and half earned less.
The national median for the same occupation is $38,150, so Oklahoma sits 9% below it.
How much do the top-paid workers in this occupation earn in Oklahoma?
The Oklahoma 90th percentile is $46,810, meaning one in ten workers counted in SOC 31-9096 earned more than that.
Nationally the 90th percentile is $49,150, so the Oklahoma figure is $2,340, or 5%, 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 Oklahoma?
The Oklahoma 10th percentile is $23,170, and the 25th percentile is $29,810.
The floor is where the state falls furthest behind in percentage terms: the 10th percentile is $6,950, or 23%, below the national $30,120.
Because the occupation combines veterinary assistants with laboratory animal caretakers, the figures cannot say which of the two groups makes up more of the lower tail.
How does this compare with vet tech pay in Oklahoma?
In the same BLS release, veterinary technologists and technicians in Oklahoma have a median of $39,100, against $34,850 for veterinary assistants and laboratory animal caretakers — a difference of $4,250.
The technician median is 1.1 times this occupation's median.
The two figures describe different occupations counting different groups of workers, so the gap is context for a career decision, not a promised raise.
How many veterinary assistants work in Oklahoma?
BLS estimates 1,740 people employed in SOC 31-9096 in Oklahoma, 24th 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 Oklahoma Veterinary Assistant Resources
Sources
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May 2025 state estimates — Oklahoma, 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.