Veterinary Assistant Salary in Oregon
Veterinary assistants and laboratory animal caretakers in Oregon — BLS publishes the two as one combined occupation, SOC 31-9096 — earned a median annual wage of $44,370 in the May 2025 estimates, $6,220 or 16% above the national median of $38,150.
That ranks 10th of the 51 jurisdictions that publish a median.
The distinctive part is how the lead sits: widest at the floor, with the Oregon 10th percentile 21% above the national one, and thinnest at the ceiling, where the 90th percentile is 1% above.
What these figures cover
10th percentile
$36,480
25th percentile
$38,570
75th percentile
$46,950
90th percentile
$49,470
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May 2025 state estimates — Oregon, SOC 31-9096 (Veterinary Assistants and Laboratory Animal Caretakers). Retrieved 2026-09-16 from the BLS Public Data API.
How to read these figures
Oregon vs. the national figures
The Oregon median is above the national median by 16%. 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 10th, and 16th by estimated employment.
Differences are whole percentages, rounded half away from zero, computed from the figures shown.
Ahead at every percentile, most of all at the floor
Oregon sits above the national figures at every published percentile, but not by the same margin.
The 10th percentile, $36,480, is 21% above the national $30,120 — the widest lead anywhere in the distribution.
The 25th percentile in between leads by 8%, so the lead is not uniform: it dips, then rises to 16% at the median, $6,220.
At the top it collapses — the 75th percentile, $46,950, is 3% above the national $45,710, and the 90th, $49,470, is just 1% above the national $49,150.
Someone holding an Oregon offer against national figures would understate the middle of the Oregon distribution by $6,220 at the median.
A tighter band, and a median that sits high in it
Half of the Oregon workers counted earned between $38,570 and $46,950, a band $8,380 wide — narrower than the national band of $10,050, in dollars and as a share of the median alike.
From the 10th to the 90th percentile Oregon spans $12,990, against $19,030 nationally, and every segment is tighter: $2,090 from the 10th to the 25th percentile against $5,540 nationally, the middle band $8,380 against $10,050, and $2,520 from the 75th to the 90th against $3,440.
Inside the band the median sits high — $5,800 above the 25th percentile and $2,580 below the 75th — the reverse of the national shape, where the median sits $2,490 above the 25th and $7,560 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 Oregon is $21.33, against $18.34 nationally — $2.99 more, the same 16% 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 and what it counts
BLS estimates 3,170 people were employed in this combined occupation in Oregon, 16th 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 Oregon vet tech median
In the same release, Oregon's veterinary technologists and technicians have a median of $55,810, which is $11,440, or 26%, above the median for this occupation — $5.50 more an hour at the hourly medians of $26.83 and $21.33.
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 Oregon have a median of $55,810 ($26.83/hr) — $11,440 above the veterinary assistants and laboratory animal caretakers median shown on this page. Vet tech salary in Oregon →
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the median veterinary assistant salary in Oregon?
BLS does not publish veterinary assistants on their own.
The closest figure is SOC 31-9096, Veterinary Assistants and Laboratory Animal Caretakers, whose Oregon median annual wage was $44,370 in May 2025, or $21.33 an hour.
Half of those counted earned more and half earned less.
The national median for the same occupation is $38,150, so Oregon sits 16% above it.
How much do the top-paid workers in this occupation earn in Oregon?
The Oregon 90th percentile is $49,470, meaning one in ten workers counted in SOC 31-9096 earned more than that.
Nationally the 90th percentile is $49,150, so the Oregon figure is only 1% higher — the thinnest lead at any published percentile.
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 distribution look like in Oregon?
The Oregon 10th percentile is $36,480, meaning one in ten workers counted earned less than that.
It is the strongest part of Oregon's distribution relative to the national figures: the national 10th percentile is $30,120, so the Oregon floor is $6,360, or 21%, above it.
From the 25th percentile the lead narrows before widening again at the median.
How does this compare with vet tech pay in Oregon?
In the same BLS release, veterinary technologists and technicians in Oregon have a median of $55,810, against $44,370 for veterinary assistants and laboratory animal caretakers — a difference of $11,440, or 26% on this occupation's median.
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 Oregon?
BLS estimates 3,170 people employed in SOC 31-9096 in Oregon, 16th 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 Oregon Veterinary Assistant Resources
Sources
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May 2025 state estimates — Oregon, 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.