Veterinary Assistant Salary in South Carolina
Veterinary assistants and laboratory animal caretakers in South Carolina — BLS publishes the two as one combined occupation, SOC 31-9096 — earned a median annual wage of $36,980 in the May 2025 estimates, $1,170 or 3% below the national median of $38,150.
That ranks 30th of the 51 jurisdictions that publish a median.
The shortfall is widest at the edges of the middle band, 14% below national at the 25th percentile, and nearly disappears at the ceiling, where the 90th percentile is within 1%.
What these figures cover
10th percentile
$27,390
25th percentile
$30,530
75th percentile
$40,600
90th percentile
$48,630
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May 2025 state estimates — South Carolina, SOC 31-9096 (Veterinary Assistants and Laboratory Animal Caretakers). Retrieved 2026-09-16 from the BLS Public Data API.
How to read these figures
South Carolina vs. the national figures
The South Carolina median is below the national median by 3%. 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 30th, and 25th by estimated employment.
Differences are whole percentages, rounded half away from zero, computed from the figures shown.
Below national at every percentile, with the gap narrowest at the top
South Carolina sits below the national figures at every published percentile, but not by the same margin.
The 10th percentile, $27,390, is 9% below the national $30,120, and the 25th percentile, $30,530, is 14% below — the deepest shortfall in the distribution.
At the median the gap is $1,170, or 3%.
The 75th percentile, $40,600, is 11% below the national $45,710, while the 90th percentile, $48,630, is just 1% below national.
Benchmarked against national figures, South Carolina pay runs closest to national at the median and the 90th percentile, and furthest behind at the 25th and 75th.
A middle band the same width as the national one, a wider overall span
Half of the South Carolina workers counted earned between $30,530 and $40,600, a middle band $10,070 wide — essentially the same width as the national band of $10,050.
From the 10th to the 90th percentile the state spans $21,240, against a national span of $19,030.
Inside the middle band the median sits high: $6,450 above the 25th percentile and only $3,620 below the 75th, the reverse of the national pattern, 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 South Carolina is $17.78, against $18.34 nationally — $0.56 less, the same 3% 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 1,720 people were employed in this combined occupation in South Carolina, 25th 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 South Carolina vet tech median
In the same release, South Carolina's veterinary technologists and technicians have a median of $39,020, which is $2,040, or 6%, above the median for this occupation.
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 South Carolina have a median of $39,020 ($18.76/hr) — $2,040 above the veterinary assistants and laboratory animal caretakers median shown on this page. Vet tech salary in South Carolina →
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the median veterinary assistant salary in South Carolina?
BLS does not publish veterinary assistants on their own.
The closest figure is SOC 31-9096, Veterinary Assistants and Laboratory Animal Caretakers, whose South Carolina median annual wage was $36,980 in May 2025, or $17.78 an hour.
Half of those counted earned more and half earned less.
The national median for the same occupation is $38,150, so South Carolina sits 3% below it.
How much do the top-paid workers in this occupation earn in South Carolina?
The South Carolina 90th percentile is $48,630, meaning one in ten workers counted in SOC 31-9096 earned more than that.
Nationally the 90th percentile is $49,150, so the South Carolina figure is just 1% 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 South Carolina?
The 10th percentile in South Carolina is $27,390, meaning one in ten workers counted earned less — 9% below the national 10th percentile of $30,120.
The widest gap sits one step up, at the 25th percentile: $30,530, which is 14% below the national $35,660.
The occupation combines veterinary assistants with laboratory animal caretakers, so the figures cannot say which of the two groups fills the low end.
How does this compare with vet tech pay in South Carolina?
In the same BLS release, veterinary technologists and technicians in South Carolina have a median of $39,020, against $36,980 for veterinary assistants and laboratory animal caretakers — a difference of $2,040.
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 South Carolina?
BLS estimates 1,720 people employed in SOC 31-9096 in South Carolina, 25th 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 South Carolina Veterinary Assistant Resources
Sources
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May 2025 state estimates — South Carolina, 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.