Veterinary Assistant Salary in Tennessee
Veterinary assistants and laboratory animal caretakers in Tennessee — BLS publishes the two as one combined occupation, SOC 31-9096 — earned a median annual wage of $36,320 in the May 2025 estimates, $1,830 or 5% below the national median of $38,150.
That ranks 38th of the 51 jurisdictions that publish a median.
The distinctive part is the compression: the middle band runs $3,710 wide against $10,050 nationally, and the shortfall against the national figures is widest just above the middle, at the 75th percentile.
What these figures cover
10th percentile
$30,230
25th percentile
$34,520
75th percentile
$38,230
90th percentile
$43,700
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May 2025 state estimates — Tennessee, SOC 31-9096 (Veterinary Assistants and Laboratory Animal Caretakers). Retrieved 2026-09-16 from the BLS Public Data API.
How to read these figures
Tennessee vs. the national figures
The Tennessee median is below the national median by 5%. 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 38th, and 12th by estimated employment.
Differences are whole percentages, rounded half away from zero, computed from the figures shown.
Level with the national floor, behind at every percentile above it
Tennessee's only match for the national figures is the floor: the 10th percentile, $30,230, sits within a rounding error of the national $30,120.
From there the shortfall opens through the middle — the 25th percentile, $34,520, is 3% below the national $35,660; the median, $36,320, is $1,830, or 5%, below $38,150; and the 75th percentile, $38,230, is $7,480, or 16%, below the national $45,710.
At the 90th percentile the shortfall eases to $5,450, or 11%, below $49,150.
Benchmarking a Tennessee offer against the national figures alone would overstate the upper middle of the state's range by the most.
A far tighter middle band, with the median nearly centered
Half of the Tennessee workers counted earned between $34,520 and $38,230, a band $3,710 wide — far narrower than the national band of $10,050.
Inside the band the median sits nearly centered: $1,800 above the 25th percentile and $1,910 below the 75th, whereas the national median sits $2,490 above its 25th percentile and $7,560 below its 75th, much closer to the bottom of its own band.
The full span from the 10th to the 90th percentile is $13,470, against $19,030 nationally.
The compression sits inside the middle band: the stretch from the 10th percentile to the 25th runs $4,290, tighter than the national $5,540, while the stretch from the 75th to the 90th runs $5,470, wider than the national $3,440.
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 Tennessee is $17.46, against $18.34 nationally — $0.88 less, the same 5% 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, for a combined occupation
BLS estimates 3,530 people were employed in this combined occupation in Tennessee, 12th 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 Tennessee vet tech median
In the same release, Tennessee's veterinary technologists and technicians have a median of $42,810, which is $6,490, or 18%, above the median for this occupation.
On an hourly basis the technician median is $20.58 against $17.46, a difference of $3.12.
Read that as the distance between two BLS occupations in one state — the technician median is 1.2 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 Tennessee have a median of $42,810 ($20.58/hr) — $6,490 above the veterinary assistants and laboratory animal caretakers median shown on this page. Vet tech salary in Tennessee →
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the median veterinary assistant salary in Tennessee?
BLS does not publish veterinary assistants on their own.
The closest figure is SOC 31-9096, Veterinary Assistants and Laboratory Animal Caretakers, whose Tennessee median annual wage was $36,320 in May 2025, or $17.46 an hour.
Half of those counted earned more and half earned less.
The national median for the same occupation is $38,150, so Tennessee sits 5% below it.
How much do the top-paid workers in this occupation earn in Tennessee?
The Tennessee 90th percentile is $43,700, meaning one in ten workers counted in SOC 31-9096 earned more than that.
Nationally the 90th percentile is $49,150, so the Tennessee figure is $5,450, or 11%, 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 Tennessee?
The Tennessee 10th percentile is $30,230, and the 25th percentile is $34,520.
The floor is the one place the state matches the national set: $30,230 is within a rounding error of the national 10th percentile of $30,120, while the 25th percentile is 3% below the national $35,660.
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 Tennessee?
In the same BLS release, veterinary technologists and technicians in Tennessee have a median of $42,810, against $36,320 for veterinary assistants and laboratory animal caretakers — a difference of $6,490, or 18% on this occupation's median.
The technician median is 1.2 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 Tennessee?
BLS estimates 3,530 people employed in SOC 31-9096 in Tennessee, 12th 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 Tennessee Veterinary Assistant Resources
Sources
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May 2025 state estimates — Tennessee, 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.