Veterinary Assistant Salary in Virginia
Veterinary assistants and laboratory animal caretakers in Virginia — BLS publishes the two as one combined occupation, SOC 31-9096 — earned a median annual wage of $37,450 in the May 2025 estimates, 2% below the national median of $38,150.
That ranks 25th of the 51 jurisdictions that publish a median.
The distinctive part is how little the state's distribution departs from the national one: every percentile sits within 2% of its counterpart, from 1% above at the 10th to 1% below at the top.
Posted pay in Virginia veterinary assistant listings
$20/hrmedian
The middle half of posted pay runs $18.50–$21.50/hr, from 24 distinct pay ranges at 20 employers (Ethos Veterinary Health, Innovetive Petcare, Animal Medical Center (Midlothian)).
From VeterinaryHires' live job listings as of November 9, 2026. See the listings
What these figures cover
10th percentile
$30,430
25th percentile
$35,660
75th percentile
$45,270
90th percentile
$48,580
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May 2025 state estimates — Virginia, SOC 31-9096 (Veterinary Assistants and Laboratory Animal Caretakers).
Retrieved 2026-09-16 from the BLS Public Data API.
How to read these figures
Virginia vs. the national figures
The Virginia median is below the national median by 2%; 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 25th, between Illinois ($37,480) and Vermont ($37,290), and 6th by estimated employment (see the highest-paying states for veterinary assistants). In the same release, kennel attendant pay in Virginia has a $34,380 median, 21st of 51, between Utah ($34,750) and Montana ($34,210).
Differences are whole percentages, rounded half away from zero, computed from the figures shown.
Level with the country at the bottom, just under it from the median up
Virginia tracks the national distribution closely at every percentile, with the balance tipping from slightly ahead to slightly behind as pay rises.
The 10th percentile, $30,430, is 1% above the national $30,120, and the 25th percentile, $35,660, matches the national figure exactly.
From the median up Virginia sits a little below: $37,450 is 2% under the national $38,150, the 75th percentile, $45,270, is 1% under the national $45,710, and the 90th percentile, $48,580, is 1% under the national $49,150.
A Virginia offer benchmarked against national figures is therefore close to them at the lower end of the range and modestly beneath them across the upper half.
A middle band slightly narrower than the national one
Half of the Virginia workers counted earned between $35,660 and $45,270, a band $9,610 wide, against a national band of $10,050.
From the 10th to the 90th percentile Virginia spans $18,150, against $19,030 nationally.
Inside the middle band the median sits low: $1,790 above the 25th percentile and $7,820 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 Virginia is $18.01, against $18.34 nationally — $0.33 less, the same 2% 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 workforce for a combined occupation
BLS estimates 4,810 people were employed in this combined occupation in Virginia, 6th 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 Virginia vet tech median
In the same release, Virginia's veterinary technologists and technicians have a median of $52,090, which is $14,640, or 39%, 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.
The $14,640 step from the veterinary assistants and laboratory animal caretakers median on this page up to vet tech pay in Virginia ($52,090, or $25.04/hr, ranked 7th of 51, between Oregon and Connecticut) is wider than the $9,230 between the two national medians.
What Veterinary Assistant Job Listings in Virginia Show Right Now
From the 103 active veterinary assistant listings on VeterinaryHires as of November 9, 2026.
Employers with the most openings
Pay employers post
- Median $19.50 an hour; the middle half of posted pay runs $18.50–$21.50 (27 listings that state an hourly rate)
- 26% of veterinary assistant listings in Virginia state any pay at all.
Benefits listings name
- Dental & Visionnamed in 92%
- Health Insurancenamed in 91%
- PTO / Paid Time Offnamed in 73%
- Pet Care Discountnamed in 50%
- CE Allowancenamed in 44%
Source: active veterinary assistant listings on VeterinaryHires, updated daily. Pay figures use only listings that state pay (midpoint of each posted range). Benefits count listings that name the benefit; a listing that doesn’t mention one may still offer it.
Browse 103 jobs →Frequently Asked Questions
What is the median veterinary assistant salary in Virginia?
BLS does not publish veterinary assistants on their own.
The closest figure is SOC 31-9096, Veterinary Assistants and Laboratory Animal Caretakers, whose Virginia median annual wage was $37,450 in May 2025, or $18.01 an hour.
Half of those counted earned more and half earned less.
The national median for the same occupation is $38,150, so Virginia sits 2% below it.
What does the top of the pay range look like in Virginia?
The Virginia 90th percentile for SOC 31-9096 is $48,580, meaning one in ten workers counted earned more than that.
Nationally the 90th percentile is $49,150, so the Virginia figure is 1% below.
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 Virginia?
The Virginia 10th percentile is $30,430, 1% above the national figure of $30,120, and the 25th percentile, $35,660, is exactly the national figure.
So the lower end of Virginia's distribution sits right where the country's does.
Percentiles describe positions in a distribution, not particular jobs or experience levels.
How does this compare with vet tech pay in Virginia?
In the same BLS release, veterinary technologists and technicians in Virginia have a median of $52,090, against $37,450 for veterinary assistants and laboratory animal caretakers — a difference of $14,640, or 39%.
The technician median is 1.4 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 Virginia?
BLS estimates 4,810 people employed in SOC 31-9096 in Virginia, 6th 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 Virginia Veterinary Assistant Resources
Sources
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May 2025 state estimates — Virginia, 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.