Veterinary Assistant Salary in West Virginia
Veterinary assistants and laboratory animal caretakers in West Virginia — BLS publishes the two as one combined occupation, SOC 31-9096 — earned a median annual wage of $32,350 in the May 2025 estimates, $5,800 or 15% below the national median of $38,150.
That ranks 49th of the 51 jurisdictions that publish a median.
The distinctive part is the ceiling: even the state's 90th percentile, $38,040, sits below the national median, while the shortfall at the 10th percentile is the smallest, 14%.
What these figures cover
10th percentile
$25,830
25th percentile
$28,250
75th percentile
$35,740
90th percentile
$38,040
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May 2025 state estimates — West 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
West Virginia vs. the national figures
The West Virginia median is below the national median by 15%. 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 49th, and 36th by estimated employment.
Differences are whole percentages, rounded half away from zero, computed from the figures shown.
Below the national figures at every percentile, most of all at the top
West Virginia sits below the national figures at every published percentile, but not by a uniform margin.
The floor is closest: the 10th percentile, $25,830, is 14% below the national $30,120.
The 25th percentile, $28,250, is 21% below the national $35,660, the gap narrows to 15% — $5,800 — at the median, and then it widens again: the 75th percentile, $35,740, is 22% below the national $45,710, and the 90th, $38,040, is 23% below.
The state's 90th percentile even sits below the national median of $38,150, so the whole West Virginia distribution lies under the national middle.
A much tighter distribution than the national one
Half of the West Virginia workers counted earned between $28,250 and $35,740, a band $7,490 wide — well under the national band of $10,050.
From the 10th to the 90th percentile the state spans $12,210, against $19,030 nationally.
The median sits above the middle of the band: $4,100 above the 25th percentile and $3,390 below the 75th.
A band this narrow leaves less room between the middle of the range and its edges than the national figures do; 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 West Virginia is $15.55, against $18.34 nationally — $2.79 less, the same 15% 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 small counted workforce — for a combined occupation
BLS estimates 730 people were employed in this combined occupation in West Virginia, 36th among the jurisdictions that publish an employment figure.
The 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 West Virginia vet tech median
In the same release, West Virginia's veterinary technologists and technicians have a median of $37,700, which is $5,350, or 17%, above the median for this occupation — 14% when the technician median is used as the base instead.
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 West Virginia have a median of $37,700 ($18.13/hr) — $5,350 above the veterinary assistants and laboratory animal caretakers median shown on this page. Vet tech salary in West Virginia →
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the median veterinary assistant salary in West Virginia?
BLS does not publish veterinary assistants on their own.
The closest figure is SOC 31-9096, Veterinary Assistants and Laboratory Animal Caretakers, whose West Virginia median annual wage was $32,350 in May 2025, or $15.55 an hour.
Half of those counted earned more and half earned less.
The national median for the same occupation is $38,150, so West Virginia sits 15% below it.
How much do the top-paid workers in this occupation earn in West Virginia?
The West Virginia 90th percentile is $38,040, meaning one in ten workers counted in SOC 31-9096 earned more than that.
Nationally the 90th percentile is $49,150, so the state figure is $11,110, or 23%, lower.
Because the occupation combines veterinary assistants with laboratory animal caretakers, the figures cannot say which of the two groups sits at the top.
What does the low end of the range look like in West Virginia?
The 10th percentile in West Virginia is $25,830 — one in ten workers counted earned less than that.
It is the state figure closest to its national counterpart in relative terms: the national 10th percentile is $30,120, so the gap is $4,290, or 14%, the smallest shortfall at any published percentile.
The 25th percentile, $28,250, is 21% below the national $35,660.
How does this pay compare with vet tech pay in West Virginia?
In the same BLS release, veterinary technologists and technicians in West Virginia have a median of $37,700, against $32,350 for veterinary assistants and laboratory animal caretakers — a difference of $5,350.
The technician median is 1.2 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 West Virginia?
BLS estimates 730 people employed in SOC 31-9096 in West Virginia, 36th 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 West Virginia Veterinary Assistant Resources
Sources
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May 2025 state estimates — West 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.