Veterinary Assistant Salary in Wisconsin
Veterinary assistants and laboratory animal caretakers in Wisconsin — BLS publishes the two as one combined occupation, SOC 31-9096 — earned a median annual wage of $36,850 in the May 2025 estimates, $1,300 or 3% below the national median of $38,150.
That ranks 33rd of the 51 jurisdictions that publish a median.
The distinctive part is the shape: the floor holds, with the 10th percentile 1% above the national one, while the shortfall peaks at the 75th percentile.
What these figures cover
10th percentile
$30,400
25th percentile
$35,370
75th percentile
$38,630
90th percentile
$45,630
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May 2025 state estimates — Wisconsin, SOC 31-9096 (Veterinary Assistants and Laboratory Animal Caretakers). Retrieved 2026-09-16 from the BLS Public Data API.
How to read these figures
Wisconsin vs. the national figures
The Wisconsin 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 33rd, and 20th by estimated employment.
Differences are whole percentages, rounded half away from zero, computed from the figures shown.
Close to national at the floor, furthest behind at the 75th
Wisconsin's figures sit close to the national ones at the bottom of the distribution and fall away above it.
The 10th percentile, $30,400, sits 1% above the national $30,120, and the 25th is 1% below at $35,370.
The median, $36,850, is 3% below the national $38,150.
The gap then widens to its maximum at the 75th percentile — $38,630 against $45,710, 15% below — before narrowing to 7% at the 90th, $45,630 against $49,150.
Benchmarking a Wisconsin offer against national figures, expect the widest gap in the upper-middle of the range, not at the top.
A middle band roughly a third as wide as the national one
Half of the Wisconsin workers counted earned between $35,370 and $38,630, a band $3,260 wide against the national band of $10,050 — roughly a third of the width.
The 10th-to-90th span is $15,230, against $19,030 nationally.
Inside that narrow band the median sits close to the middle: $1,480 above the 25th percentile and $1,780 below the 75th.
OEWS publishes the distribution but not its causes, so this page does not assign the compression a reason.
Holding an hourly posting against these figures
The hourly median in Wisconsin is $17.71, against $18.34 nationally — $0.63 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 the combined occupation
BLS estimates 2,200 people were employed in this combined occupation in Wisconsin, 20th 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 Wisconsin vet tech median
In the same release, Wisconsin's veterinary technologists and technicians have a median of $47,020 — $10,170, or 28%, above the median for this occupation.
Hourly, the technician median is $22.61 against $17.71.
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 Wisconsin have a median of $47,020 ($22.61/hr) — $10,170 above the veterinary assistants and laboratory animal caretakers median shown on this page. Vet tech salary in Wisconsin →
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the median veterinary assistant salary in Wisconsin?
BLS does not publish veterinary assistants on their own.
The closest figure is SOC 31-9096, Veterinary Assistants and Laboratory Animal Caretakers, whose Wisconsin median annual wage was $36,850 in May 2025, or $17.71 an hour.
Half of those counted earned more and half earned less.
The national median for the same occupation is $38,150, so Wisconsin sits 3% below it.
How much do the top-paid workers in this occupation earn in Wisconsin?
The Wisconsin 90th percentile is $45,630, meaning one in ten workers counted in SOC 31-9096 earned more than that.
Nationally the 90th percentile is $49,150, so the Wisconsin figure is $3,520, or 7%, 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 Wisconsin?
The Wisconsin 10th percentile is $30,400 — 1% above the national 10th percentile of $30,120 — and the 25th percentile is $35,370.
That is the one part of the Wisconsin distribution that holds its own against the national figures; from the median upward, Wisconsin falls behind.
How does this compare with vet tech pay in Wisconsin?
In the same BLS release, veterinary technologists and technicians in Wisconsin have a median of $47,020, against $36,850 for veterinary assistants and laboratory animal caretakers — a difference of $10,170, or 28% 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 Wisconsin?
BLS estimates 2,200 people employed in SOC 31-9096 in Wisconsin, 20th 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 Wisconsin Veterinary Assistant Resources
Sources
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May 2025 state estimates — Wisconsin, 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.