Veterinary Technician Salary in Arkansas

At the median, Arkansas sits $9,020 below the nation: $38,360 against $47,380, a 19% gap.

The hourly median tells the same story — $18.44 against $22.78 nationally, also 19% lower.

The gap does not shrink toward either end of the range.

The 10th percentile is 24% below the national figure, the 75th percentile is 24% below it, and the 90th percentile is 24% below it as well — the widest margins anywhere in the distribution.

The one point where Arkansas comes closest to the national figures is the 25th percentile, 17% below.

A technician comparing an Arkansas offer against national benchmarks should expect that gap to hold, or widen slightly, at nearly every point rather than closing near the top or the bottom.

Half of the Arkansas technicians counted earned between $32,360 and $43,940 — a band $11,580 wide.

Nationally the same band runs from $38,910 to $57,650, which is $18,740 wide, so the Arkansas middle half sits in a narrower dollar range even though every point in it is lower than the national one.

From the 10th percentile ($27,250) to the 90th ($47,820), Arkansas spans $20,570, against $27,470 nationally.

The median also sits closer to the 75th percentile than to the 25th: $5,580 below the one and $6,000 above the other.

OEWS does not explain why a distribution takes this shape, so this page does not assign it a cause.

The data set behind this page carries Arkansas's hourly wage only at the median: $18.44, against $22.78 nationally, a 19% gap that matches the gap in the annual median.

That makes it the one figure to hold an hourly posting against.

For the rest of the range, the annual percentiles are the only guide here, so before comparing a posted hourly rate with them, ask the employer how many hours a week the role is scheduled for.

BLS estimates that 320 veterinary technologists and technicians were employed in Arkansas, 47th among the 51 jurisdictions that publish a median.

That is a headcount of people in jobs during the survey period, not a count of vacancies, so it describes the size of the occupation in the state rather than how quickly positions are filled.

A smaller headcount also means the percentiles above rest on fewer workers counted than in a state with a larger workforce.

Arkansas requires a certificate of qualification before anyone may work as a veterinary technician: the Practice Act bars assisting a veterinarian as a veterinary technician without first obtaining the certificate from the Arkansas Board of Animal Health and registering employment with the Board.

The route runs through a diploma or its equivalent from a college-level program accredited by the American Veterinary Medical Association, plus a passing score on the VTNE.

Certified technicians complete twelve continuing-education hours each year and renew the certificate annually by March 31.

The wage data behind this page carries no split between credentialed and uncredentialed technicians, so it cannot show a pay difference between them — only that Arkansas requires the certificate to do the work at all.

The Arkansas requirements page on this site sets out the fees, the CE breakdown and the title-protection rule in full.