Pay calculator
What should a vet tech earn in your state?
Pick a role, a state and how long you have done the job. You get an hourly and annual figure from the federal wage survey, the full state ladder, and the same number adjusted for what things cost where you live.
Choose a role and state, then Calculate. The national vet tech median is $22.78 an hour ($47,380 a year), BLS May 2025.
How we built this. BLS publishes the 10th, median and 90th percentile wage by state for veterinary technologists and technicians (SOC 29-2056) and veterinary assistants (31-9096) in the May 2025 OEWS release, and the full 10/25/50/75/90 ladder nationally. We estimate each state's 25th and 75th percentiles by applying the national distribution's shape to the state's published points. Experience bands are our approximation, anchored to percentiles: entry level (under 1 year) at the 15th, early career (1 to 3 years) at the 30th, mid career (3 to 7) at the median, experienced (7 to 15) at the 70th, and senior or lead (15+) at the 85th. Those anchors are a reading of how pay typically grows with tenure in this field, not a BLS statistic, and a credentialed tech in a specialty or emergency hospital can sit a full band higher. The cost-of-living toggle divides a figure by the state's 2023 BEA Regional Price Parity (US = 100). For receptionists, practice managers and kennel staff, BLS publishes a national veterinary-services median only.
Questions people ask
What should a vet tech earn with 5 years of experience?
BLS does not publish pay by years of experience. This calculator anchors a mid-career band (3 to 7 years) to the state median, so a vet tech with 5 years in Texas is shown the Texas median. Credentialed techs in emergency or specialty settings commonly sit above that; techs in rural general practice often sit below it.
What does the cost-of-living toggle do?
It divides the wage by the state's 2023 BEA Regional Price Parity (US = 100). A $30 wage in a state with an RPP of 112 buys about what $26.79 buys in an average-priced state. It is a purchasing-power view, not a different wage.
Why is there no state figure for receptionists or practice managers?
BLS publishes those occupations by state only across all industries, not inside veterinary services. The veterinary-services figure exists nationally, so that is what the calculator shows for those roles.
Where does the data come from?
BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 release, for SOC 29-2056 and 31-9096 by state, and the national veterinary-services industry table for the other three roles. Cost of living: BEA Regional Price Parities by state, 2023.