Veterinary Assistants and Laboratory Animal Caretakers · SOC 31-9096

Highest-Paying Metro Areas for Veterinary Assistants and Laboratory Animal Caretakerss

Source: BLS OEWS, May 2025U.S. metropolitan areas

Metro areas ranked by published median annual wage for veterinary assistants and laboratory animal caretakers. Areas where BLS suppressed the median are not ranked. Higher medians often track higher living costs — this is a pay comparison, not a ranking of where the job is “best”.

Top 25 of 283 metro areas

Veterinary Assistants and Laboratory Animal Caretakers: metro areas with the highest published median annual wages, May 2025
#	Metro area	Median annual	Employment	Per 1,000 jobs
1	San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA	$49,400	2,150	0.9
2	San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA	$49,210	620	0.5
3	Kahului-Wailuku, HI	$49,200	60	0.9
4	Santa Rosa-Petaluma, CA	$47,270	350	1.7
5	Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA	$47,150	200	2.0
6	Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA	$46,990	1,740	1.6
7	Salinas, CA	$46,990	160	0.8
8	San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA	$46,720	1,970	1.3
9	Vallejo, CA	$46,590	130	0.9
10	New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ	$46,160	5,560	0.6
11	Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA	$46,070	4,830	0.8
12	Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI	$45,910	1,150	0.6
13	Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH	$45,790	1,800	0.7
14	Napa, CA	$45,710	50	0.6
15	Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA	$45,690	1,890	1.6
16	Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA	$45,640	2,400	1.2
17	Modesto, CA	$45,560	230	1.2
18	Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, CA	$45,530	480	1.5
19	Santa Maria-Santa Barbara, CA	$45,490	210	1.0
20	Yuba City, CA	$45,490	50	1.0
21	Naples-Marco Island, FL	$45,470	100	0.6
22	Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV	$45,320	2,740	0.9
23	Mount Vernon-Anacortes, WA	$45,260	80	1.6
24	Portland-South Portland, ME	$45,150	210	0.7
25	Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA	$44,810	1,270	0.7

Full state and metro tables, the national distribution, and the pay map are on the Veterinary Assistants and Laboratory Animal Caretakers overview.

About this data. Estimates are from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics program, May 2025 release, retrieved from bls.gov/oes/tables.htm on July 24, 2026. OEWS estimates describe metropolitan/nonmetropolitan areas and states — not city limits — and are not designed for year-over-year comparisons. See BLS methodology, our plain-English methodology, and sources. CitySalaryData is independent and not affiliated with BLS.