Veterinary Technician Hourly Pay & Requirements (2026)
Advertised pay, starting pay, skills and experience from 3,272 US job postings by 519 employers. Data as of October 2026.
What US employers post for veterinary technicians: advertised pay, the skills and experience they ask for, and the job titles they use, from 3,272 open job postings (October 2026).
- The median advertised pay for veterinary technicians in US job postings is $26.50 an hour (1,076 postings from 175 employers, October 2026).
- The middle half of those postings offer $22.50 to $31.50 an hour.
- Postings that ask for up to 1 year of experience advertise a median of $28.18 an hour (262 postings).
- The skills that most set veterinary technician postings apart are anesthesia monitoring, venipuncture, iv catheter placement.
- Postings that state a minimum ask for a median of 2 years of experience.
Veterinary Technician job postings in the US, October 2026
- $26.50/hr
- Median advertised pay (1,076 postings)
- $22.50–$31.50
- Middle 50% of postings
- $28.18/hr
- Starting pay (postings asking up to 1 year)
- 3,272
- US job postings from 519 employers
How much does a veterinary technician make an hour?
The median advertised pay is $26.50 an hour, from 1,076 US job postings by 175 employers that state pay. That is about $56,000 a year at 2,080 hours.
Advertised pay in 1,076 US veterinary technician job postings: median $56,000 a year ($26.50 an hour), middle half $47,000 to $66,000.
- Median: $56,000 ($26.50/hr)
- 25th percentile: $47,000
- 75th percentile: $66,000
The figures as a table
| Annual pay | Share of postings |
|---|---|
| $20K–$30K | 0.3% |
| $30K–$40K | 9.8% |
| $40K–$50K | 23.9% |
| $50K–$60K | 28.5% |
| $60K–$70K | 21.4% |
| $70K–$80K | 10.4% |
| $80K–$90K | 3.6% |
| $90K–$100K | 0.9% |
| $100K–$110K | 0.1% |
Midpoint of each posting's pay range, hourly pay × 2,080 hours; at most 20 postings per employer; US, October 2026.
| Median | Middle 50% | Postings | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Postings that state an hourly rate | $26.50 | $22.50–$31.50 | 647 |
| All pay postings, annualised | $56,000 | $47K–$66K | 1,076 |
For comparison, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics puts the national median annual wage of Veterinary Technologists and Technicians (29-2056) at $47,000 (May 2025). Postings advertise pay; the BLS measures what people earn, across all employers and levels.
What is the starting salary for a veterinary technician?
Postings that ask for up to 1 year of experience advertise a median of $28.18 an hour (262 postings).
| Experience asked | Median advertised pay | Postings |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1 years | $28.18/hr | 262 |
| 2-4 years | withheld | 232 |
| 5+ years | withheld | 24 |
Highest-paying veterinary technician jobs
Specializations with at least 250 postings that state pay.
| Specialization | Median pay | Postings with pay | Employers |
|---|---|---|---|
| Veterinary Technician (general) | $27.00/hr | 1,028 | 164 |
Veterinary technician pay by state
Single-location US postings; states with at least 100 postings that state pay. States with pay-transparency laws (such as California, Colorado, New York and Washington) are over-represented among postings that state pay.
| State | Median pay | Middle 50% | Postings with pay | Share of postings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| New York | $33.25/hr | $27.75–$37.30 | 114 | 7.4% |
| California | $33.00/hr | $28.00–$38.62 | 110 | 9.1% |
Skills employers ask for in veterinary technician job postings
| Skill | Share of postings |
|---|---|
| Communication | 46% |
| Venipuncture | 21% |
| Compassionate | 18% |
| Attention to detail | 17% |
| Teamwork | 15% |
| Anesthesia monitoring | 15% |
| Iv catheter placement | 13% |
| Organizational skills | 13% |
| Anesthesia | 12% |
| Professionalism | 10% |
Skills named in the posting text; at most 20 postings per employer; US, October 2026. Methodology.
Skills that set veterinary technicians apart
- Anesthesia monitoring876.8× as often as in all postings · 15%
- Venipuncture98.7× as often as in all postings · 21%
- Iv catheter placement997.9× as often as in all postings · 13%
- Anesthesia392× as often as in all postings · 12%
- Catheter placement976.4× as often as in all postings · 7%
- Radiology301.7× as often as in all postings · 8%
- Dentistry357.7× as often as in all postings · 7%
- Client communication110.2× as often as in all postings · 8%
- Compassionate6.2× as often as in all postings · 18%
- Medication administration24.7× as often as in all postings · 6%
- Teamwork3.7× as often as in all postings · 15%
- Compassion9.6× as often as in all postings · 9%
Skills named in at least 5% of these postings and at least 3 times as often as in job postings overall.
Have a veterinary technician job posting in front of you? See which of its skills your resume is missing.
What does a veterinary technician do?
Employers post these jobs as Licensed Veterinary Technician, Registered Veterinary Technician, Certified Veterinary Technician, Vet Tech, Experienced Veterinary Technician and other titles.
The closest official occupation is Veterinary Technologists and Technicians (29-2056.00). Its most important tasks:
- Administer anesthesia to animals, under the direction of a veterinarian, and monitor animals' responses to anesthetics so that dosages can be adjusted.
- Care for and monitor the condition of animals recovering from surgery.
- Maintain controlled drug inventory and related log books.
- Perform laboratory tests on blood, urine, or feces, such as urinalyses or blood counts, to assist in the diagnosis and treatment of animal health problems.
- Prepare and administer medications, vaccines, serums, or treatments, as prescribed by veterinarians.
Source: O*NET 31.0 Database, U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (CC BY 4.0).
How much experience do you need to be a veterinary technician?
Among 460 postings that state a minimum, the median is 2 years. Under 1% say 0 years and 43% ask for 1 year or less.
Minimum experience asked in 460 US veterinary technician job postings: median 2 years, and 43% ask for 1 year or less.
The figures as a table
| Minimum experience asked | Share of postings |
|---|---|
| 0 yr | 2% |
| 1 yr | 41% |
| 2 yrs | 32% |
| 3-4 yrs | 21% |
| 5-7 yrs | 4% |
| 8-9 yrs | 0% |
| 10+ yrs | under 1% |
Postings that state a minimum (required or preferred); at most 20 postings per employer; US, October 2026.
We do not show a degree figure: in our checks, degree requirements in posting text were found too rarely to publish one. Why.
Full-time 89%, Part-time 11% of the 395 postings that state working hours.
Other names for a veterinary technician: job titles employers use
| Job title | Employers using it |
|---|---|
| Veterinary Technician | 300 (57.8%) |
| Licensed Veterinary Technician | 97 (18.7%) |
| Registered Veterinary Technician | 75 (14.4%) |
| Certified Veterinary Technician | 41 (7.9%) |
| Vet Tech | 18 (3.5%) |
| Experienced Veterinary Technician | 18 (3.5%) |
| Credentialed Veterinary Technician | 17 (3.3%) |
| Lead Veterinary Technician | 12 (2.3%) |
| Licensed Veterinary Technician (LVT) | 11 (2.1%) |
| Emergency Veterinary Technician | 11 (2.1%) |
| Surgery Veterinary Technician | 9 (1.7%) |
| Registered Veterinary Technician (RVT) | 8 (1.5%) |
| Veterinary Technician/Assistant | 7 (1.4%) |
| Overnight Veterinary Technician | 7 (1.4%) |
| Relief Veterinary Technician | 6 (1.2%) |
| Veterinary Technician II | 6 (1.2%) |
| Veterinary Nurse | 6 (1.2%) |
| ER Veterinary Technician | 6 (1.2%) |
| Veterinary Technician I | 6 (1.2%) |
| Veterinary Technician Supervisor | 6 (1.2%) |
Titles read in our audit and used by at least 3 employers.
Veterinary Technician compared with similar careers
| Career | Median pay | Median experience | Postings | Shares N of top 25 skills |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Veterinary Technician | $26.50/hr | 2 years | 3,272 | – |
| Phlebotomist | $22.50/hr | 1 year | 8,028 | 14 |
| Medical Assistant | $23.00/hr | 1 year | 22,021 | 13 |
| Licensed Practical Nurse | $32.65/hr | 1 year | 34,229 | 13 |
| Veterinarian | $148K | 2 years | 8,554 | 14 |
Similar careers
| Career | Shares N of the top 25 skills | Median pay |
|---|---|---|
| Phlebotomist | 14 | $22.50/hr |
| Medical Assistant | 13 | $23.00/hr |
| Licensed Practical Nurse | 13 | $32.65/hr |
| Veterinarian | 14 | $148K |
| Emergency Medical Technician | 11 | $26.00/hr |
| Patient Care Technician | 11 | $22.05/hr |
Applying for veterinary technician jobs?
- Veterinary technician resume examples: one-page examples for these roles
- Match your resume to a job: paste a posting and see the skills your resume is missing
- Check your resume: see how an applicant tracking system reads it
- Find veterinary technician jobs: search open postings
Frequently asked questions
How much does a veterinary technician make an hour?
Source and method
Open US job postings collected from employers' applicant tracking systems, de-duplicated, counted only when their job title was read in our audit. Shares count at most 20 postings per employer, and franchise locations of one brand count as one employer. Pay uses hourly and annual figures only; a figure is shown when leaving out the largest employer moves it by 10% or less. Every figure states its number of postings. Methodology and measured accuracy.
Accuracy check: we read 82 randomly chosen postings counted on this page in full; 75 of them were this career or a closely related one (October 2026).
Download the figures on this page (CSV): every number above with its count of postings. Aggregate figures are licensed CC BY 4.0; cite the page when you reuse them.