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Role hub · Veterinary Technologists and Technicians

Vet Tech: what the job is, what it pays, and how to get hired.

The work, the skills that matter, the tools in demand and the pay range, from U.S. government data, plus every TryHired page for the role.

Maid DizdarevicCareer coach · 8x LinkedIn Top Voice
Updated Oct 24, 2026 · Data: BLS OEWS May 2025 · O*NET 31.0
Pay ladder · select a percentile
Median percentile pay

Half of vet teches earn more than this and half earn less.

Annual
$47,380
Hourly
$22.78
Source
BLS May 2025
Quick answer

Vet Teches perform medical tests in a laboratory environment for use in the treatment and diagnosis of diseases in animals. The median pay is $47,380 a year ($22.78 an hour) (BLS, May 2025). The most commonly reported education requirement is a high school diploma or equivalent (41% of workers surveyed by O*NET).

Median pay
$47,380
BLS May 2025
Employed in the U.S.
129,140
BLS May 2025
Preparation
Job Zone 3 of 5
medium preparation
Most common education
High School Diploma or the equivalent (such as a GED)
41% of workers

Data Government data groups this job as Veterinary Technologists and Technicians (O*NET-SOC 29-2056.00). Figures on this page are for that occupation.

Explore the role

Every page for Vet Teches

SalaryVet Tech salary

Pay by percentile, state and metro, with a negotiation script.

Open →How to becomeVet Tech how to become

Education, training and the skills to build first.

Open →ResumeVet Tech resume

Keywords, bullet formulas and the skills to prove.

Open →Interview questionsVet Tech interview questions

Questions with what they test, plus practice mode.

Open →Free toolCheck your resume

Parsed text, evidence per bullet, fixes first.

Open →
The work

What vet teches do day to day

Data Core tasks rated most important by workers in the role (O*NET).

  1. Administer anesthesia to animals, under the direction of a veterinarian, and monitor animals' responses to anesthetics so that dosages can be adjusted.
  2. Care for and monitor the condition of animals recovering from surgery.
  3. Maintain controlled drug inventory and related log books.
  4. 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.
  5. Prepare and administer medications, vaccines, serums, or treatments, as prescribed by veterinarians.
  6. Restrain animals during exams or procedures.
  7. Administer emergency first aid, such as performing emergency resuscitation or other life saving procedures.
  8. Clean and sterilize instruments, equipment, or materials.
Skills that matter

Ranked by importance to the job

Data O*NET importance ratings. The first three are core.

Active ListeningcoreCritical ThinkingcoreReading ComprehensioncoreSpeakingComplex Problem SolvingWritingMonitoringSocial PerceptivenessCoordination

Knowledge areas: Medicine and Dentistry, Customer and Personal Service, Biology, English Language, Mathematics, Chemistry.

Tools and technology

Software vet teches use

Data Examples reported for the role; employer demand flags from O*NET.

  • Animal Intelligence Software Animal IntelligenceMedical software
  • McAllister Software Systems AVImarkMedical software
  • Veterinary practice management software PMSMedical software
  • Microsoft AccessData base user interface and query softwareHot technology
  • Microsoft ExcelSpreadsheet softwareHot technology
  • Microsoft Office softwareOffice suite softwareHot technology
  • Microsoft OutlookElectronic mail softwareHot technology
  • Microsoft PowerPointPresentation softwareHot technology
  • Microsoft WordWord processing softwareHot technology
  • FileMaker ProData base user interface and query software
  • Practice management software PMSData base user interface and query software
  • Web browser softwareInternet browser software

Also called: Veterinary Technician, Certified Veterinary Technician (CVT), Emergency Veterinary Technician (Emergency Vet Tech), Internal Medicine Veterinary Technician (Internal Medicine Vet Tech), Licensed Veterinary Technician (LVT), Registered Veterinary Technician (RVT), Veterinarian Technician (Vet Tech).

Method

How this page is built

Tasks, skills, tools, education and related roles come from O*NET 31.0. Pay and employment come from the BLS OEWS May 2025 national estimates. The skill-match score is our calculation: Skill match is the correlation between the two occupations' skill profiles: for each of 35 O*NET skills (10 essential, 25 transferable) we multiply importance by level, subtract the average across all occupations, and correlate the two profiles. 100 means identical shape; 0 or below means unrelated. Only occupations that O*NET itself lists as related are compared.

What this page can't tell you
  • How a specific employer defines the job.
  • Pay for self-employed workers (OEWS covers employees).
  • Your own chances: data describes the occupation, not you.
Sources
  1. O*NET 31.0 Database, U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under the CC BY 4.0 license. TryHired selected, ranked and combined the data; O*NET is not responsible for these pages.
  2. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 estimates (public domain).