Vet Tech Wages vs. Living Wage

In honor of National Veterinary Technician Week, we want to revisit an article we wrote last year exploring vet tech wages vs. living wage around our country to see how things have changed in the past year. 

But first, we have to start with a very important truth, the reason why this information is worth knowing in the first place: Veterinary technicians are a vital part of the veterinary healthcare industry. Here’s what our Roo Ambassadors had to say this year: 

“A veterinarian without technicians is like a car without a seatbelt, and seats… and an engine… Technicians not only provide such incredible technical support and nursing care for our patients, but they ensure the hospital runs smoothly through client interaction and working synergistically with both the front desk staff and doctors. Aggressive dog? I have a tech for that. Fractious cat? I have a tech for that. And all of my techs do it with a smile on their face. Gratitude alone would be an understatement. Happy Tech Week to all of the amazing, hard working, passionate veterinary technicians.”

- Dr. Aaron Caplan

“On the hardest of days, the days when your sick calls outnumber your puppies and kittens, your euthanasias outnumber your wellnesses, your schedule seems unmanageable, and you feel you cannot move forward any more, the veterinary technicians are your rock and foundation every step of the way. More than just with their work, but with their presence, their knowledge and expertise, their unique perspectives, their dedication to the utmost care for our shared patients, and even with their emotional support. I think I speak for all the vets when I say we cherish this shared vision with our veterinary technicians, of our love for animals, and the people who bring them to us.”

- Dr. Elizabeth Anthony

“ Vet Techs have had one of the most profound impacts on my career as a veterinarian. From the ones who taught me basic skills when I started as an assistant, to the ones that kept me calm during nerve-wracking practicals in vet school, to the crews that helped me navigate my first years as a baby dogtor, and now, the everyday support team I meet at my Roo shifts. When I say I can’t do my job without these people, that is a 1000% true statement. I appreciate you all not just during this week of recognition, but every friggin' day.” 

- Dr. Faye Varias

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Once again this year, on National Veterinary Technician Week, we want to ask ourselves the hard question: are we appreciating our veterinary technicians enough? This is a complicated question with so much to explore. So today, we’re just going to focus on one key aspect: vet tech wages.

Are we paying vet techs enough? 

Sure, no one goes into vet med for the money, but money can make a big difference when it comes to quality of life, one’s ability to buy a home, build a family, and achieve other financial goals. And thanks to inflation, all these things are far more expensive in 2024. 

Money can also become a source of anxiety as one’s income approaches the cost of living, which is the case for many veterinary technicians. Too many veterinary technicians are living paycheck to paycheck, and this is all the proof we need that we could be doing more as an industry. 

So, let’s start by answering the big question: 

How much does a veterinary technician make? 

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (who updates their data each May), in 2023, the average vet tech salary was $44,040 a year, which breaks down to an average hourly wage of $21.18 per hour. 

This data lags a bit, but Ziprecruiter, which pulls its data from current job listings, lists the average tech wage at $21.70 an hour as of October 2024 so these numbers aren’t too far apart.

Using BLS numbers, tech salaries are up an average of $3,270 in 2023 compared to 2022 with hourly wages increasing only $1.58 an hour in the past year (compared to 2022’s average vet tech wage of $19.60). 

Here’s the breakdown by city: 

Congrats to vet techs in Los Angeles who are the big winners here with a $3.37 increase in hourly rates. Still, it seems even this wage increase is hardly not enough as we saw the living wage in Los Angeles increase by nearly double that amount over the past year.

Living wages have increased as well in 2023

This should come as no surprise. Inflation may finally be starting to slow, but its impact has been felt over the course of the past year. We’ve seen living wages rise across the country this year according to MIT’S Living Wage Calculator.

Keep in mind, with all the following data, the living wages are calculated for a family of one: the employee themself. If you throw a partner and children into the mix, these numbers only get more troubling. 

To be specific, living wage has increased across these nine cities by around an average of $6.00 an hour over the past year. This is more than three times the amount we’ve seen veterinary technician wages grow during this same period (whether we use 2023 BLS or 2024 ZipRecruiter numbers). 

Putting it all together: Vet Tech Wages vs. Living Wage by City

To get a better idea of what the reality is on the ground, it’s best to look at specific cities and how the living wage differs from local veterinary technician hourly pay rates. Let’s take a more granular look at some of the cities we live in:

The unfortunate increase in living wages means in 2023, only a single city remains where technician wages outpace the local living wage: San Francisco. When we looked at these numbers last year, there were six cities (San Jose, San Francisco, Seattle, New York City, Los Angeles, and Chicago) with higher vet tech wages. The margins were always thin, but now, things have flipped in a negative direction. 

If these numbers are a little bit shocking to you, they should be. Veterinary technicians are medical professionals with two to four years of specialized education, who are performing medical procedures daily. And when you put these numbers next to living wages, you get some serious context that should come as a serious wake up call. 

The Good

San Francisco remains the lone city on our list where the average vet tech hourly wage is higher than the cost of living. At $30.51 an hour, San Francisco now boasts the highest veterinary technician wages in the country, surpassing San Jose, with annual salaries averaging $63,470 a year according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. 

Let’s cool our jets a little though, the living wage in San Francisco has risen to $29.87, leaving just a $0.64 difference between the two. That’s not great, especially as we’re talking about the highest paid techs in the entire country. 

Can we please show some more love to the people veterinarians described as the backbone of the vet med industry!

The Ugly

Digging into this data has uncovered a problematic trend: the cities with the highest tech wages are also where the living wage has increased the most. Seattle, the city with the third highest technician wages in the country, has seen living wages rise by $7.22 in the last year. This has completely eaten the $4.40 an hour vet techs were making over the living wage in 2022 PLUS the $1.49 rate increase they saw over the past year, leaving them at a $1.33 an hour deficit when comparing average hourly wages to living wage.

Even Los Angeles, which saw the largest pay increase for veterinary technicians with an additional $3.37 an hour also had a $6.04 increase in cost of living. Now, those margins are really tight as tech wages lag $0.86 behind living wage. 

The Boston 

Once again, Boston remains a strange outlier and a crucial example showing how everyone’s experience is unique. 

Last year, we explored how vet techs in Boston earned well above the national average yet still saw their wages outpaced by cost of living, causing techs to potentially feel like they’re struggling to get by despite having wages on the higher end of the vet tech spectrum. 

Boston saw the largest increase in living wage of the cities we’ve been following, rising $7.45 an hour! While the difference between technician wage and living wage was hovering around $1.00 in 2022, that gap has ballooned to $6.52, which gives you an idea of how much tech wages have changed in Boston over that same time period. 

Simply put, veterinary technician wages, which already hovered uncomfortably close to local living wages, are not rising fast enough to keep up with inflation.   

This story would be completely lost looking at vet tech wages without context, which it’s why it’s important to not look just at averages. Numbers don’t tell the whole story. We need to be thinking in terms of people. Every veterinary technician is a passionate, educated professional critical to animal healthcare, and when they hang up their scrubs at the end of a shift, they need to make a life for themselves in the cities they live in.       

How is living wage calculated and what does this mean? 

The living wages seen here include things like food, healthcare, housing, transportation, taxes, and basic needs. Vet techs across the country may feel like they’re just scraping by or even struggling to stay afloat. This could manifest in ways such as struggling to pay rent, having to get creative to keep down food costs, and being unable to afford medical bills for their own pets despite being a vet med professional. For the love of cats and dogs, vet techs at least deserve the very services they provide to their own clients. 

Don’t forget, many technicians, much like veterinarians, have student loans they have to pay off month after month. In states where technicians are required to be registered/licensed/certified, they have to meet CE requirements, which can also be an added annual expense unless you stick to free events offered by Roo and other organizations.   

These financial pressures can take a toll on people, both in terms of mental health and in their daily lives. If someone’s struggling to afford basic needs, they may put off major life events like getting married, buying a home, or starting a family. 

So what’s the solution? 

How much does a relief vet tech make? 

One way to make more money as a veterinary technician is to try relief work. And we’ve published similar graphs including our average Roo hourly rates alongside tech wages and living wages so you can see for yourself how the numbers stack up (NOTE: A minimum of 5 years of experience is now required to join Roo as a veterinary technician).

Vet techs can supplement their income by working relief shifts when they have time. We’re usually banging the work-life balance drum, but if you find yourself struggling to make a living wage, doing what you do best one or two extra shifts a month may be a helpful option. 

Roo keeps it flexible with no monthly minimum shift requirements and no fees to stay on our platform, so every tech is free to use Roo as much or as little as they like. That’s the whole point: Roo’s there when you need us, and relief work is what you make of it. 

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Wages informed by the cities techs live in

So how much does a RELIEF vet tech make? We can’t speak for other relief services, but at Roo, we use Dynamic Pricing that specifically takes into account your home city, so you can expect shift rates to go up if you’re living in one of the more expensive cities like San Francisco, New York City, or Seattle.

In fact, in almost every city in the country you’ll find above average hourly rates on our platform. Relief technicians are in high demand so hospitals will often pay higher hourly rates. Take a look at the Roo shift map and see what’s out there in your area. In almost every city Roo’s available, we’re currently offering shifts paying hourly rates above the city-wide average and living wages (Please note: Due to the dynamic nature of our pricing, rates are always changing and can’t be guaranteed).   

Looking to raise your vet tech income? Look no further than relief work, where you can get paid more to work whenever you want.   

Let’s show our vet tech appreciation!

So how can we show our appreciation for our techs this National Veterinary Technician Week and into 2025? Let’s pay them more and make sure their wages increase alongside cost of living so when we revisit these numbers next year, we have better news to share.  

Seriously, it’s a no-brainer. No one would ever doubt how important veterinary technicians are, so why should even just one tech have to live paycheck to paycheck? They went to college for this and are performing medical procedures daily. Let’s fix this ridiculousness. Give techs a raise!  

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Even more love for vet techs from our Roo Ambassadors:

“Your dedication, compassion, and expertise are the heart and soul of veterinary care. From comforting anxious pets to providing critical medical support, your tireless efforts make a world of difference. Thank you for your unwavering commitment to animal health and welfare — you are truly the backbone of our team. For all the veins I couldn't hit, for all the catheters that burred, for all the x-rays where we just needed a second pair of eyes. Thank you!”

- Dr. Alexander King

“ Not only do veterinary technicians make it possible for ME to get through the day, but they also uphold the values that drew all of us into veterinary medicine in the first place--compassion and love of animals. I can't tell you how many times my technicians have been keeping me afloat during a crazy day, and then when they finally find a free moment, I find them comforting or snuggling patients in the hospital. They are the backbone of this profession.”

- Dr. Ava Mastrostefano

“A huge thank you to all the great vet techs out there! Goes without saying that you are an essential part of every practice! But we also appreciate the lesser-acknowledged skills like helping us vets pretend we are organized, sane, or know how to use the software. I learn from you everyday, and am always thankful when I book shifts with great support! We appreciate you!”

- Dr. Colleen Lambo

“Simply put: I would not be able to do my job without veterinary technicians. They make my life a million times easier. With every job I go to, I am able to just walk into the room, do my exam, and come back and tell my technician what diagnostics/treatment I would like to do and they have everything ready for me or they already have it done for me and I’m able to move on to the next pet. Veterinary technicians make my world go round and I am forever grateful for all they do. From getting TPRs, to skin scrapes, to reading cytologies, to intubating, to monitoring anesthesia, to restraining pets, to teaching me and to being a friend, I am indebted to each and every single one of you.”

- Dr. Sidrah Nisar

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Originally Posted 10/16/23