Veterinary Assistants and Laboratory Animal Caretakers in Hawaii
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$35,651
after federal, FICA and Hawaii tax
Tax takes
$8,419
19.1% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$32,825
Hawaii costs more than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Hawaii — roughly, since only five points along the band are published.
One filer, standard deduction, no dependants and nothing paid in before tax — the same household the rest of this page uses, so the comparison holds. City and school-district income taxes are not included.
Median here
$44,070
Kept after tax
$35,651
Worth in national money
$32,825
State rank
13
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for this job is strong here. Hawaii's middle earner gets $44,070, putting the state 13 of 51 — about 15.52% ahead of the national figure.
- Measured against other jobs in Hawaii, this one sits low: 381 of 437 occupations with published pay, in the bottom quarter.
- The wage here flatters the reality. From $44,070 the take-home is $35,651. But Hawaii costs more than the national average, so that money behaves more like $32,825 would elsewhere. Worth knowing before comparing offers across states. The average is lower, $41,970, so pay clusters nearer the top than usual.
- For veterinary assistants and laboratory animal caretakers, Hawaii sits in the upper band nationally: a median of $44,070, ranking 13 of 51 and running about 15.52% above the national midpoint. Nominal advantage of this size is usually, though not always, large enough to survive the state's own tax and price levels.
- Veterinary assistants and laboratory animal caretakers occupies position 381 of 437 in Hawaii's occupational wage distribution, in the bottom quartile. National ranking and local ranking answer different questions and frequently disagree; this is the one a resident experiences.
- Retained pay after federal, FICA and Hawaii income tax is $35,651 for veterinary assistants and laboratory animal caretakers, from $44,070. The state's price level exceeds the national average, so the price-adjusted equivalent is $32,825. ⚠️ This is purchasing power and not a wage; cross-state offer comparisons that stop at the nominal figure systematically overvalue high-cost states. The mean of $41,970 falls below the median, a left skew that is uncommon in wage data.
Compare this career across states
Choose your filing status and local taxes, compare pay, and keep a shortlist.Compare wage and personal-pay outcomes by state, with selected resident local taxes and saved career choices.
Pay band: Veterinary Assistants and Laboratory Animal Caretakers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $35,200 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $44,070 |
| Top tenth earn over | $49,400 |
| This salary | $44,070 |
Positions between the published tenth, quarter, half, three-quarter and ninetieth points are estimated by straight line.
The same pay, somewhere else
The state median for this job
| Take-home in Hawaii | $35,651 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $37,590 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$5,858 |
State income tax and state price levels only. No city income tax, and no housing market.
What you would need there
The state median for this job
| To match take-home only | $41,656 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$7,085 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 109 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $44,070 as a midpoint for Hawaii, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $35,200 and the ninetieth is $49,400 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- In Hawaii the take-home figure of $35,651, from $44,070, assumes one filer, no dependants, and nothing paid into a pension before tax. Each of those lowers the bill, so treat it as the plain case. City and school-district income taxes are not included either, and in a few states those are real money. It ranks 381 of 437 occupations here.
- Two cautions on $32,825, the adjusted value of that $44,070 median. It levels out prices with a single number for all of Hawaii. No actual address matches that. The wage figures and price figures are also from different years. Each is published on its own timetable. This work sits at 381 of 437 locally.
- The Hawaii median of $44,070 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $35,200 to $49,400. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Take-home for Hawaii is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $35,651 from $44,070. Each omitted item reduces taxable income, so the figure is a lower bound on retained pay for this household shape. Municipal and school-district income taxes are excluded, which understates the burden materially in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Maryland. The occupation ranks 381 of 437 locally.
- This $32,825 adjusted figure, worked from $44,070, rests on a state-level price parity averaging over within-state dispersion larger than much of the between-state dispersion. Wage and price vintages differ by publication schedule. The result is directionally sound and not address-specific, for work at 381 of 437 in the state. The occupation ranks 381 of 437 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
It is the midpoint, not the average. The average here is $41,970, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $35,200 and the top tenth $49,400, so most people doing this work in Hawaii sit within a fairly tight band.
Does a bigger number here mean I am better off?
A larger wage in a dearer place is not automatically more. Adjusted for local prices, this pay behaves like $32,825 of national purchasing power.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Three of them are federal and one is not. After income tax, Social Security, Medicare and Hawaii's own levy, $35,651 remains.
Can I compare this job across every state?
Yes for this one. Pay is published in all 51 jurisdictions, so a state-to-state comparison here rests on the same survey everywhere rather than on a patchwork.
How does the published median differ from the mean for this occupation?
The median is the midpoint of the distribution; the mean for this occupation in Hawaii is $41,970. Wage distributions are right-skewed, so the mean exceeds the median wherever a minority earn substantially more. BLS publishes both because substituting one for the other misstates a typical worker's pay.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($35,200 to $49,400) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Hawaii rather than a national figure.
How does the state price level affect real compensation?
Hawaii's regional price parity sits above the national average, so nominal wages overstate purchasing power. Deflating take-home by the state price level gives $32,825 in national-average terms. ⚠️ RPPs are an all-items index; housing parities vary far more widely than the headline figure.
What accounts for the gap between gross wage and take-home here?
Take-home of $35,651 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Hawaii income tax for a single filer with no adjustments. The state layer is levied in addition to the federal one; only its rate and base differ between states.
Is this occupation's state coverage complete?
State-level estimates are published for all 51 jurisdictions for this occupation, so cross-state comparison is not confounded by suppression. ⚠️ Estimates remain survey-based and carry sampling error; small differences between adjacent states should not be over-read.