Veterinary Assistants and Laboratory Animal Caretakers in Minnesota
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$36,959
after federal, FICA and Minnesota tax
Tax takes
$8,321
18.4% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$37,553
Minnesota costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Minnesota — 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
$45,280
Kept after tax
$36,959
Worth in national money
$37,553
State rank
7
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for this job is strong here. Minnesota's middle earner gets $45,280, putting the state 7 of 51 — about 18.69% ahead of the national figure.
- Within Minnesota this is lower-paid work. Of 490 occupations the state publishes figures for, this job ranks 410. That is the bottom quarter locally, whatever the national comparison says.
- No great distortion either way. Minnesota costs about what the country costs, so from $45,280, take-home of $36,959 is worth roughly $37,553 in national money. The average lands at $43,420, below the middle of the range.
- For veterinary assistants and laboratory animal caretakers, Minnesota sits in the upper band nationally: a median of $45,280, ranking 7 of 51 and running about 18.69% 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.
- Against every occupation Minnesota reports, veterinary assistants and laboratory animal caretakers ranks 410 of 490, in the lowest quartile of the state's distribution. That position is set by the local labor market and is independent of how the state compares nationally for this work.
- Price parity in Minnesota is near the national base, so for veterinary assistants and laboratory animal caretakers, whose median is $45,280, the adjusted figure of $37,553 differs little from $36,959 retained after tax. The state's position for this occupation is therefore set by wage and tax rather than by living costs. At $43,420 the mean undershoots the median, an inversion of the usual skew.
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 | $36,410 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $45,280 |
| Top tenth earn over | $49,060 |
| This salary | $45,280 |
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 Minnesota | $36,959 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $38,562 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$2,131 |
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 | $43,284 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$2,577 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 98 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Half the people doing this work in Minnesota earn less than $45,280. The published range is $36,410 up to $49,060, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- That $36,959 take-home in Minnesota comes from $45,280. It is the no-frills case: single filer, standard deduction, nothing set aside before tax. Real circumstances almost always reduce the tax. City and school-district taxes are not counted at all. Locally the work ranks 410 of 490.
- One number stands for prices across all of Minnesota, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $37,553, the adjusted value of that $45,280 median, as a way to compare states fairly, not as a quote for any particular place. The two datasets are also from different years. This job sits at 410 of 490 in the state.
- Reported values are medians; for veterinary assistants and laboratory animal caretakers in Minnesota the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $36,410 to $49,060. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Retained pay of $36,959, from $45,280, assumes a single Minnesota filer with the standard deduction and no elective deferrals. Pre-tax retirement or HSA contributions, dependants and itemized deductions all reduce it further; local income taxes, excluded here, would increase it in the states that levy them. This occupation ranks 410 of 490 locally, and the state ranks 7 of 51 for it.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Minnesota, so $37,553 — the adjusted value of that $45,280 median — establishes comparability between states rather than accuracy within one. The wage and parity series are dated independently, each following its own publication cycle, and neither is projected forward. This occupation sits at 410 of 490 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
Half earn more than this and half earn less. The average sits at $43,420 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $36,410 at the bottom tenth to $49,060 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
Further than the number implies. Minnesota is cheaper than the national average, so this take-home behaves like $37,553 in national terms.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Four deductions, stacked. The federal layer and the two payroll taxes apply wherever you work; Minnesota then takes its own share, leaving $36,959.
Can I compare this job across every state?
All 51 jurisdictions report this work, which makes the ranking a like-for-like one.
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 Minnesota is $43,420. 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 ($36,410 to $49,060) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Minnesota rather than a national figure.
What is this occupation's price-adjusted compensation in this state?
Minnesota's regional price parity is at or below the national average, so nominal wages understate purchasing power. Take-home deflated by the state price level is $37,553 in national-average terms. The adjustment uses an all-items index and does not isolate housing.
What accounts for the gap between gross wage and take-home here?
Take-home of $36,959 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Minnesota 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.