Washington·Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations·SOC 29-2056

Best Veterinary Technologist programs in Washington, ranked by enrollment

Perform medical tests in a laboratory environment for use in the treatment and diagnosis of diseases in animals. Prepare vaccines and serums for prevention of diseases.

6 schools in Washington run programs that feed this job, graduating 275 people a year. The job pays a median of $59,740 in Washington across about 2,290 jobs (BLS OEWS May 2025).

Also calledVeterinary Technician (Vet Tech)Licensed Veterinary Technician (LVT)Certified Veterinary Technician (CVT)Registered Veterinary Technician (RVT)Veterinary TechnologistVeterinary X-Ray OperatorVeterinary Nurse (Vet Nurse)Swine Technician (Swine Tech)
Graduates / yr
275
in Washington
Median pay · Washington
$59,740
BLS OEWS May 2025
Jobs in state
2,290
people employed
Schools
6
with a feeder program
Avg graduation rate
48%
across those schools
Median net price
$31,697
per year, IPEDS

Fields of study in Washington that lead to this job

Grouped at the 4-digit CIP level. Numbers are graduates per year in this state.

1 programs in Washington that lead to this job

Ranked by graduates per year in Washington (IPEDS completions). Graduate earnings and debt are national College Scorecard figures reported at the 4-digit CIP level, so specializations within one field share a figure. Each program also links to its own Washington page.

Degree programs that lead to this occupation, ranked by graduates per year
#ProgramGraduates / yrShare of pipelineSchoolsGrad earnings (1 yr)Median debt
1275
100.0%
6$33,581$14,171

Top 6 schools in Washington

Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 3 of the 6 schools in this state.

Schools ranked by graduates per year into this occupation
#SchoolGraduates / yrTop feeder programGrad earnings (1 yr)Grad rateNet priceAcceptance
1Pima Medical Institute - Seattle
Seattle, WA Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs
115Veterinary/Animal Health Technology/Technician and Veterinary Assistant$25,63868%$28,800
2Pima Medical Institute - Renton
Renton, WA Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs
90Veterinary/Animal Health Technology/Technician and Veterinary Assistant$25,63869%$31,697
3Carrington College - Spokane
Spokane, WA Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs
34Veterinary/Animal Health Technology/Technician and Veterinary Assistant$27,41142%$35,985
4Renton Technical College
Renton, WA Public · 1 feeder programs
18Veterinary/Animal Health Technology/Technician and Veterinary Assistant46%
5Pierce College District
Lakewood, WA Public · 1 feeder programs
14Veterinary/Animal Health Technology/Technician and Veterinary Assistant31%
6Yakima Valley College
Yakima, WA Public · 1 feeder programs
4Veterinary/Animal Health Technology/Technician and Veterinary Assistant29%

All 6 schools in Washington

Every school in Washington with a program that feeds this job, ordered by graduates per year. Earnings are shown for the ranked schools above; open a school profile for the rest.

All schools in Washington that feed this occupation
SchoolCityControlGraduates / yrFeeder programs
Pima Medical Institute - SeattleSeattlePrivate for-profit1151
Pima Medical Institute - RentonRentonPrivate for-profit901
Carrington College - SpokaneSpokanePrivate for-profit341
Renton Technical CollegeRentonPublic181
Pierce College DistrictLakewoodPublic141
Yakima Valley CollegeYakimaPublic41

What veterinary technologists and technicians earn in Washington

What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.

Median annual in Washington
$59,740
Mean annual
$59,940
Jobs in state
2,290
What the range looks like
10th pct$46,390Median$59,74090th pct$77,300
Versus the national median
+26.1%

U.S. median $47,380. Washington pays above the national figure.

Job concentration
0.78×

1.00× means the state has its expected share of these jobs.

Metro areas in Washington

Mount Vernon-Anacortes, WA
$60,830median
40 jobs
Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA
$61,260median
1,170 jobs
Kennewick-Richland, WA
$61,070median
50 jobs
Bremerton-Silverdale-Port Orchard, WA
$57,720median
90 jobs
Bellingham, WA
$59,360median
100 jobs
Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater, WA
$59,260median
90 jobs
Spokane-Spokane Valley, WA
$57,100median
170 jobs

Job outlook

Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections, 2024 to 2034.

Projected growth 2024–34
+9.1%
Much faster than average
Openings per year
14,300
new jobs plus replacements
Employment change
12,200
134,200 → 146,400
Typical entry education
Associate's degree

Growth and openings are national. The Bureau of Labor Statistics does not publish employment projections at state level, so these figures describe the occupation across the whole U.S., not this state alone.

How to get in

The full skills, tools, and day-to-day breakdown lives on the national Veterinary Technologists and Technicians page.

How to become a Veterinary Technologist

Job zone 3 of 5 · SVP 6.0 to < 7.0
Typical entry education
Associate's degree

Most occupations in this zone require training in vocational schools, related on-the-job experience, or an associate's degree.

Previous work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is required for these occupations. For example, an electrician must have completed three or four years of apprenticeship or several years of vocational training, and often must have passed a licensing exam, in order to perform the job.

Employees in these occupations usually need one or two years of training involving both on-the-job experience and informal training with experienced workers. A recognized apprenticeship program may be associated with these occupations.

Top skills

Active ListeningCritical ThinkingReading ComprehensionSpeakingWritingMonitoring

The same job in other states

Where else this occupation employs the most people, and what it pays there.

Related careers in Washington

Every major mapped to this job

The official federal mapping behind the rankings above.

All 2 majors mapped to Veterinary Technologists and Technicians2 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
  • 01.8301Veterinary/Animal Health Technology/Technician and Veterinary Assistant
  • 01.8399Veterinary/Animal Health Technologies/Technicians, Other

Common questions

Answers for people weighing veterinary technologists and technicians programs in Washington.

What degree do you need to become a Veterinary Technologist?+

Associate's degree is the typical entry-level education BLS reports for this occupation. The most common program people actually graduate from is Veterinary/Animal Health Technology/Technician and Veterinary Assistant, which awarded 275 degrees in Washington in 2024-25, 100.0% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.

Which college majors lead to becoming a Veterinary Technologist?+

The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 1 programs to this occupation. The largest are Veterinary/Animal Health Technologies/Technicians. Together they graduate about 275 people a year in Washington.

How much do veterinary technologists and technicians earn in Washington?+

The median is $59,740 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 26.1% above the U.S. median of $47,380. This is pay for people already working in the occupation, not the same thing as graduate earnings one year after finishing a degree.

Is demand for veterinary technologists and technicians growing?+

BLS projects a +9.1% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, much faster than average, with roughly 14,300 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.

How many schools offer programs for this career in Washington?+

6 institutions in Washington reported graduates from at least one of the 1 programs that feed this occupation in IPEDS 2024-25. Rankings on this page use graduates per year, because the federal data publishes no enrollment count by program.

What other job titles do veterinary technologists and technicians work under?+

Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Veterinary Technician (Vet Tech), Licensed Veterinary Technician (LVT), Certified Veterinary Technician (CVT), Registered Veterinary Technician (RVT) among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 29-2056.

Veterinary Technologists and Technicians in other statesCaliforniaTexasArizonaFloridaColoradoNew YorkPennsylvaniaVirginia

About the data on this page

Rankings use IPEDS completions 2024–25, degrees awarded per year. That is the closest federal measure of how many people a program puts into a career, because no federal dataset publishes enrollment by program. Wages and employment come from BLS OEWS May 2025, growth and openings from BLS Employment Projections 2024-34, and which majors lead to which jobs from the NCES CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk. Occupation descriptions, tasks, skills and tools are O*NET 30.3 (CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor/ETA).

  • BLS Occupational Employment & Wage Statistics

    May 2025

    Wages, employment counts, location quotients and metro breakdowns.

  • BLS Employment Projections

    2024–34

    Projected growth, annual openings and typical entry-level education.

  • IPEDS Completions

    2024-25 (provisional)

    Graduates per year by program and institution — the ranking metric.

  • College Scorecard, Field of Study

    2020-21 cohorts

    Median graduate earnings one year after completion, and median debt.

  • Census Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes

    latest available

    Graduate earnings 1/5/10 years out, where the state participates.

  • NCES CIP 2020 and the CIP-to-SOC 2018 crosswalk

    CIP 2020 / SOC 2018

    Which college programs officially lead to this occupation.

  • O*NET Database 30.3

    30.3

    Tasks, skills, knowledge, tools, job zone and alternate job titles.

    Official source →CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor / ETA

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