Vet tech expected salary?

[Artsyrache]

Hello-I’m new here. This is my first post-I did a search for this info and didn’t come across anything. I’m hoping I didn’t miss any relevant threads!

I’m looking for help finding reliable, up-to-date information on becoming a vet tech. I am a single mom working a full time job that is not very fulfilling. I’ve been thinking about going back to school to become a vet tech, but I need to find information on salaries before I go any further. I know that this isn’t a well-paying job, and I really need to be fiscally responsible. I am finding wildly different information about what kind of pay I can expect in my state (PA). I’m also seeing a lot of conflicting information about job stability. Some people are saying that most vet practices are scaling back on the amount of techs they hire, others say that’s untrue. I have also stumbled across a lot of “articles” that appear to be attached to ads for various schools.

Does anyone have either firsthand knowledge about expectations for vet techs in PA? Or does anyone know of a reliable, unbiased source I can access to find this information? Thank you in advance. I appreciate any help on this.

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[ajs513]

PA has a lot of variability depending on where you are. If you’re in the middle of nowhere you may be making $25,000. If you’re not, you might be making up to $40,000 when you’re established with a practice. You can expect $30,000 to be around the average in a higher COL area like philadelphia, but this can also vary between hospitals and with experience. I’ve heard a lot of techs switch from hospital to hospital if they get better offers. However, it’s really not a salary that can easily support a family. The most I’ve ever heard of a tech making was $50,000. The majority I know make around $30,000, maybe a little closer to $35,000. There’s a ton of variability in salary and it’s around half that of human nurses. If you’re considering a career change and would like to support a family, I’d choose pretty much any other career.

 

[Nova11Athena]

It depends on state. I’m in Texas near Dallas and I’m lead vet tech making a little over $26,000 a year

 

[KCgophervet]

If it interests you at all and there are research facilities where you're looking, check out being a lab animal vet tech. I think they tend to make more decent salaries and deal with less crazy clients (usually).

 

[PippyPony]

I don't have much to add on the salary portion, but --

Some people are saying that most vet practices are scaling back on the amount of techs they hire, others say that’s untrue.

Where did you hear this?

As far as I know, there is a huge shortage of qualified techs. I haven't heard of a single technician being laid off in the clinics where I've worked over the past 5 years. Most of the time, the clinic owners were desperate to hire more of them. At one point at one clinic, we had 2 techs trying to support 3 doctors, when some clinics have like 2 techs per doctor. Granted, this is in a different area (New England, not PA), but I thought the tech shortage was a nation-wide issue at this point.

I do know that tech salaries typically remain low for the work you're expected to do (a function of how much the clinics can afford to pay people rather than a reflection of how valued they are) and so burn out is high.

 

[ajs513]

I don't have much to add on the salary portion, but --

Where did you hear this?

As far as I know, there is a huge shortage of qualified techs. I haven't heard of a single technician being laid off in the clinics where I've worked over the past 5 years. Most of the time, the clinic owners were desperate to hire more of them. At one point at one clinic, we had 2 techs trying to support 3 doctors, when some clinics have like 2 techs per doctor. Granted, this is in a different area (New England, not PA), but I thought the tech shortage was a nation-wide issue at this point.

I do know that tech salaries typically remain low for the work you're expected to do (a function of how much the clinics can afford to pay people rather than a reflection of how valued they are) and so burn out is high.

Yea I haven’t been in the field for a super long time but I’ve never heard of a qualified tech getting laid off for the sake of laying people off. In fact I’ve seen pretty much the opposite; hospitals holding on to qualified techs despite poor work ethic because the alternative is, well, no one. They’d rather have someone who is able to place a catheter on a dehydrated chihuahua and intubate a dog in distress even if they call out once a week and show up to work late (personal experience with a tech I worked with). In most other fields I don’t think that would ever fly.

 

[CoffeeQuestionMark]

Maybe in WA tech salaries are higher than most places. My roommate makes $18/hr at our teaching hospital which is lower than the Seattle salaries. Her rate in Seattle was something like $22-$24/hr

 

[Artsyrache]

The lay-offs were based on an argument on another forum. (Reddit, maybe? I’m having trouble keeping track of all of them.) That’s one of the reasons I came here to ask for informed opinions and professional sources. It’s hard to determine what is factual information and what is based on bad individual experiences.
Thank you so much to everyone who has taken the time to respond! I really appreciate all of your input.