My friend wants to move to California to be with me and is a
Veterinarian's assistant.  She has 3+ years experience and is very
skilled.  The area in I live in is Newbury Park, CA  91320  and I am
interested in knowing how much she can expect to earn starting out and
in the near future working here.  Within 20 miles of Newbury Park is
OK.  If the wages are pretty standard state-wide then that will
suffice.  I would like to know hourly wages but if you can find some
salaries then that will help me get an idea also.

Hello Perfshnerf and thank you for your question.

The Salary Expert Website provides a handy search tool to find the
average salary by job title and zip code.
http://www.salaryexpert.com/index.cfm


The Veterinary Technician is the title given here for a Veterinary
Assistant. Here is the description:

The Veterinary Technician performs a variety of animal health care
duties to assist the Veterinarian in settings such as veterinarians'
clinics, zoos, research laboratories, kennels, and commercial
facilities.

- “Prepares treatment room for examination of animals, and holds or
restrains animals during examination, treatment, or inoculation.
Administers injections, performs venipunctures, applies wound
dressings, cleans teeth, and takes vital signs of animal, under
supervision of veterinarian.

Prepares patient, medications, and equipment for surgery, and hands
instruments and materials to veterinarian during surgical procedures.
Performs routine laboratory tests, cares for and feeds laboratory
animals, and assists professional personnel with research projects in
commercial, public health, or research laboratories.

Inspects products or carcasses when employed in food processing plants
to ensure compliance with health standards. May assist veterinarian to
artificially inseminate animals. May bathe and groom small animals.”

Here is the salary report for zip code 91320:

The Veterinary Technician earns an average salary of 22,226. 

“Half of those in this position would earn between 18,165 and 25,275. 
These numbers are derived from real, area specific, survey data.
When benefits and bonuses are added to this salary, the average total
compensation for this position would be 26,096.”

Veterinary Technician 
Low          Average        High        Bonus    Benefits 
18,165       22,226         25,275      0.0%     17.4% 
Total Compensation:   26,096  

United States National Average  
Low          Average        High        Total Compensation 
19,824       24,255         27,582      27,984

Source: Salary Expert Website
http://www.salaryexpert.com/SEReports/Free_Salary_NA/index.cfm?job=3105&zip=91320&area=360000&GetReport=Get+Report

A Veterinarian working in zipcode area 91320 earns an average salary
of 64,506. Half of those in this position would earn between 39,123
and 82,033. http://www.salaryexpert.com/SEReports/Free_Salary_NA/index.cfm?job=3104&zip=91320&area=360000&GetReport=Get+Report
Carreer Infonet provides information on hourly wages by job title and
State.
http://www.acinet.org/acinet/default.asp?soccode=515023&stfips=47

The average hourly wage in California for a veterinarian assistant
would be $7.91., the lowest $6.26 and the highest $13.44
http://www.acinet.org/acinet/occ_rep.asp?soccode=319096&from=&Level=&keyword=VETERINARIAN+ASSISTANT&stfips=06&x=30&y=7


Search Criteria:

Salary expert
Veterinarian assistant


I hope you find this helpful and if there is anything that I've
written that needs clarification, please ask before you rate this
answer.

Best Regards,
Bobbie7-ga

---

Clarification of Answer by bobbie7-ga on 19 Dec 2002 12:02 PST

Perfshnerf,
Thanks for the rating and the tip!
--Bobbie7-ga

Wow.  That was great.  That was totally what I was looking for and you
answered it faster than it took for me to type out the question.  I
will definately be using this service again.  what a whoopin.