Start with the answer
Veterinary Assistants and Laboratory Animal Caretakers pay in San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA and Trenton-Princeton, NJ
The May 2025 BLS OEWS median for Veterinary Assistants and Laboratory Animal Caretakers is $49,400 per year in San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA. It is $44,140 per year in Trenton-Princeton, NJ. San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA is 11.9% above Trenton-Princeton, NJ on the published median.
Both rows use SOC 31-9096 and the same annual wage metric. Median means the middle of each area's published wage spread. It is not one worker's pay. The larger median is not proof that one place gives a better job or a better result. It is one wage fact from one source period.
BLS lists 2,150 wage and salary jobs in San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA and 150 in Trenton-Princeton, NJ. Those are survey job counts, not open posts. Read pay, job scale, local share, and price level as separate facts before you make a choice.