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Boston Career Explorer

Healthcare Practitioners and Technical

Veterinary Technologists and Technicians

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. Prepare tissue samples, take blood samples, and execute laboratory tests, such as urinalysis and blood counts. Clean and sterilize instruments and materials and maintain equipment and machines. May assist a veterinarian during surgery.

Also called: Certified Veterinary Technician (CVT), Emergency Veterinary Technician (Emergency Vet Tech), Internal Medicine Veterinary Technician (Internal Medicine Vet Tech), Licensed Veterinary Technician (LVT), Registered Veterinary Technician (RVT), Veterinarian Technician (Vet Tech)

Median pay in Greater Boston
$50,970
$24.50/hr
Jobs in Greater Boston
2,970
Massachusetts 2024–2034
+2.5%
380 openings a year
Typical U.S. entry requirement
Associate's degree

Greater Boston: Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH metro area, May 2025. Growth and openings: Massachusetts statewide projection.

Pay range in Greater Boston

Yearly pay in Greater Boston by percentile
10th25thMedian75th90th
$39,300$48,430$50,970$60,830$70,570

10% of workers earn less than the first figure and 10% earn more than the last.

What you’d do

  • Administer anesthesia to animals, under the direction of a veterinarian, and monitor animals' responses to anesthetics so that dosages can be adjusted.
  • Care for and monitor the condition of animals recovering from surgery.
  • Maintain controlled drug inventory and related log books.
  • Perform laboratory tests on blood, urine, or feces, such as urinalyses or blood counts, to assist in the diagnosis and treatment of animal health problems.
  • Prepare and administer medications, vaccines, serums, or treatments, as prescribed by veterinarians.
  • Restrain animals during exams or procedures.

AI and this job

AI exposure: how much of this job’s work AI tools can do or help with, based on national research. It is not a forecast of job loss.

Moderate exposure36 of 100

The index averages three national research measures, each shown as a percentile of all jobs:

  • AIOE 37
  • Language-model AIOE 39
  • GPTs-are-GPTs 31

Observed AI use today: Little or none (Anthropic Economic Index)

Veterinary technologists and technicians have moderate AI exposure, and observed AI use is little or none so far. AI tools may help with lab result review, inventory logs, and record-keeping. Caring for animals, monitoring them during anesthesia and recovery, and giving treatments are hands-on tasks that still rely on people.

Likely to change

  • Reviewing lab test results
  • Keeping drug inventory and log records

Still relies on people

  • Monitoring animals under anesthesia
  • Caring for animals recovering from surgery

Written with AI from the data on this page. Check with a career coach before making a decision.

Next steps from here

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Training near Boston

College and school programs in the Boston metro area that lead to this job, with 2023-24 completions (IPEDS).

4 programs near Boston

Related occupations

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