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Animal Caretakers vs Veterinary Assistants and Laboratory Animal Caretakers

Side-by-side · O*NET · BLS · AI-exposure research · Anthropic Economic Index

A factual, source-backed comparison of Animal Caretakers and Veterinary Assistants and Laboratory Animal Caretakers on the dimensions both occupations carry. Every figure is a position within an independent published dataset — not a verdict on which job is better, safer, or more “future-proof.”

Animal Caretakers Veterinary Assistants and Laboratory Animal Caretakers
Median pay · BLS OEWS
$33,470
$37,320
Employment · BLS OEWS
277,300
114,190
AI exposure (percentile) · task overlap, not automation
80th pct
6th pct

At a glance

Dimension Animal Caretakers Veterinary Assistants and Laboratory Animal Caretakers
Median pay $33,470 $37,320
Employment 277,300 114,190
Employment outlook (2024–34) · BLS projection Growing fast (+12.1%) Growing fast (+8.7%)
Annual openings · BLS projection 74,600 22,200
Typical education · O*NET Usually requires a high school diploma or GED, though some occupations may not. Usually requires a high school diploma or GED, though some occupations may not.
AI exposure · published exposure studies High · 80th pct Low · 6th pct
Global GenAI gradient · ILO ISCO-08 · via crosswalk 14th pct · 14% of tasks 15th pct · 14% of tasks
Observed AI use · Anthropic Economic Index — Augmentation-leaning (54.2%)
Mostly remote-capable · Dingel–Neiman No No

Pay and employment are BLS OEWS estimates; outlook and openings are BLS 2024–2034 projections; AI exposure and observed-use figures come from separate research and reflect exposure and usage, not predictions that either job will disappear. Compare like with like.

Skills

Shared: Customer and Personal Service, Oral Comprehension, Administrative, Monitoring, Oral Expression, Problem Sensitivity, Information Ordering, Near Vision, English Language, Reading Comprehension, Active Listening, Coordination, Service Orientation, Judgment and Decision Making, Deductive Reasoning, Inductive Reasoning, Trunk Strength, Speech Recognition, Speech Clarity, Speaking, Written Comprehension, Arm-Hand Steadiness, Extent Flexibility, Writing, Critical Thinking, Social Perceptiveness, Manual Dexterity, Complex Problem Solving, Category Flexibility, Flexibility of Closure, Selective Attention, Finger Dexterity, Time Management, Written Expression.

Specific to Animal Caretakers

  • Static Strength
  • Far Vision
  • Stamina
  • Education and Training
  • Administration and Management
  • Psychology

Specific to Veterinary Assistants and Laboratory Animal Caretakers

  • Biology
  • Medicine and Dentistry
  • Computers and Electronics
  • Multilimb Coordination
  • Active Learning
  • Instructing

Knowledge, skills & abilities O*NET rates as important for each occupation. “Shared” are common to both; the columns list what is distinctive to each (top by the order O*NET surfaces).

Tools & technology

Shared: Data base user interface and query software , Spreadsheet software , Office suite software , Electronic mail software , Presentation software , Word processing software , Calendar and scheduling software .

Specific to Animal Caretakers

    Specific to Veterinary Assistants and Laboratory Animal Caretakers

    Full profiles

    This page is a summary. See the complete source-backed profile for Animal Caretakers or Veterinary Assistants and Laboratory Animal Caretakers — tasks, the full skill graph, tools, work context, preparation, wages by percentile, industries, AI exposure and the AI work map.

    More comparisons

    Related occupations you can place side by side on the same sourced scale.

    Sources for this page

    Every figure above traces to a named public dataset and the exact release below — not hand-written opinion. See the full methodology for what each measure does and does not mean.

    Data compiled June 2, 2026. Figures are estimates, not advice.

    Cite this page
    Plain

    Singulariki. "Animal Caretakers vs Veterinary Assistants and Laboratory Animal Caretakers." Singulariki: a source-backed encyclopedia of work. Built from O*NET 30.3; BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) May 2024; BLS Employment Projections 2024–2034; Anthropic Economic Index v4 (2026-01-15) + v2 (2025-03-27); Microsoft “Working with AI” working-with-ai; “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130; AI Occupational Exposure (AIOE) Felten, Raj & Seamans; ILO / Gmyrek et al. GenAI exposure gradient 2025; IBS O*NET-SOC ↔ ISCO-08 occupation crosswalk 2022; Frey & Osborne (2013) frey-osborne-automation; Dingel & Neiman (2020) dingel-neiman-workathome. Accessed June 7, 2026. https://singulariki.com/compare/animal-caretakers-vs-veterinary-assistants-and-laboratory-animal-caretakers

    APA

    Singulariki. (2026). Animal Caretakers vs Veterinary Assistants and Laboratory Animal Caretakers. Singulariki: a source-backed encyclopedia of work. Retrieved June 7, 2026, from https://singulariki.com/compare/animal-caretakers-vs-veterinary-assistants-and-laboratory-animal-caretakers

    BibTeX 
    @misc{singulariki-animal-caretakers-vs-veterinary-assistants-and-laboratory-animal-caretakers,
  title  = {Animal Caretakers vs Veterinary Assistants and Laboratory Animal Caretakers},
  author = {{Singulariki}},
  year   = {2026},
  note   = {O*NET 30.3; BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) May 2024; BLS Employment Projections 2024–2034; Anthropic Economic Index v4 (2026-01-15) + v2 (2025-03-27); Microsoft “Working with AI” working-with-ai; “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130; AI Occupational Exposure (AIOE) Felten, Raj & Seamans; ILO / Gmyrek et al. GenAI exposure gradient 2025; IBS O*NET-SOC ↔ ISCO-08 occupation crosswalk 2022; Frey & Osborne (2013) frey-osborne-automation; Dingel & Neiman (2020) dingel-neiman-workathome. Accessed June 7, 2026},
  url    = {https://singulariki.com/compare/animal-caretakers-vs-veterinary-assistants-and-laboratory-animal-caretakers}
}

    Citations name the underlying public dataset releases — they reflect what this page is built from, not just the URL.