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The differences between registered veterinary technicians and animal health technicians can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 6-12 months to become both a registered veterinary technician and an animal health technician. Additionally, a registered veterinary technician has an average salary of $40,204, which is higher than the $37,267 average annual salary of an animal health technician.
The top three skills for a registered veterinary technician include PET, patients and venipuncture. The most important skills for an animal health technician are animal handling, IM, and laboratory animals.
| Registered Veterinary Technician | Animal Health Technician | |
| Yearly salary | $40,204 | $37,267 |
| Hourly rate | $19.33 | $17.92 |
| Growth rate | 20% | 20% |
| Number of jobs | 23,036 | 89,376 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Associate Degree, 77% | Bachelor's Degree, 50% |
| Average age | 32 | 32 |
| Years of experience | 12 | 12 |
Registered veterinary technicians work under the supervision of a licensed veterinarian. The technicians must control and prevent zoonotic diseases. They assist veterinarians in medical administration, surgeries, and other animal health treatment procedures. These technicians observe animals for behavioral and physical changes, perform lab tests and collect laboratory examples, and provide nursing care to animals. They must undergo training in any accredited veterinarian technician programs and must study topics such as veterinary anatomy and physiology, parasitology, and veterinary nursing.
Animal health technicians work primarily in an animal diagnostics laboratory, where they test specimens according to a veterinarian's requests. The animal health technician must be capable of operating all of the necessary diagnostics equipment for animal care. The animal health technician must provide accurate results on diagnostic requests coming from a veterinarian. Added responsibilities of an animal health technician are educating owners on taking care of their pets, ensuring that all equipment is working correctly, and providing accurate results for better diagnosis.
Registered veterinary technicians and animal health technicians have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Registered Veterinary Technician | Animal Health Technician | |
| Average salary | $40,204 | $37,267 |
| Salary range | Between $30,000 And $52,000 | Between $23,000 And $58,000 |
| Highest paying City | Salinas, CA | - |
| Highest paying state | California | - |
| Best paying company | Neuralink IT Solutions | - |
| Best paying industry | Health Care | - |
There are a few differences between a registered veterinary technician and an animal health technician in terms of educational background:
| Registered Veterinary Technician | Animal Health Technician | |
| Most common degree | Associate Degree, 77% | Bachelor's Degree, 50% |
| Most common major | Medical Assisting Services | Animal Science |
| Most common college | Northwestern University | Ohio State University |
Here are the differences between registered veterinary technicians' and animal health technicians' demographics:
| Registered Veterinary Technician | Animal Health Technician | |
| Average age | 32 | 32 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 9.3% Female, 90.7% | Male, 29.6% Female, 70.4% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 2.7% Unknown, 6.8% Hispanic or Latino, 10.9% Asian, 2.1% White, 77.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3% | Black or African American, 2.7% Unknown, 6.8% Hispanic or Latino, 10.9% Asian, 2.1% White, 77.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3% |
| LGBT Percentage | 9% | 9% |