How to transfer your Veterinary technician licence to South Dakota (2026)

Veterinary technician work in South Dakota is licensed at state level, by the South Dakota veterinary medical board. This page says what a veterinary technician licensed or working in another state has to do to work in South Dakota, in the order to do it, and what goes wrong when the order is reversed.

How the transfer works

Most states credential veterinary technicians (as LVT, RVT or CVT) through the veterinary medical board and accept the VTNE and a credential from another state for licensure by endorsement; a few states have no credential and employers hire on the VTNE alone. Apply to South Dakota's board with VTNE verification, your credential and a background check.

Exam: VTNE.

How long: two to eight weeks. Fee: $50 to $200; the current figure is on the licensing body's own site.

What to have ready before you move

• VTNE score transfer
• Credential verification
• Continuing education record

Start the paperwork before you give notice. Every week the licence is not done is a week you are not paid, and nothing in the process needs you to be in South Dakota already.

What people get wrong

• Assuming the title is the same; LVT, RVT and CVT are one credential under three names
• Not checking whether ${STATE} credentials at all

Who hires veterinary technicians in South Dakota

Veterinary technicians in South Dakota are hired by veterinary practices, emergency and specialty hospitals, shelters and research labs. The metros with the most of that work are Sioux Falls, Rapid City and Aberdeen. Employers who could not hire locally and have filed with the Department of Labor are on the South Dakota openings page.

For the money side: the median veterinary technician in South Dakota earned $45,220 a year ($22 an hour) in May 2024 across 300 jobs, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and South Dakota has no state income tax on wages. What that leaves you after tax is its own page.

Everything about South Dakota, on one page

The South Dakota page has the registries and boards, the income tax table, the programs that pay you to come and the openings filed this month. If you know which state you are leaving, the move pages compare the two directly. Creating a free Workmerica profile with your trade and your destination puts you in front of South Dakota employers hiring from out of state.