It offers the advantage of being less aggressive on soils and much less corrosive:[5] for this reason, it is preferred for airport runways although it is more expensive.

In medicine, potassium acetate is used as part of electrolyte replacement protocols in the treatment of diabetic ketoacidosis because of its ability to break down to bicarbonate to help neutralize the acidotic state.

In molecular biology, potassium acetate is used to precipitate Sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) and SDS-bound proteins to allow their removal from DNA.

[13] In August 2017, the U.S. state of Florida executed Mark James Asay using a combination of etomidate, rocuronium bromide, and potassium acetate.

[14] The drug was also used in the February 2023 execution of Donald Dillbeck, once again in combination with etomidate and rocuronium bromide.