---
title: "Animal Caretaker"
description: "Feed, water, groom, bathe, exercise, or otherwise provide care to promote and maintain the well-being of pets and other animals that are not raised for…"
canonical: "https://nuecareer.com/careers/animal-caretaker"
last-updated: "2026-08-23T15:56:39.581Z"
---

# Animal Caretaker

**Category:** Personal Care and Service · **SOC code:** 39-2021 · **O\*NET-SOC code:** 39-2021.00

Feed, water, groom, bathe, exercise, or otherwise provide care to promote and maintain the well-being of pets and other animals that are not raised for consumption, such as dogs, cats, race horses, ornamental fish or birds, zoo animals, and mice. Work in settings such as kennels, animal shelters, zoos, circuses, and aquariums. May keep records of feedings, treatments, and animals received or discharged. May clean, disinfect, and repair cages, pens, or fish tanks.

Also advertised as: Animal Care Giver (ACG); Aquarist; Dog Bather; Dog Groomer; Groomer; Kennel Attendant; Kennel Technician (Kennel Tech); Pet Groomer.

## At a glance

- **Median annual wage:** $35,360 (BLS OEWS, May 2025)
- **Median hourly wage:** $17.00/hr
- **Wage range (10th–90th percentile):** $27,250 to $50,060, with the middle half between $29,820 and $40,050
- **Total US employment:** 266,910
- **Typical entry education:** High school
- **Preparation required:** Little or no preparation — O\*NET rates this "Job Zone 1-2: Very Little to Some Preparation Needed"
- **Projected growth:** +12.1% over 2024–2034 (BLS EP, 2024–2034)
- **Annual job openings:** 74,600 openings a year
- **AI-resilience score:** 56/100 — a NueCareer heuristic over O\*NET work activities and context, not a BLS or O\*NET figure

## Pay

National wage distribution, BLS OEWS, May 2025, across 266,910 US jobs.

| Percentile | Annual wage |
| --- | --- |
| 10th | $27,250 |
| 25th | $29,820 |
| 50th (median) | $35,360 |
| 75th | $40,050 |
| 90th | $50,060 |
| Mean (average) | $37,300 |

### Pay by state

The 15 highest-paying states, by median annual wage. The cost-of-living-adjusted column divides the state median by that state's BEA Regional Price Parity, so the columns answer different questions: the first is what the job pays there, the second is what that pay buys there.

| State | Median annual wage | Cost-of-living adjusted | Employment |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| DC | $44,210 | $40,227 | 460 |
| WA | $40,570 | $37,911 | 6,620 |
| HI | $40,130 | $36,498 | 570 |
| MA | $39,650 | $37,492 | 6,900 |
| CA | $38,700 | $34,953 | 25,710 |
| AZ | $38,180 | $37,923 | 6,330 |
| NY | $37,840 | $35,063 | 12,470 |
| CO | $37,430 | $36,321 | 6,290 |
| CT | $37,310 | $36,010 | 3,000 |
| ME | $37,230 | $38,362 | 1,430 |
| RI | $37,120 | $36,293 | 1,020 |
| MD | $36,780 | $35,042 | 5,570 |
| AK | $36,640 | $35,796 | 550 |
| OR | $36,580 | $35,391 | 3,470 |
| MN | $36,430 | $36,939 | 4,250 |

38 more states with published wage data are omitted here. The full table for all 53 states is at https://nuecareer.com/careers/animal-caretaker/salary-by-state, or as JSON at https://nuecareer.com/api/v1/careers/animal-caretaker.

## Outlook

BLS projects employment to move from 392,100 in the 2024–2034 base year to 439,600 by the end of the cycle — a gain of 47,600 jobs, or +12.1%. Much faster than average: 12.1% against 3.1% projected for all occupations over the same cycle. About 74,600 openings a year are expected on average, counting openings from growth as well as from workers leaving the occupation permanently. Source: BLS EP, 2024–2034.

## How to get in

- **Typical entry education:** High school diploma or equivalent (BLS Employment Projections).
- **Preparation level:** Little or no preparation — O\*NET's preparation band for this occupation is "Job Zone 1-2: Very Little to Some Preparation Needed".
- **Related work experience typically required:** None.
- **Typical on-the-job training:** Short-term on-the-job training.

### Education people in this job actually hold

O\*NET surveys incumbents, so this distribution describes who is in the job today and can differ from the BLS entry requirement above.

| Education level | Share of workers |
| --- | --- |
| High School Diploma | 63.6% |
| Associate's Degree (or other 2-year degree) | 13.6% |
| Bachelor's Degree | 13.4% |
| Less than a High School Diploma | 9.5% |

## What the work involves

- Respond to questions from patrons, and provide information about animals, such as behavior, habitat, breeding habits, or facility activities.
- Examine and observe animals to detect signs of illness, disease, or injury.
- Do facility laundry and clean, organize, maintain, and disinfect animal quarters, such as pens and stables, and equipment, such as saddles and bridles.
- Feed and water animals according to schedules and feeding instructions.
- Provide treatment to sick or injured animals, or contact veterinarians to secure treatment.
- Perform animal grooming duties, such as washing, brushing, clipping, and trimming coats, cutting nails, and cleaning ears.
- Mix food, liquid formulas, medications, or food supplements according to instructions, prescriptions, and knowledge of animal species.
- Collect and record animal information, such as weight, size, physical condition, treatments received, medications given, and food intake.

## Skills and knowledge

### Essential skills

- Monitoring — importance 3.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Reading Comprehension — importance 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Active Listening — importance 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Speaking — importance 2.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Writing — importance 2.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Critical Thinking — importance 2.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Active Learning — importance 2.4 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Mathematics — importance 2.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

### Transferable skills

These are the skills that carry into other occupations, and they drive the related-occupation and career-change rankings on this site.

- Coordination — importance 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Service Orientation — importance 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Judgment and Decision Making — importance 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Social Perceptiveness — importance 2.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Complex Problem Solving — importance 2.6 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Time Management — importance 2.5 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Instructing — importance 2.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Systems Analysis — importance 2.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

### Knowledge areas

- Customer and Personal Service — importance 4.2 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Administrative — importance 3.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- English Language — importance 3.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Education and Training — importance 2.6 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Administration and Management — importance 2.5 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Psychology — importance 2.5 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

### Abilities

- Oral Comprehension — importance 3.3 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Oral Expression — importance 3.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Problem Sensitivity — importance 3.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Information Ordering — importance 3.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Static Strength — importance 3.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Near Vision — importance 3.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

## Who it suits

O\*NET rates every occupation on the six Holland (RIASEC) interest areas, on a 1–7 scale. This occupation's strongest areas are Realistic (R), Social (S), Conventional (C).

| Interest area | Score (1–7) |
| --- | --- |
| R — Realistic | 6.17 |
| S — Social | 3.75 |
| C — Conventional | 3.25 |
| I — Investigative | 2.75 |
| A — Artistic | 1.63 |
| E — Enterprising | 1.52 |

### Personality fit

These scores are **derived by NueCareer**, not published by any government agency: they are cosine similarities between a personality type's trait profile and this occupation's O\*NET interest and work-style ratings, expressed 0–100. Treat them as a starting point for exploration, not as evidence that a type belongs in a job.

| Type | Fit score (0–100) |
| --- | --- |
| ISTJ | 77.0 |
| ISFJ | 75.2 |
| ISTP | 67.1 |
| ESTJ | 65.4 |
| ISFP | 63.1 |

Best-fitting types: ISTJ, ISFJ.

## Related occupations

O\*NET's primary related occupations, in its own ranked order.

- [Veterinary Assistant and Laboratory Animal Caretaker](https://nuecareer.com/careers/veterinary-assistant-and-laboratory-animal-caretaker) — median $38,150
- [Animal Trainer](https://nuecareer.com/careers/animal-trainer) — median $39,990
- [Animal Breeder](https://nuecareer.com/careers/animal-breeder) — median $51,130
- [Veterinary Technician](https://nuecareer.com/careers/veterinary-technician) — median $47,380
- [Animal Control Worker](https://nuecareer.com/careers/animal-control-worker) — median $45,660
- [Farmworker, Farm, Ranch, and Aquacultural Animal](https://nuecareer.com/careers/farmworker-farm-ranch-and-aquacultural-animal) — median $36,670
- [Personal Care Aide](https://nuecareer.com/careers/personal-care-aide) — median $35,800
- [Childcare Worker](https://nuecareer.com/careers/childcare-worker) — median $34,980
- [Home Health Aide](https://nuecareer.com/careers/home-health-aide) — median $35,800
- [Nursing Assistant](https://nuecareer.com/careers/nursing-assistant) — median $42,260

## Sources

- **O\*NET** — O\*NET 30.3 Database, May 2026. https://www.onetcenter.org/database.html
- **BLS OEWS** — BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025. https://www.bls.gov/oes/
- **BLS EP** — BLS Employment Projections, Table 1.2, 2024–2034. https://www.bls.gov/emp/
- **BLS OOH** — BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2024–2034 edition. https://www.bls.gov/ooh/
- **BEA RPP** — BEA Regional Price Parities by State, 2024. https://www.bea.gov/data/prices-inflation/regional-price-parities-state-and-metro-area

---

This bank includes information from the O\*NET 30.3 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). O\*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. NueCareer has transformed the data by joining it to BLS wage and projection data and deriving facet, personality-fit and AI-resilience scores. BLS and BEA data are public domain (17 U.S.C. §105).

O\*NET content is used under [CC BY 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). How these figures are sourced and derived: https://nuecareer.com/careers/methodology

JSON representation of this page: https://nuecareer.com/api/v1/careers/animal-caretaker