Animal Trainers salary

SOC 39-2011 · BLS OEWS May 2025

Median

$39,990

per year, nationally

Middle half

$33,740–$53,580

25th to 75th percentile

Employed

18,770

in the U.S.

Growth 2024–34

+5.1%

7,100 openings/yr

What the range looks like

A single median hides most of what a job pays. The bar below is the full national range: the wash spans the 10th to 90th percentile, the solid bar is the middle half, and the tick is the median.

$29,600$75,490

10th: $29,600
25th: $33,740
Median: $39,990
75th: $53,580
90th: $75,490

Getting in

Typical education to enter: High school diploma or equivalent
Related work experience: None
On-the-job training: Moderate-term on-the-job training

Entry requirements describe what is typical, not mandatory. Source: BLS Employment Projections, 2024–34.

Where animal trainers earn the most

Nominal pay and pay adjusted for local prices rank states differently — a high-wage state with high costs can be worse off in real terms than a middling one. Switch between the two below.

The median wage as published, before local prices are taken into account.

#	State	Median	Cost of living	Employed	Concentrationvs. national
1	Virginia	$62,960	101.1	720	1.45×
2	Alabama	$55,700	88.8	170	0.67×
3	Oregon	$55,520	103.4	140	0.60×
4	California	$49,060	110.7	2,270	1.03×
5	New York	$48,790	107.9	970	0.83×
6	New Jersey	$46,690	108.8	480	0.92×
7	Washington	$46,420	107.0	360	0.84×
8	Illinois	$45,830	100.0	680	0.92×
9	Connecticut	$45,800	103.6	290	1.39×
10	Indiana	$45,270	93.3	380	0.98×
11	Georgia	$45,250	96.3	800	1.35×
12	Montana	$44,680	94.6	80	1.26×
13	Colorado	$44,290	103.1	330	0.94×
14	Massachusetts	$43,580	105.8	510	1.17×
15	Iowa	$43,020	87.8	180	0.97×
16	Minnesota	$41,690	98.6	300	0.84×
17	Idaho	$40,770	95.5	180	1.72×
18	Maine	$40,760	97.0	110	1.44×
19	Oklahoma	$40,310	87.8	250	1.21×
20	Arkansas	$39,400	86.9	110	0.73×
21	North Dakota	$38,970	89.0	30	0.62×
22	Pennsylvania	$38,920	97.6	460	0.63×
23	Utah	$38,580	98.9	260	1.24×
24	District of Columbia	$38,200	109.9	—	—
25	South Dakota	$38,120	88.6	30	0.62×
26	New Hampshire	$38,030	104.2	140	1.68×
27	North Carolina	$37,680	94.3	640	1.07×
28	Maryland	$37,430	105.0	890	2.67×
29	Wisconsin	$37,140	94.1	480	1.35×
30	West Virginia	$37,080	89.5	100	1.15×
31	Florida	$36,870	103.4	1,090	0.91×
32	Nevada	$36,760	100.0	170	0.93×
33	Texas	$36,370	97.1	1,080	0.64×
34	Tennessee	$35,320	91.9	310	0.77×
35	Mississippi	$35,130	87.0	40	0.30×
36	Nebraska	$34,900	90.1	60	0.52×
37	Alaska	$34,900	102.4	50	1.30×
38	New Mexico	$34,760	92.2	60	0.54×
39	Kansas	$34,720	90.1	250	1.44×
40	Kentucky	$34,030	90.2	470	1.94×
41	Missouri	$34,010	90.8	250	0.70×
42	Delaware	$33,810	99.8	90	1.59×
43	Arizona	$33,330	100.7	—	—
44	Louisiana	$32,720	88.2	—	—
45	Ohio	$32,700	92.8	730	1.08×
46	Michigan	$30,820	96.2	800	1.50×
47	South Carolina	$29,670	93.7	200	0.71×

Cost of living is the BEA regional price parity for all items, where 100 is the national average. Concentration is the BLS location quotient: how much more of the local workforce does this job than the national average, so 2.00× means twice the national share. It is often the reason wages differ — a place that concentrates an occupation has the employers and the competition for it. States where animal trainers wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Best paying metro areas for animal trainers

The 40 highest-paying metros with a published estimate. BLS suppresses roughly half of all occupation-by-metro cells, so a metro absent here has no local figure rather than a low one.

The median wage as published, before local prices are taken into account.

#	Metro area	Median	Cost of living	Employed	Concentrationvs. national
1	Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk, VA-NC	$99,190	97.9	—	—
2	Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA	$66,040	105.4	110	0.75×
3	Santa Maria-Santa Barbara, CA	$64,430	108.8	—	—
4	San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA	$61,490	115.6	300	1.06×
5	Bridgeport-Stamford-Danbury, CT	$59,710	106.9	60	1.16×
6	Santa Rosa-Petaluma, CA	$58,160	107.8	60	2.24×
7	Colorado Springs, CO	$58,090	100.7	40	1.00×
8	Raleigh-Cary, NC	$55,560	98.2	160	1.82×
9	San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA	$54,810	110.4	80	0.61×
10	Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA	$51,230	113.6	830	1.09×
11	Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV	$50,460	108.9	650	1.71×
12	Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, CA	$50,420	110.5	70	1.73×
13	Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA	$50,260	111.1	170	0.67×
14	New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ	$50,020	112.6	970	0.85×
15	Tulsa, OK	$49,320	89.2	80	1.40×
16	Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT	$49,170	102.7	110	1.50×
17	San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA	$49,150	111.9	230	1.24×
18	Ocala, FL	$48,030	95.2	50	3.08×
19	Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN	$46,890	103.6	580	1.06×
20	Richmond, VA	$46,820	97.9	110	1.36×
21	Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA	$46,810	100.1	680	1.94×
22	Boulder, CO	$46,510	105.2	30	1.46×
23	Indianapolis-Carmel-Greenwood, IN	$46,020	95.7	160	1.17×
24	Albany-Schenectady-Troy, NY	$44,950	99.6	60	1.08×
25	Rochester, NY	$44,760	97.0	40	0.65×
26	Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA	$44,170	106.7	110	0.82×
27	Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO	$44,160	105.8	170	0.85×
28	Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL	$43,680	100.9	160	0.91×
29	Fresno, CA	$43,620	102.2	30	0.61×
30	Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA	$43,070	106.4	200	0.95×
31	Kiryas Joel-Poughkeepsie-Newburgh, NY	$43,010	109.4	60	1.88×
32	Boise City, ID	$42,870	98.4	100	2.02×
33	Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD	$42,860	102.6	310	0.89×
34	Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH	$42,180	108.3	500	1.53×
35	Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI	$41,830	104.8	270	1.16×
36	San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles, CA	$41,770	108.6	40	2.47×
37	Naples-Marco Island, FL	$41,300	103.2	30	1.45×
38	Madison, WI	$41,130	97.3	70	1.35×
39	Portland-South Portland, ME	$40,760	101.9	90	2.51×
40	Bloomington, IN	$40,600	95.1	60	6.93×

Cost of living is the BEA regional price parity for all items, where 100 is the national average. Concentration is the BLS location quotient: how much more of the local workforce does this job than the national average, so 2.00× means twice the national share. It is often the reason wages differ — a place that concentrates an occupation has the employers and the competition for it. Metro areas where animal trainers wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Similar occupations

Other jobs in the same field, with what each pays nationally.

Animal Caretakers$35,360