Best degree programs for Animal Breeders, ranked by enrollment
2 college programs and 88 schools train Animal Breeders. Compare graduates per year, cost and pay, $51,130 median wage, 1,330 U.S. jobs. Federal data.
2 college programs at 88 schools train animal breeders, graduating 1,339 people a year (IPEDS completions). The largest is Animal/Livestock Husbandry and Production. The job pays a median of $51,130 (BLS OEWS May 2025).
About animal breeders
Select and breed animals according to their genealogy, characteristics, and offspring. May require knowledge of artificial insemination techniques and equipment use. May involve keeping records on heats, birth intervals, or pedigree.
Fields of study that lead to this job
Grouped at the 4-digit CIP level, the tier our program pages are built on. Numbers are graduates per year.
2 degree programs that lead to this job
Ranked by graduates per year (IPEDS completions). Graduate earnings and debt are College Scorecard figures for people who finished the program, reported at the 4-digit CIP level, so specializations within one field share a figure. That is a different measurement from the occupation-wide wages further down this page.
| # | Program | Graduates / yr | Share of pipeline | Schools | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Median debt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | CIP 01.0302 | 860 | 64.2% | 55 | $36,083 | $17,395 |
| 2 | CIP 01.0307 | 479 | 35.8% | 43 | $36,083 | $17,395 |
Top 50 schools by graduates into this job
Counting every feeder program a school offers, not just its largest one.
What animal breeders earn
What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.
Top-paying states
Top-paying metro areas
Job outlook
Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections, 2024 to 2034.
Where the jobs are, state by state
Pick a state for in-state pay, the schools there, and the programs they run.
| State | Median pay | Jobs | Concentration | Schools | Graduates / yr |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| California | $59,280 | 410 | 2.60× | 16 | 366 |
| Texasmoderate | $48,410 | 60 | 0.46× | 3 | 92 |
| Wisconsin | $51,130 | 40 | 1.63× | 6 | 62 |
| New Yorkmoderate | $48,350 | 140 | 1.72× | 3 | 36 |
| South Dakotalimited | $44,850 | 40 | 10.72× | 1 | 16 |
| Minnesotalimited | $47,900 | 170 | 6.65× | 2 | 15 |
| Ohiolimited | $68,980 | 80 | 1.77× | 2 | 15 |
| Nebraskalimited | $40,220 | 40 | 4.23× | 1 | 14 |
Skills and tools
From O*NET, the U.S. Department of Labor's occupational database. Importance is a 1 to 5 scale.
What they do day to day
- Feed and water animals, and clean and disinfect pens, cages, yards, and hutches.
- Observe animals in heat to detect approach of estrus and exercise animals to induce or hasten estrus, if necessary.
- Treat minor injuries and ailments and contact veterinarians to obtain treatment for animals with serious illnesses or injuries.
- Purchase and stock supplies of feed and medicines.
- Select animals to be bred, and semen specimens to be used, according to knowledge of animals, genealogies, traits, and desired offspring characteristics.
- Examine animals to detect symptoms of illness or injury.
- Build hutches, pens, and fenced yards.
- Record animal characteristics such as weights, growth patterns, and diets.
Skills
- Critical Thinking3.3
- Active Listening3.0
- Active Learning3.0
- Monitoring3.0
- Science3.0
- Speaking3.0
- Reading Comprehension2.9
- Writing2.8
Knowledge areas
- Customer and Personal Service4.2
- Sales and Marketing3.9
- Administration and Management3.5
- Biology3.3
- Mathematics3.2
- Administrative3.1
Abilities
- Near Vision3.5
- Category Flexibility3.1
- Problem Sensitivity3.1
- Deductive Reasoning3.1
- Finger Dexterity3.0
- Arm-Hand Steadiness3.0
Core activities
- Identifying Objects, Actions, and Events4.1
- Performing General Physical Activities4.1
- Documenting/Recording Information3.8
- Handling and Moving Objects3.8
- Getting Information3.6
- Making Decisions and Solving Problems3.5
Tools and technology
hotmarks an O*NET hot technologyHow to get in
How to become a Animal Breeder
Job zone 2 of 5 · SVP Below 6.0- Typical entry education
- High school diploma or equivalent
- On-the-job training
- Short-term on-the-job training
Usually requires a high school diploma or GED, though some occupations may not.
Some occupations may need little or no previous experience; others require several months to a year of experience. For example, landscaping and groundskeeping workers might require very little training or previous experience, while agricultural equipment operators can benefit from on-the job training.
Ranges from a few days to one year of on-the-job training.
Every major mapped to this job
The official federal mapping behind the rankings above.
All 3 majors mapped to Animal Breeders2 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
- 01.0302Animal/Livestock Husbandry and Production
- 01.0307Horse Husbandry/Equine Science and Management
- 01.0310Apiculture(no graduates reported)
Related careers
Jobs O*NET identifies as close to this one, with their own pay and outlook.
Common questions
What degree do you need to become an Animal Breeder?+
High school diploma or equivalent is the typical entry-level education BLS reports for this occupation. The most common program people actually graduate from is Animal/Livestock Husbandry and Production, which awarded 860 degrees in 2024-25, 64.2% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.
Which college majors lead to becoming an Animal Breeder?+
The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 2 programs to this occupation. The largest are Agricultural Production Operations. Together they graduate about 1,339 people a year.
How much do animal breeders earn?+
The median is $51,130 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). The middle range runs from $38,480 at the 10th percentile to $90,550 at the 90th. This is pay for people already working in the occupation, not the same thing as graduate earnings one year after finishing a degree.
Is demand for animal breeders growing?+
BLS projects a +2.4% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, about as fast as average, with roughly 1,200 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.
How many schools offer programs for this career?+
88 institutions reported graduates from at least one of the 2 programs that feed this occupation in IPEDS 2024-25. Rankings on this page use graduates per year, because the federal data publishes no enrollment count by program.
What other job titles do animal breeders work under?+
Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Breeder, Dog Breeder, Animal Technician, Artificial Insemination Technician (AI Technician) among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 45-2021.
About the data on this page
Rankings use IPEDS completions 2024-25, degrees awarded per year. That is the closest federal measure of how many people a program puts into a career, because no federal dataset publishes enrollment by program. Wages and employment come from BLS OEWS May 2025, growth and openings from BLS Employment Projections 2024-34, and which majors lead to which jobs from the NCES CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk. Occupation descriptions, tasks, skills and tools are O*NET 30.3 (CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor/ETA).
BLS Occupational Employment & Wage Statistics
May 2025Wages, employment counts, location quotients and metro breakdowns.
BLS Employment Projections
2024–34Projected growth, annual openings and typical entry-level education.
IPEDS Completions
2024-25 (provisional)Graduates per year by program and institution — the ranking metric.
College Scorecard, Field of Study
2020-21 cohortsMedian graduate earnings one year after completion, and median debt.
Census Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes
latest availableGraduate earnings 1/5/10 years out, where the state participates.
NCES CIP 2020 and the CIP-to-SOC 2018 crosswalk
CIP 2020 / SOC 2018Which college programs officially lead to this occupation.
O*NET Database 30.3
30.3Tasks, skills, knowledge, tools, job zone and alternate job titles.
Official source →CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor / ETA
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