Best degree programs for Animal Caretakers, ranked by enrollment
2 college programs and 14 schools train Animal Caretakers. Compare graduates per year, cost and pay, $35,360 median wage, 266,910 U.S. jobs. Federal data.
2 college programs at 14 schools train animal caretakers, graduating 458 people a year (IPEDS completions). The largest is Dog/Pet/Animal Grooming. The job pays a median of $35,360 (BLS OEWS May 2025).
About animal caretakers
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.
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 | Dog/Pet/Animal Groomingmain feeder CIP 01.0504 | 408 | 89.1% | 11 | $27,363 | $15,774 |
| 2 | Anthrozoologymain feeder CIP 30.3401 | 50 | 10.9% | 3 | — | — |
Top 14 schools by graduates into this job
Counting every feeder program a school offers, not just its largest one.
| # | School | Graduates / yr | Top feeder program | Grad rate | Net price | Acceptance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | PPG Technical College Caguas, PR Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 92 | Dog/Pet/Animal Grooming | 64% | $7,344 | — |
| 2 | Merryfield Academy Oakland Park, FL Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 89 | Dog/Pet/Animal Grooming | 78% | $10,056 | — |
| 3 | NUC University Bayamon, PR Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 75 | Dog/Pet/Animal Grooming | 54% | $9,377 | — |
| 4 | Liceo de Arte y Tecnologia San Juan, PR Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 40 | Dog/Pet/Animal Grooming | 63% | $20,142 | — |
| 5 | Universal Technology College of Puerto Rico Aguadilla, PR Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 29 | Dog/Pet/Animal Grooming | 64% | $7,083 | — |
| 6 | CEM College - San Juan San Juan, PR Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 24 | Dog/Pet/Animal Grooming | 86% | $12,761 | — |
| 7 | University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia, PA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 23 | Anthrozoology | 97% | $22,055 | 5% |
| 8 | Beacon College Leesburg, FL Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 20 | Anthrozoology | 60% | $32,948 | 43% |
| 9 | CEM College - Humacao Humacao, PR Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 19 | Dog/Pet/Animal Grooming | 38% | $11,347 | — |
| 10 | Pets Playground Grooming School Pompano Beach, FL Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 19 | Dog/Pet/Animal Grooming | — | — | — |
| 11 | North Shore Community College Danvers, MA Public · 1 feeder programs | 13 | Dog/Pet/Animal Grooming | 18% | — | — |
| 12 | Colorado State University - Fort Collins Fort Collins, CO Public · 1 feeder programs | 7 | Anthrozoology | 67% | — | 89% |
| 13 | Volunteer State Community College Gallatin, TN Public · 1 feeder programs | 6 | Dog/Pet/Animal Grooming | 28% | — | — |
| 14 | International Academy South Daytona, FL Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 2 | Dog/Pet/Animal Grooming | 48% | $19,460 | — |
What animal caretakers 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Floridamoderate | $34,150 | 17,210 | 1.01× | 4 | 130 |
| Pennsylvanialimited | $31,360 | 9,910 | 0.95× | 1 | 23 |
| Massachusettslimited | $39,650 | 6,900 | 1.11× | 1 | 13 |
| Coloradolimited | $37,430 | 6,290 | 1.27× | 1 | 7 |
| Tennesseelimited | $30,550 | 6,110 | 1.08× | 1 | 6 |
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 according to schedules and feeding instructions.
- Provide treatment to sick or injured animals, or contact veterinarians to secure treatment.
- Examine and observe animals to detect signs of illness, disease, or injury.
- Mix food, liquid formulas, medications, or food supplements according to instructions, prescriptions, and knowledge of animal species.
- Do facility laundry and clean, organize, maintain, and disinfect animal quarters, such as pens and stables, and equipment, such as saddles and bridles.
- Exercise animals to maintain their physical and mental health.
- Collect and record animal information, such as weight, size, physical condition, treatments received, medications given, and food intake.
- Respond to questions from patrons, and provide information about animals, such as behavior, habitat, breeding habits, or facility activities.
Skills
- Monitoring3.1
- Reading Comprehension3.0
- Active Listening3.0
- Speaking2.9
- Writing2.8
- Critical Thinking2.8
- Active Learning2.4
- Mathematics2.0
Knowledge areas
- Customer and Personal Service4.2
- Administrative3.1
- English Language3.1
- Education and Training2.6
- Administration and Management2.5
- Psychology2.5
Abilities
- Oral Comprehension3.3
- Problem Sensitivity3.1
- Information Ordering3.1
- Near Vision3.1
- Oral Expression3.1
- Static Strength3.1
Core activities
- Getting Information4.4
- Communicating with Supervisors, Peers, or Subordinates4.2
- Performing General Physical Activities4.2
- Identifying Objects, Actions, and Events4.0
- Handling and Moving Objects3.9
- Monitoring Processes, Materials, or Surroundings3.8
Tools and technology
hotmarks an O*NET hot technologyHow to get in
How to become a Animal Caretaker
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 Caretakers2 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
- 01.0504Dog/Pet/Animal Grooming
- 01.0509Farrier Science(no graduates reported)
- 30.3401Anthrozoology
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 Caretaker?+
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 Dog/Pet/Animal Grooming, which awarded 408 degrees in 2024-25, 89.1% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.
Which college majors lead to becoming an Animal Caretaker?+
The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 2 programs to this occupation. The largest are Agricultural and Domestic Animal Services, Anthrozoology. Together they graduate about 458 people a year.
How much do animal caretakers earn?+
The median is $35,360 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). The middle range runs from $27,250 at the 10th percentile to $50,060 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 caretakers growing?+
BLS projects a +12.1% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, much faster than average, with roughly 74,600 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.
How many schools offer programs for this career?+
14 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 caretakers work under?+
Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Groomer, Aquarist, Dog Groomer, Kennel Technician (Kennel Tech) among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 39-2021.
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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