Personal Care and Service Occupations
BLS May 2025 wages Wide pay band SOC 39-2011

Animal Trainers

The published band from $29,600 to $75,490 is the distinctive signal for this role, not a twin of Costume Attendants.

Full salary details → About this data

Same-major-group titles next to Animal Trainers: Costume Attendants ($50K) , Tour and Travel Guides ($38K) , Skincare Specialists ($45K) , First-Line Supervisors of Entertainment and Recreation Workers, Except Gambling Services ($49K) . Hash-ordered per card so residual SOC siblings do not share an identical peer sentence.

What Animal Trainers publish as work

O*NET task statements for SOC 39-2011 - occupation-level descriptions, not every employer's posting. Sibling cards diverge here because the task set is entity-keyed.

  1. 1. Train horses or other equines for riding, harness, show, racing, or other work, using knowledge of breed characteristics, training method…
  2. 2. Cue or signal animals during performances
  3. 3. Talk to or interact with animals to familiarize them to human voices or contact
  4. 4. Conduct training programs to develop or maintain desired animal behaviors for competition, entertainment, obedience, security, riding, or…
  5. 5. Use oral, spur, rein, or hand commands to condition horses to carry riders or to pull horse-drawn equipment
  6. 6. Retrain horses to break bad habits, such as kicking, bolting, or resisting bridling or grooming
  7. 7. Feed or exercise animals or provide other general care, such as cleaning or maintaining holding or performance areas
  8. 8. Observe animals' physical conditions to detect illness or unhealthy conditions requiring medical care
  9. 9. Train dogs in human assistance or property protection duties
  10. 10. Evaluate animals to determine their temperaments, abilities, or aptitude for training
  11. 11. Administer prescribed medications to animals
  12. 12. Keep records documenting animal health, diet, or behavior

Animal Trainers: O*NET ranks Instructing first

Importance-ranked O*NET profile for SOC 39-2011 - lead skill Instructing at 3.8 ; lead knowledge Customer and Personal Service. Sibling cards diverge here even when peer titles overlap.

Top skills

  1. 1. Instructing 3.8
  2. 2. Speaking 3.5
  3. 3. Learning Strategies 3.5
  4. 4. Critical Thinking 3.4
  5. 5. Active Learning 3.3
  6. 6. Active Listening 3.1
  7. 7. Monitoring 3.1
  8. 8. Judgment and Decision Making 3.1

Knowledge areas

  1. 1. Customer and Personal Service 4.0
  2. 2. Education and Training 3.6
  3. 3. Psychology 3.2
  4. 4. Administration and Management 3.1
  5. 5. English Language 3.1
  6. 6. Sales and Marketing 2.8
Published pay band (10th to 90th)
$29,600 to $75,490
median $39,990 · ~2.6× spread
$40K
National median
↑ +5%
Growth 2024-2034
7,100
Annual openings
18,770
Estimated US jobs
Costume Attendants
Highest-pay peer · $50K

Typical Entry and Preparation Assignments

Entry education High school diploma or equivalent

Top Paying States for Animal Trainers

1. Oregon $55,520
2. Connecticut $45,800
3. New York $48,790
4. Illinois $45,830
5. New Jersey $46,690
6. California $49,060
7. Virginia $62,960
8. Alabama $55,700
9. Indiana $45,270
10. Washington $46,420

Other Personal Care and Service Occupations titles

  1. 1. Costume Attendants $50,400
  2. 2. Tour and Travel Guides $38,120
  3. 3. Skincare Specialists $45,330
  4. 4. First-Line Supervisors of Entertainment and Recreation Workers, Except Gambling Services $48,560
  5. 5. Concierges $38,950
  6. 6. Personal Care and Service Workers, All Other $41,600

The OEWS band for Animal Trainers runs from $29,600 (10th) to $75,490 (90th), about 2.6× wide, with median $39,990. That spread, not the midpoint alone, is the distinctive published fact.

Employment Projections expect +5% change between 2024 and 2034 (faster than average vs baseline 3.1%). About 7,100 annual openings are projected. BLS assigns High school diploma or equivalent as typical education needed for entry. These are occupation-level assignments, not universal requirements. BLS does not publish a separate occupation-specific safety rate for this role; its broad SOC-group rate is excluded from this career card's grade.

Highest published state median in this ranking: Oregon at $55,520. The table records differences without proving causes. Highest-pay peer shown here: Costume Attendants at $50,400. Compare the same statistic in the relevant local wage area before treating the national median as a personal benchmark; OEWS excludes employer benefits.

Animal Trainers pay-rank #13 in Personal Care and Service Occupations

Animal Trainers sits at pay-rank #13 of 32 detailed Personal Care and Service Occupations, the middle third of the major-group median table. ROW_NUMBER on median; title breaks ties.

Other mid-table titles · closest medians

Full Salary Details Compare this role

Data from U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May 2025. Projections from BLS Employment Projections program, 2024-2034.

The 10th-to-90th percentile spread for Animal Trainers is unusually wide, so the state map and peer comparison carry more signal than the median alone.

Animal Trainers salary map

State, metro, and percentile for SOC 39-2011

Oregon · top state for Animal Trainers

$56K published median

Connecticut · #2 state pay

$46K · behind Oregon

Costume Attendants

Highest-pay peer vs Animal Trainers · $50K

Tour and Travel Guides

Lower-pay peer beside Animal Trainers · $38K

Compare Animal Trainers

Head-to-head OEWS medians with another SOC
Compare Animal Trainers with another occupation →

Pay-band next reads

Entry-Level vs Experienced Pay

What percentile bands reveal

Using Salary Data for Negotiation

Leverage BLS percentiles

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Animal Trainers mid-table among Personal Care and Service Occupations? ▼
Yes: pay-rank #13 of 32 detailed Personal Care and Service Occupations, the middle third. Mid-table neighbors: Concierges ($39K), Personal Care and Service Workers, All Other ($42K), Motion Picture Projectionists ($38K), Barbers ($38K). ROW_NUMBER on median; title breaks ties.
What do animal trainers do day to day? ▼
O*NET lists published task statements for Animal Trainers. Leading ones include: Train horses or other equines for riding, harness, show, racing, or other work, using knowledge of breed characteristics, training method…; Cue or signal animals during performances; Talk to or interact with animals to familiarize them to human voices or contact; Conduct training programs to develop or maintain desired animal behaviors for competition, entertainment, obedience, security, riding, or…. These are occupation-level task descriptions, not every employer's job description.
Which O*NET skills rank highest for animal trainers? ▼
For SOC 39-2011, O*NET importance scores lead with Instructing (3.8), Speaking (3.5), Learning Strategies (3.5), Critical Thinking (3.4). Knowledge areas emphasize Customer and Personal Service, Education and Training, Psychology. These are occupation-level profiles, not a hiring checklist for every employer.
How wide is the published pay band for Animal Trainers? ▼
OEWS places the 10th percentile at $29,600 and the 90th at $75,490 for Animal Trainers (2.6× spread). The national median is $39,990. OEWS does not isolate experience, employer, or geography as the cause of that spread.
What employment change does BLS publish for Animal Trainers? ▼
The 2024-2034 projection for Animal Trainers is +5%. Projected annual openings: about 7,100. Relative to the current all-occupations baseline of 3.1%: faster than average.
What typical entry education does BLS assign to Animal Trainers? ▼
BLS assigns High school diploma or equivalent as the typical-education-needed-for-entry category for Animal Trainers. These are occupation-level labels, not every employer's hiring rule.
Which three states show the highest OEWS medians for Animal Trainers? ▼
Oregon ($55,520), Connecticut ($45,800), New York ($48,790) lead this ranking. The table does not identify why those state estimates differ.

Source data and WageDex calculations are identified in context on this page. Wage and state figures use BLS OEWS May 2025; growth and education use BLS Employment Projections for 2024-2034; safety fields cite BLS CFOI/SOII; task statements cite O*NET where shown. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error.

Disclaimer: Wage and outlook figures on this page are provided for informational purposes only and do not constitute career, financial, or salary-negotiation advice. Actual pay varies by employer, experience, and local conditions; consult a career counselor or the hiring employer for guidance specific to your situation.

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, OES Occupational wage estimates by area and industry · 2025

Federal sources on this Animal Trainers card
  • BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS / OES) - national median and percentiles for SOC 39-2011. bls.gov/oes
  • O*NET OnLine - task and skill statements for Animal Trainers. onetcenter.org
  • BLS Employment Projections - 2024-2034 change and openings for this occupation. bls.gov/emp
  • U.S. Census Bureau ACS - demographic and labor-force context for state and metro geography. census.gov/programs-surveys/acs
  • IRS Statistics of Income (SOI) - payroll-tax aggregate context for wage comparisons. irs.gov/statistics