Animal Caretakers
SOC 39-2021 · 2024-2034
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.
How the U.S. Department of Labor describes this work. Published in English only.
What California expects of this job
- Typical pay in California
- $39,680per year
- Projected openings
- 68,000
- Projected change
- +12.3%
- Usually needs
- High school diploma or equivalent
Bright Outlook — a U.S. Department of Labor designation
Rapid Growth
The Department's own designation, made from its national projections. It is not this project's assessment and it is not California's: every other figure on this page comes from California's projection, which can point the other way and for some occupations does.
Skills this work uses most
O*NET, the U.S. Department of Labor's occupation database, rates how important each of these is to this work, and they are listed in that order, most important first. The ratings themselves are not shown, because the data carries the number without the scale it was measured on. The names are as published, in English.
- Monitoring
- Active Listening
- Judgment and Decision Making
- Coordination
- Service Orientation
- Reading Comprehension
Pay by region
| Region | Typical pay in California | Projected openings |
|---|---|---|
| San Rafael MD (Marin County) | $46,058 | 980 |
| San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara MSA (San Benito and Santa Clara Counties) | $44,912 | 3,080 |
| San Francisco-San Mateo-Redwood City MD (San Francisco and San Mateo Counties) | $43,803 | 3,930 |
| Oakland-Fremont-Berkeley MD (Alameda and Contra Costa Counties) | $43,607 | 4,760 |
| Napa MSA (Napa County) | $39,872 | 320 |
| Santa Rosa-Petaluma MSA (Sonoma County) | $39,296 | 1,630 |
| North Valley-Northern Mountains Region (Colusa, Glenn, Lassen, Modoc, Nevada, Plumas, Sierra, Siskiyou, Tehama, and Trinity Counties) | $39,070 | 670 |
| Salinas MSA (Monterey County) | $38,998 | 800 |
| Santa Cruz-Watsonville MSA (Santa Cruz County) | $38,720 | 600 |
| Vallejo MSA (Solano County) | $38,494 | 670 |
| North Coast Region (Del Norte, Humboldt, Lake, and Mendocino Counties) | $38,443 | 490 |
| Eastern Sierra-Mother Lode Region (Alpine, Amador, Calaveras, Inyo, Mariposa, Mono, and Tuolumne Counties) | $38,340 | 500 |
| Yuba City MSA (Sutter and Yuba Counties) | $38,309 | 180 |
| San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles MSA (San Luis Obispo County) | $38,206 | 810 |
| Santa Maria-Santa Barbara MSA (Santa Barbara County) | $37,980 | 990 |
| Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom MSA (El Dorado, Placer, Sacramento, and Yolo Counties) | $37,898 | 4,190 |
| Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale MD (Los Angeles County) | $37,804 | 16,350 |
| Anaheim-Santa Ana-Irvine MD (Orange County) | $37,775 | 7,720 |
| San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad MSA (San Diego County) | $37,497 | 8,270 |
| Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario MSA (Riverside and San Bernardino Counties) | $37,116 | 5,740 |
| El Centro MSA (Imperial County) | $37,003 | 160 |
| Merced MSA (Merced County) | $36,900 | 370 |
| Modesto MSA (Stanislaus County) | $36,900 | 880 |
| Hanford-Corcoran MSA (Kings County) | $36,838 | 270 |
| Fresno MSA (Fresno and Madera Counties) | $36,808 | 1,980 |
| Stockton-Lodi MSA (San Joaquin County) | $36,664 | 870 |
| Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura MSA (Ventura County) | $36,612 | 1,530 |
| Redding MSA (Shasta County) | $36,365 | 370 |
| Visalia MSA (Tulare County) | $36,283 | 560 |
| Bakersfield-Delano MSA (Kern County) | $36,036 | 990 |
| Chico MSA (Butte County) | $35,707 | 480 |
What the pay actually ranges across
- The lowest-paid tenth earn under
- $36,543
- A quarter earn under
- $37,742
- Half earn under
- $39,680
- Three quarters earn under
- $46,304
- The highest-paid tenth earn over
- $57,695
A median is one point. These are the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics' 2026 figures for California, and they say how far apart the people doing this job actually are. Read them as the spread across everyone already in the work — not as a starting wage and not as a promise about where anyone lands.
Similar work
O*NET, the U.S. Department of Labor's occupation database, names these as occupations involving work similar to this one — its own reading of the job, not a grouping by code. They keep O*NET's order, and only those California publishes a projection for are shown.
| Occupation | Typical pay in California | Projected openings | Projected change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Veterinary Assistants and Laboratory Animal Caretakers | $47,432 | 33,120 | +15.2% |
| Animal Trainers | $50,303 | 7,160 | +8.7% |
| Animal Control Workers | $64,216 | 1,350 | +8.3% |
| Veterinary Technologists and Technicians | $62,327 | 13,220 | +14.8% |
| Farmworkers, Farm, Ranch, and Aquacultural Animals | $39,687 | 26,520 | +0.6% |
| Childcare Workers | $41,034 | 135,490 | +1.5% |
Programs that train for this job — 7
Grooming Program
Animal Behavior College · Valencia · $8,368
Grooming Instruction Program
Animal Behavior · Valencia · $5,662
Pet Grooming Specialist
Wag My Tail, Inc. · Sunland · $6,200
Introduction to Dog Grooming Hybrid Course (hybrid instruction)
West Coast Grooming Academy · Arcadia · $6,400
Grooming Instruction Program (Hybrid)
Animal Behavior College, Inc. · Valencia · $5,662
Pet Health and Grooming
Southern California Regional Occupational Center · Torrance · $800
Dog and Cat Grooming Training
Animal Behavior College, Inc. · Valencia · $6,195