2021 Annual Salary, Salary Range, and Highest Paying States and Industries


Table of contents
  1. Average salary
  2. Starting salary
  3. Salary rank
  4. Salary range
  5. Highest paying states
  6. Highest paying industries

Average salary


Starting salary

Entry-level annual salary


Entry-level Animal Trainers with little to no experience can expect to make anywhere between $21,550 to $25,160 per year or $10 to $12 per hour. Similar to any other job, their salary will increase as they gain experience.


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Salary rank

We wanted to make it easy for our readers to compare the salary of Animal Trainers to all the other careers out there. So we created Salary Rank. We compared the salary of all careers then we gave them a rank of A, B, C, or D depending on where their average salary sit in comparison to other careers.

Salary range

Level Hourly Annual
Highest (Top 10%) $30 $62,040
Senior (Top 25%) $21 $43,370
Middle (Mid 50%) $15 $31,520
Junior (Bottom 25%) $12 $25,160
No experience (Bottom 10%) $10 $21,550

Highest paying states

State Hourly Annual
NY $29 $59,970
KY $25 $51,930
CA $22 $45,590
WA $21 $43,790
ME $20 $41,290
MI $20 $41,020
DE $20 $40,790
NH $19 $40,360
FL $19 $39,770
MN $19 $39,580

Another simple way to increase your salary as an Animal Trainer is to move to a higher paying state. However moving to a higher paying state like NY doesn't guarantee that you will make more because the expenses at NY might be much higher than where you are currently living at right now.

According to BLS, the highest paid Animal Trainers are in the states of NY, KY, CA, WA and ME.

Highest paying industries

Salary by industry Annual Hourly
Civic and Social Organizations $62330 $29.96
Local Government $48070 $23.11
Scientific Research and Development Services $45300 $21.78
Social Advocacy Organizations $44750 $21.52
Spectator Sports $44670 $21.47
Support Activities for Animal Production $44380 $21.34
Museums, Historical Sites, and Similar Institutions $40240 $19.34
Vocational Rehabilitation Services $40090 $19.28
Performing Arts Companies $39730 $19.10
Individual and Family Services $39600 $19.04
Other Personal Services $39460 $18.97
Management of Companies and Enterprises $35950 $17.28
Other Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services $31240 $15.02
Other Amusement and Recreation Industries $30510 $14.67
Offices of Other Health Practitioners $28630 $13.76
Other Miscellaneous Store Retailers $27710 $13.32
Other Schools and Instruction $26900 $12.93
Motion Picture and Video Industries $ $*

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