Animal Trainers · SOC 39-2011

Highest-Paying Metro Areas for Animal Trainerss

Source: BLS OEWS, May 2025U.S. metropolitan areas

Metro areas ranked by published median annual wage for animal trainers. Areas where BLS suppressed the median are not ranked. Higher medians often track higher living costs — this is a pay comparison, not a ranking of where the job is “best”.

Top 25 of 95 metro areas

Animal Trainers: metro areas with the highest published median annual wages, May 2025
#	Metro area	Median annual	Employment	Per 1,000 jobs
1	Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk, VA-NC	$99,190	Not published	Not published
2	Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA	$66,040	110	0.1
3	Santa Maria-Santa Barbara, CA	$64,430	Not published	Not published
4	San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA	$61,490	300	0.1
5	Bridgeport-Stamford-Danbury, CT	$59,710	60	0.1
6	Santa Rosa-Petaluma, CA	$58,160	60	0.3
7	Colorado Springs, CO	$58,090	40	0.1
8	Raleigh-Cary, NC	$55,560	160	0.2
9	San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA	$54,810	80	0.1
10	Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA	$51,230	830	0.1
11	Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV	$50,460	650	0.2
12	Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, CA	$50,420	70	0.2
13	Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA	$50,260	170	0.1
14	New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ	$50,020	970	0.1
15	Tulsa, OK	$49,320	80	0.2
16	Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT	$49,170	110	0.2
17	San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA	$49,150	230	0.2
18	Ocala, FL	$48,030	50	0.4
19	Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN	$46,890	580	0.1
20	Richmond, VA	$46,820	110	0.2
21	Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA	$46,810	680	0.2
22	Boulder, CO	$46,510	30	0.2
23	Indianapolis-Carmel-Greenwood, IN	$46,020	160	0.1
24	Albany-Schenectady-Troy, NY	$44,950	60	0.1
25	Rochester, NY	$44,760	40	0.1

Full state and metro tables, the national distribution, and the pay map are on the Animal Trainers overview.

About this data. Estimates are from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics program, May 2025 release, retrieved from bls.gov/oes/tables.htm on July 24, 2026. OEWS estimates describe metropolitan/nonmetropolitan areas and states — not city limits — and are not designed for year-over-year comparisons. See BLS methodology, our plain-English methodology, and sources. CitySalaryData is independent and not affiliated with BLS.