Kennel Attendant Salary in Alabama
Animal caretakers in Alabama — SOC 39-2021, a federal occupation that spans all industries, not only veterinary practices — earned a median annual wage of $28,330 in the May 2025 estimates, $7,030 or 20% below the national median of $35,360.
That ranks 49th of the 51 jurisdictions that publish a median.
The shortfall runs the full height of the distribution and narrows toward the top: about 20% at the floor and the middle, 14% at the 75th percentile, 8% at the 90th.
What these figures cover
10th percentile
$21,740
25th percentile
$23,920
75th percentile
$34,280
90th percentile
$45,860
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May 2025 state estimates — Alabama, SOC 39-2021 (Animal Caretakers). Retrieved 2026-09-16 from the BLS Public Data API.
How to read these figures
Alabama vs. the national figures
The Alabama median is below the national median by 20%. Among the 51 jurisdictions (states plus DC) where BLS publishes a Animal Caretakers (SOC 39-2021) median for May 2025, it ranks 49th, and 24th by estimated employment.
Differences are whole percentages, rounded half away from zero, computed from the figures shown.
Below the national figures at every percentile
Alabama's animal caretaker percentiles sit below the national ones across the board, but by margins that narrow toward the top.
At the 10th percentile the state figure is $21,740 against $27,250 nationally — $5,510, or 20%, lower.
The 25th percentile, $23,920, and the median, $28,330, are each 20% below their national figures, gaps of $5,900 and $7,030.
The 75th percentile, $34,280, is $5,770 or 14% below the national $40,050, and the 90th, $45,860, is $4,200 or 8% below the national $50,060.
A wage set at the national median, $35,360, would fall just above Alabama's 75th percentile, $34,280.
A band as wide as the national one, sitting lower
Half of Alabama's animal caretakers earned between $23,920 and $34,280 — a band $10,360 wide, slightly wider than the national $10,230 despite the lower pay level.
The full span from the 10th to the 90th percentile is $24,120, against $22,810 nationally, because the state's top end holds closer to the national level than its bottom does.
The median sits $4,410 above the 25th percentile and $5,950 below the 75th.
OEWS does not publish why a distribution has this shape, and this row spans every industry, so this page does not assign it a cause.
Holding an hourly posting against these figures
The Alabama hourly median is $13.62, against $17.00 nationally — a $3.38 hourly gap, or 20%, matching the annual shortfall.
The data set carries hourly pay at the median only, so this is the figure to hold an hourly posting against.
Before comparing a posted rate with the annual percentiles, ask how many hours a week the role is scheduled.
A mid-sized workforce, and what the count does not say
BLS estimates 4,100 animal caretakers were employed in Alabama across all industries, 24th among the 51 jurisdictions that publish a median.
The estimate is a headcount of people in jobs during the survey period, not a count of openings, and BLS publishes no state count of how many of them work in veterinary settings.
Against the Alabama vet tech median
In the same release, veterinary technologists and technicians in Alabama have a median of $36,590 — $8,260, or 29%, more than the all-industry animal caretaker median on this page.
At the hourly medians the picture is the same: $13.62 for animal caretakers, $17.59 for technicians.
The comparison sets a veterinary occupation against one that spans all industries, so it is context for someone weighing a move into technician work, not a raise anyone should expect — the two occupations count different workers.
Same release, same state: veterinary technologists and technicians (SOC 29-2056) in Alabama have a median of $36,590 ($17.59/hr) — $8,260 above the animal caretakers median shown on this page. Vet tech salary in Alabama →
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the median kennel attendant salary in Alabama?
No federal wage series isolates kennel attendants.
The closest is SOC 39-2021, Animal Caretakers, which covers all industries; its Alabama median annual wage was $28,330 in May 2025, or $13.62 an hour.
Half of the animal caretakers counted earned more and half earned less.
The national median for the occupation is $35,360, so Alabama sits 20% below it.
What does the low end of the pay range look like in Alabama?
The Alabama 10th percentile for animal caretakers is $21,740, so one in ten workers counted across all industries earned less.
The national 10th percentile is $27,250, so the Alabama floor sits $5,510 lower — a 20% gap, matching the shortfall at the median.
The 25th percentile, $23,920, is also 20% below the national $29,820.
What do the top-paid animal caretakers in Alabama earn?
The Alabama 90th percentile is $45,860, so one in ten animal caretakers counted across all industries earned more than that.
Nationally the 90th percentile is $50,060, so the Alabama top tenth sits $4,200 below — 8% lower, a narrower gap than at any lower percentile.
The 75th percentile is $34,280, 14% below the national $40,050.
How does this all-industry figure compare with vet tech pay in Alabama?
In the same BLS release, veterinary technologists and technicians in Alabama have a median of $36,590, which is $8,260 above the $28,330 median for animal caretakers across all industries — 1.3 times as much.
Only the technician figure is veterinary-specific, so treat the gap as context for a career decision, not as a promised raise.
How many animal caretakers work in Alabama?
BLS estimates 4,100 animal caretakers were employed in Alabama across all industries, 24th among the 51 jurisdictions that publish a median.
BLS publishes no state count of how many of them work in veterinary settings, and the estimate is a headcount of people in jobs during the survey period, not a count of openings.
More Alabama Kennel Attendant Resources
Sources
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May 2025 state estimates — Alabama, SOC 39-2021 Animal Caretakers (all industries), and SOC 29-2056 for the technician comparison (BLS Public Data API) (retrieved 2026-09-16)
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, OEWS May 2025 national estimates — SOC 39-2021 percentiles (via O*NET OnLine) (retrieved 2026-08-15)
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, OEWS May 2025 national estimates — SOC 39-2021 hourly median (BLS Public Data API) (retrieved 2026-09-23)
Wage figures: BLS OEWS May 2025 state and national estimates, SOC 39-2021, retrieved 2026-09-16. Page last updated 2026-09-24.