Kennel Attendant Salary in Arkansas
Animal caretakers in Arkansas — SOC 39-2021, a federal occupation that spans all industries, not only veterinary practices — earned a median annual wage of $30,230 in the May 2025 estimates, $5,130 or 15% below the national median of $35,360.
That ranks 40th of the 51 jurisdictions that publish a median.
The distinctive feature is where the shortfall sits: the 10th percentile is level with the national one, the gap is deepest at the median, and the 25th-to-75th band, $6,630, is well short of the $10,230 national width.
What these figures cover
10th percentile
$27,290
25th percentile
$28,580
75th percentile
$35,210
90th percentile
$47,990
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May 2025 state estimates — Arkansas, SOC 39-2021 (Animal Caretakers).
Retrieved 2026-09-16 from the BLS Public Data API.
How to read these figures
Arkansas vs. the national figures
The Arkansas median is below the national median by 15%; among the 51 jurisdictions (states plus DC) where BLS publishes a Animal Caretakers (SOC 39-2021) median for May 2025, it ranks 40th, between Ohio ($30,310) and Wisconsin ($30,160), and 35th by estimated employment. In the same release, veterinary assistant pay in Arkansas has a $34,570 median, 47th of 51, between South Dakota ($34,700) and Kentucky ($34,140).
Differences are whole percentages, rounded half away from zero, computed from the figures shown.
Level at the floor, deepest behind at the median
Arkansas's position against the national figures changes across the distribution.
At the bottom it is level: the 10th percentile, $27,290, is essentially level with the national $27,250.
From there the shortfall widens — the 25th percentile, $28,580, is 4% below the national $29,820, and the median, $30,230, is 15% below the national $35,360, the deepest gap in the distribution.
Above the middle it narrows again: the 75th percentile, $35,210, is 12% below the national $40,050, and the 90th percentile, $47,990, is 4% below the national $50,060.
Benchmarking an offer against the national median alone would overstate what the middle of the Arkansas distribution earns.
A compressed band with the median sitting low
Half of the Arkansas workers counted earned between $28,580 and $35,210 — a band $6,630 wide, against $10,230 nationally.
The full span from the 10th to the 90th percentile is $20,700, against $22,810 nationally, so the edges of the distribution stretch nearly as far as the national ones even though the middle is compressed.
The median sits $1,650 above the 25th percentile and $4,980 below the 75th, low inside the band.
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 Arkansas hourly median is $14.54, against $17.00 nationally — 14% below, close to the 15% annual gap.
The data set carries hourly pay at the median only, so it 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.
Against the Arkansas vet tech median
In the same release, veterinary technologists and technicians in Arkansas have a median of $38,360 — $8,130, or 27%, more than the all-industry animal caretaker median on this page.
The comparison sets two occupations counted separately against each other, so it is context for someone weighing a move into technician work, not a raise an animal caretaker should expect.
The $8,130 step from the animal caretakers median on this page up to vet tech pay in Arkansas ($38,360, or $18.44/hr, ranked 47th of 51, between Wyoming and West Virginia) is narrower than the $12,020 between the two national medians.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the median kennel attendant salary in Arkansas?
No federal wage series isolates kennel attendants.
The closest is SOC 39-2021, Animal Caretakers, which covers all industries; its Arkansas median annual wage was $30,230 in May 2025, or $14.54 an hour.
Half of the animal caretakers counted earned more and half earned less.
The national median for the occupation is $35,360, so Arkansas sits 15% below it.
What do the top-paid animal caretakers in Arkansas earn?
The Arkansas 90th percentile is $47,990, so one in ten animal caretakers counted across all industries earned more than that.
Nationally the 90th percentile is $50,060, 4% higher.
The 75th percentile tells a similar story: $35,210 in Arkansas, 12% below the national $40,050, so pay near the top of the distribution runs below national levels at both cutoffs.
How does this all-industry figure compare with vet tech pay in Arkansas?
In the same BLS release, veterinary technologists and technicians in Arkansas have a median of $38,360, which is $8,130 above the $30,230 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 Arkansas?
BLS estimates 2,040 animal caretakers were employed in Arkansas across all industries, 35th 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 Arkansas Kennel Attendant Resources
Sources
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May 2025 state estimates — Arkansas, 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.