Kennel Attendant Salary in Colorado
Animal caretakers in Colorado — SOC 39-2021, a federal occupation that spans all industries, not only veterinary practices — earned a median annual wage of $37,430 in the May 2025 estimates, $2,070 or 6% above the national median of $35,360.
That ranks 8th of the 51 jurisdictions that publish a median.
Colorado sits above the national figures at every percentile, with the widest relative edge at the 25th percentile and a middle band narrower than the national one.
What these figures cover
10th percentile
$32,070
25th percentile
$35,670
75th percentile
$43,850
90th percentile
$55,300
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May 2025 state estimates — Colorado, SOC 39-2021 (Animal Caretakers). Retrieved 2026-09-16 from the BLS Public Data API.
How to read these figures
Colorado vs. the national figures
The Colorado median is above the national median by 6%. Among the 51 jurisdictions (states plus DC) where BLS publishes a Animal Caretakers (SOC 39-2021) median for May 2025, it ranks 8th, and 15th by estimated employment.
Differences are whole percentages, rounded half away from zero, computed from the figures shown.
Above the national figures at every percentile
Colorado's edge over the national figures runs through the entire distribution, but it is not uniform.
At the bottom, the 10th percentile of $32,070 is 18% above the national $27,250.
The widest relative gap sits at the 25th percentile: $35,670, 20% above the national $29,820.
At the middle, the advantage narrows to 6% — $37,430 against $35,360.
It then widens modestly: the 75th percentile of $43,850 is 9% above the national $40,050, and the 90th percentile of $55,300 is 10% above the national $50,060.
Benchmarking an offer against the national median alone would understate how far above national levels the lower half of the Colorado distribution sits.
A compressed middle band, a longer top end
Half of the Colorado workers counted earned between $35,670 and $43,850 — a band $8,180 wide, against $10,230 nationally.
The middle is compressed, but the extremes are not: the 10th-to-90th span is $23,230, slightly wider than the national $22,810, because the Colorado 90th percentile extends further above its 75th.
The median sits $1,760 above the 25th percentile and $6,420 below the 75th, so it rests in the lower half of 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 Colorado hourly median is $18.00, $1.00 above the national hourly median of $17.00 — a 6% gap that matches the annual one.
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 Colorado vet tech median
In the same release, veterinary technologists and technicians in Colorado have a median of $49,650 — $12,220, or 33%, more than the all-industry animal caretaker median on this page, 1.3 times as much.
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 measure of what animal caretaker jobs in Colorado pay and not a raise anyone should expect.
Same release, same state: veterinary technologists and technicians (SOC 29-2056) in Colorado have a median of $49,650 ($23.87/hr) — $12,220 above the animal caretakers median shown on this page. Vet tech salary in Colorado →
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the median kennel attendant salary in Colorado?
No federal wage series isolates kennel attendants.
The closest is SOC 39-2021, Animal Caretakers, which covers all industries; its Colorado median annual wage was $37,430 in May 2025, or $18.00 an hour.
Half of the animal caretakers counted earned more and half earned less.
The national median for the occupation is $35,360, so Colorado sits 6% above it.
What do the top-paid animal caretakers in Colorado earn?
The Colorado 90th percentile is $55,300, so one in ten animal caretakers counted across all industries earned more than that.
Nationally the 90th percentile is $50,060, so the Colorado top tenth sits 10% higher.
The 75th percentile is $43,850, 9% above the national $40,050, so Colorado is ahead in the upper range as well.
What does the low end of the Colorado distribution look like?
The Colorado 10th percentile is $32,070, 18% above the national 10th percentile of $27,250.
The 25th percentile, $35,670, is 20% above the national $29,820 — the widest relative advantage anywhere in the Colorado distribution.
Colorado is above the national figures at every percentile, so even its lower range sits above national levels.
How does this all-industry figure compare with vet tech pay in Colorado?
In the same BLS release, veterinary technologists and technicians in Colorado have a median of $49,650, which is $12,220 above the $37,430 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 Colorado?
BLS estimates 6,290 animal caretakers were employed in Colorado across all industries, 15th 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 Colorado Kennel Attendant Resources
Sources
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May 2025 state estimates — Colorado, 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.