Kennel Attendant Salary in Georgia
Animal caretakers in Georgia — SOC 39-2021, a federal occupation that spans all industries, not only veterinary practices — earned a median annual wage of $29,860 in the May 2025 estimates, $5,500 or 16% below the national median of $35,360.
That ranks 44th of the 51 jurisdictions that publish a median.
The distinctive feature is a deep floor: the Georgia 10th percentile sits 22% below the national one, while the 90th percentile is only 6% short.
Posted pay in Georgia kennel attendant listings
$15/hrmedian
The middle half of posted pay runs $13–$16.50/hr, from 14 distinct pay ranges at 13 employers (Cedarcrest Animal Hospital, Best Friend Veterinary & Pet Lodge, Brookstone Animal Hospital).
From VeterinaryHires' live job listings as of November 9, 2026. See the listings
What these figures cover
10th percentile
$21,370
25th percentile
$28,040
75th percentile
$34,950
90th percentile
$47,260
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May 2025 state estimates — Georgia, SOC 39-2021 (Animal Caretakers).
Retrieved 2026-09-16 from the BLS Public Data API.
How to read these figures
Georgia vs. the national figures
The Georgia median is below the national median by 16%; among the 51 jurisdictions (states plus DC) where BLS publishes a Animal Caretakers (SOC 39-2021) median for May 2025, it ranks 44th, between Indiana ($29,990) and Kansas ($29,830), and 10th by estimated employment. In the same release, veterinary assistant pay in Georgia has a $35,850 median, 40th of 51, between Nebraska ($36,100) and Alabama ($35,800).
Differences are whole percentages, rounded half away from zero, computed from the figures shown.
Behind at every percentile, by different amounts
Georgia sits below the national figures at every point in the distribution, but the gap is not uniform.
It is widest at the floor: the 10th percentile, $21,370, is 22% below the national $27,250.
The 25th percentile is much closer — $28,040 against $29,820, 6% lower — before the gap widens again at the median, $29,860 against $35,360, and at the 75th percentile, $34,950 against $40,050, 13% lower.
At the 90th percentile it narrows to $2,800, 6% below the national $50,060.
A benchmark that only checks the median misses how deep the Georgia floor falls and how close the top end sits.
A compressed middle inside a long lower tail
Half of the Georgia workers counted earned between $28,040 and $34,950 — a band $6,910 wide, against $10,230 nationally.
The full span from the 10th to the 90th percentile runs the other way: $25,890 in Georgia against $22,810 nationally, because the Georgia floor reaches much deeper while the top end nearly holds.
The median sits just $1,820 above the 25th percentile and $5,090 below the 75th, so the typical figure sits low in its own 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 Georgia hourly median is $14.36, against $17.00 nationally — a 16% gap, matching the annual median.
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.
A large workforce, a low median
BLS estimates 9,110 animal caretakers were employed in Georgia across all industries, 10th among the 51 jurisdictions that publish a median.
That is a much larger workforce than the 44th-place median rank on this page.
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 Georgia vet tech median
In the same release, veterinary technologists and technicians in Georgia have a median of $43,060 — $13,200, or 44%, more than the all-industry animal caretaker median on this page.
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 veterinary kennel work pays.
The $13,200 step from the animal caretakers median on this page up to vet tech pay in Georgia ($43,060, or $20.70/hr, ranked 37th of 51, between Missouri and Tennessee) is wider than the $12,020 between the two national medians.
What Kennel Attendant Job Listings in Georgia Show Right Now
From the 30 active kennel attendant listings on VeterinaryHires as of November 9, 2026.
Employers with the most openings
- Destination Pet6
- PetVet Care Centers3
- AmeriVet Veterinary Partners2
- Cedarcrest Animal Hospital2
- Countryside Pet Estates2
- VCA Animal Hospitals2
Pay employers post
- Median $15 an hour; the middle half of posted pay runs $13.50–$16.50 (15 listings that state an hourly rate)
- 50% of kennel attendant listings in Georgia state any pay at all.
Benefits listings name
- Pet Care Discountnamed in 63%
- Dental & Visionnamed in 50%
- Health Insurancenamed in 43%
- PTO / Paid Time Offnamed in 17%
Source: active kennel attendant listings on VeterinaryHires, updated daily. Pay figures use only listings that state pay (midpoint of each posted range). Benefits count listings that name the benefit; a listing that doesn’t mention one may still offer it.
Browse 30 jobs →Frequently Asked Questions
What is the median kennel attendant salary in Georgia?
No federal wage series isolates kennel attendants.
The closest is SOC 39-2021, Animal Caretakers, which covers all industries; its Georgia median annual wage was $29,860 in May 2025, or $14.36 an hour.
Half of the animal caretakers counted earned more and half earned less.
The national median for the occupation is $35,360, so Georgia sits 16% below it.
What do the top-paid animal caretakers in Georgia earn?
The Georgia 90th percentile is $47,260, so one in ten animal caretakers counted across all industries earned more than that.
Nationally the 90th percentile is $50,060, so the Georgia top tenth sits 6% lower.
Just below the top the gap is wider: the 75th percentile, $34,950, is 13% below the national $40,050.
What does the low end of animal caretaker pay in Georgia look like?
The Georgia 10th percentile is $21,370, meaning one in ten of the animal caretakers counted across all industries earned less.
The national 10th percentile is $27,250 — a 22% gap, the widest of any percentile on this page.
The 25th percentile is much closer to national: $28,040 against $29,820, 6% lower.
The floor is where Georgia falls furthest behind.
How does this all-industry figure compare with vet tech pay in Georgia?
In the same BLS release, veterinary technologists and technicians in Georgia have a median of $43,060, which is $13,200 above the $29,860 median for animal caretakers across all industries — 1.4 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 Georgia?
BLS estimates 9,110 animal caretakers were employed in Georgia across all industries, 10th 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 Georgia Kennel Attendant Resources
Sources
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May 2025 state estimates — Georgia, 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.