Animal caretakers in Nebraska — SOC 39-2021, a federal occupation that spans all industries, not only veterinary practices — earned a median annual wage of $31,680 in the May 2025 estimates, $3,680 or 10% below the national median of $35,360.
That ranks 29th of the 51 jurisdictions that publish a median.
The ends of the distribution hold up better than the middle: the 10th and 90th percentiles sit above their national figures, while the 25th, the median and the 75th all trail.
What these figures cover
10th percentile
$28,080
25th percentile
$29,160
75th percentile
$39,490
90th percentile
$52,010
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May 2025 state estimates — Nebraska, SOC 39-2021 (Animal Caretakers). Retrieved 2026-09-16 from the BLS Public Data API.
How to read these figures
The Nebraska median is below the national median by 10%. Among the 51 jurisdictions (states plus DC) where BLS publishes a Animal Caretakers (SOC 39-2021) median for May 2025, it ranks 29th, and 34th by estimated employment.
Differences are whole percentages, rounded half away from zero, computed from the figures shown.
Nebraska's position against the national figures flips across the distribution.
At the ends it is ahead: the 10th percentile, $28,080, is 3% above the national $27,250, and the 90th percentile, $52,010, is $1,950 or 4% above the national $50,060.
The middle is behind: the 25th percentile is 2% below the national $29,820, the median is 10% below, and the 75th percentile, $39,490, is 1% below the national $40,050.
Benchmarking an offer against the national median alone would miss both ends — the floor and the ceiling clear the national figures even while the middle sits under them.
Half of the Nebraska workers counted earned between $29,160 and $39,490 — a band $10,330 wide, a shade wider than the national $10,230 in dollars, and wider still relative to a median $3,680 lower.
The lower half is compressed: $1,080 covers the 10th-to-25th stretch against $2,570 nationally, and $2,520 from the 25th percentile up to the median against $5,540.
The upper half stretches: $7,810 from the median to the 75th percentile against $4,690, and $12,520 from the 75th to the 90th against $10,010.
That puts the full 10th-to-90th span at $23,930, against $22,810 nationally, and leaves the median sitting low in its band — $2,520 above the 25th percentile but $7,810 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.
The Nebraska hourly median is $15.23, against $17.00 nationally — a 10% gap, matching 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.
BLS estimates 2,100 animal caretakers were employed in Nebraska across all industries — 34th 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.
In the same release, veterinary technologists and technicians in Nebraska have a median of $43,680 — $12,000, or 38%, 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.
Same release, same state: veterinary technologists and technicians (SOC 29-2056) in Nebraska have a median of $43,680 ($21.00/hr) — $12,000 above the animal caretakers median shown on this page. Vet tech salary in Nebraska →
No federal wage series isolates kennel attendants.
The closest is SOC 39-2021, Animal Caretakers, which covers all industries; its Nebraska median annual wage was $31,680 in May 2025, or $15.23 an hour.
Half of the animal caretakers counted earned more and half earned less.
The national median for the occupation is $35,360, so Nebraska sits 10% below it.
The Nebraska 90th percentile is $52,010, so one in ten animal caretakers counted across all industries earned more than that.
Nationally the 90th percentile is $50,060, so the Nebraska top tenth sits $1,950 or 4% higher.
The 75th percentile tells a different story: $39,490 in Nebraska, 1% below the national $40,050, so the top tenth clears the national figure while the upper-middle does not.
The 10th percentile is $28,080, so one in ten animal caretakers counted across all industries earned less than that — 3% above the national 10th percentile of $27,250.
The floor holds up better than the middle: the 10th percentile clears the national figure while the median sits 10% below its national counterpart.
The 25th percentile, $29,160, is 2% below the national $29,820.
In the same BLS release, veterinary technologists and technicians in Nebraska have a median of $43,680, which is $12,000 above the $31,680 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.
Sources
Wage figures: BLS OEWS May 2025 state and national estimates, SOC 39-2021, retrieved 2026-09-16. Page last updated 2026-09-24.