Kennel Attendant Salary in Nevada
Animal caretakers in Nevada — SOC 39-2021, a federal occupation spanning all industries, not veterinary practices alone — earned a median annual wage of $30,320 in the May 2025 estimates, $5,040 or 14% below the national median of $35,360.
That ranks 37th of the 51 jurisdictions that publish a median.
The shape is distinctive: the floor holds level with the national one and the 90th percentile, $51,040, sits 2% above, while every figure from the 25th through the 75th percentile trails national levels.
What these figures cover
10th percentile
$27,280
25th percentile
$28,950
75th percentile
$36,240
90th percentile
$51,040
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May 2025 state estimates — Nevada, SOC 39-2021 (Animal Caretakers). Retrieved 2026-09-16 from the BLS Public Data API.
How to read these figures
Nevada vs. the national figures
The Nevada median is below the national median by 14%. Among the 51 jurisdictions (states plus DC) where BLS publishes a Animal Caretakers (SOC 39-2021) median for May 2025, it ranks 37th, and 32nd by estimated employment.
Differences are whole percentages, rounded half away from zero, computed from the figures shown.
Below national levels through the middle, ahead at the top
Nevada's position against the national figures changes twice across the distribution.
The 10th percentile, $27,280, is essentially level with the national $27,250.
From there the gap opens: the 25th percentile, $28,950, is 3% below the national $29,820, the median is 14% below, and the 75th percentile, $36,240, sits $3,810, or 10%, under the national $40,050.
At the top the position reverses — the Nevada 90th percentile, $51,040, is 2% above the national $50,060.
Benchmarking an offer against the national median alone would miss both how deep the Nevada middle sits and how far its top tenth reaches.
A compressed middle band with the median near its floor
Half of the Nevada workers counted earned between $28,950 and $36,240 — a 25th-to-75th band $7,290 wide, against $10,230 nationally.
The full 10th-to-90th span is $23,760, slightly wider than the national $22,810, because the Nevada top reaches above the national level while the middle is compressed.
The median sits $1,370 above the 25th percentile and $5,920 below the 75th; nationally those distances are $5,540 and $4,690.
The distance from the median up to the 90th percentile, $20,720, dwarfs the $3,040 from the 10th percentile to the median.
OEWS does not publish why a distribution has this shape, and this row spans all industries, so this page does not assign it a cause.
Holding an hourly posting against these figures
The Nevada hourly median is $14.58, against $17.00 nationally — the same 14% shortfall as the annual median.
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-ranked, all-industry headcount
BLS estimates 2,470 animal caretakers were employed in Nevada across all industries, 32nd among the 51 jurisdictions that publish a median — not far off the state's 37th-place rank by 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 Nevada vet tech median
In the same release, veterinary technologists and technicians in Nevada have a median of $50,250 — $19,930, or 66%, 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 Nevada have a median of $50,250 ($24.16/hr) — $19,930 above the animal caretakers median shown on this page. Vet tech salary in Nevada →
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the median kennel attendant salary in Nevada?
No federal wage series isolates kennel attendants.
The closest is SOC 39-2021, Animal Caretakers, which covers all industries; its Nevada median annual wage was $30,320 in May 2025, or $14.58 an hour.
Half of the animal caretakers counted earned more and half earned less.
The national median for the occupation is $35,360, so Nevada sits 14% below it.
What do the top-paid animal caretakers in Nevada earn?
The Nevada 90th percentile is $51,040, so one in ten animal caretakers counted across all industries earned more than that.
Nationally the 90th percentile is $50,060, so Nevada's top tenth sits 2% higher.
The 75th percentile tells a different story: $36,240, 10% below the national $40,050, so the top tenth reaches above national levels while the upper-middle does not.
How does this all-industry figure compare with vet tech pay in Nevada?
In the same BLS release, veterinary technologists and technicians in Nevada have a median of $50,250, which is $19,930 above the $30,320 median for animal caretakers across all industries — 1.7 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 Nevada?
BLS estimates 2,470 animal caretakers were employed in Nevada across all industries, 32nd 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.
Where does Nevada's median fall in the national distribution?
The Nevada median, $30,320, falls between the national 25th percentile, $29,820, and the national median, $35,360 — much closer to the lower bound.
Nevada's 75th percentile, $36,240, would already clear the national median.
Apart from a 10th percentile essentially level with the national one, only the 90th percentile, $51,040, sits above its national counterpart, $50,060.
More Nevada Kennel Attendant Resources
Sources
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May 2025 state estimates — Nevada, 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.