Kennel Attendant Salary in Oklahoma
Animal caretakers in Oklahoma — SOC 39-2021, a federal occupation that spans all industries, not only veterinary practices — earned a median annual wage of $28,940 in the May 2025 estimates, $6,420 or 18% below the national median of $35,360.
That ranks 47th of the 51 jurisdictions that publish a median.
The shortfall runs through the whole distribution: Oklahoma sits below the national figure at every percentile, deepest in percentage terms at the low end.
What these figures cover
10th percentile
$21,320
25th percentile
$23,920
75th percentile
$35,350
90th percentile
$43,880
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May 2025 state estimates — Oklahoma, SOC 39-2021 (Animal Caretakers). Retrieved 2026-09-16 from the BLS Public Data API.
How to read these figures
Oklahoma vs. the national figures
The Oklahoma median is below the national median by 18%. Among the 51 jurisdictions (states plus DC) where BLS publishes a Animal Caretakers (SOC 39-2021) median for May 2025, it ranks 47th, and 28th by estimated employment.
Differences are whole percentages, rounded half away from zero, computed from the figures shown.
Below the national figures at every percentile
Every Oklahoma percentile sits below the national figure for the same percentile.
The 10th percentile, $21,320, is 22% below the national $27,250, and the 25th, $23,920, is 20% below the national $29,820.
The median, $28,940, is 18% below the national $35,360.
The 75th percentile, $35,350, is 12% below the national $40,050, and the 90th, $43,880, is 12% below the national $50,060.
In percentage terms the gap is widest at the low end; in dollars it orders differently, with the median shortfall of $6,420 the largest and the 75th-percentile shortfall of $4,700 the smallest.
Benchmarking an offer against the national figures alone would overstate pay at the same position in this distribution.
A wider middle band, with the median sitting low in it
Half of the Oklahoma workers counted earned between $23,920 and $35,350 — a band $11,430 wide, against $10,230 nationally, and wider relative to the state's median too.
The full span from the 10th to the 90th percentile, $22,560, is close to the national $22,810.
The four quarters explain why: the bottom quarter is essentially level with the national one, $2,600 against $2,570; the stretch from the 25th percentile to the median runs slightly narrower, $5,020 against $5,540; the median-to-75th stretch runs wider, $6,410 against $4,690; and the top quarter runs narrower, $8,530 against $10,010.
The median sits $5,020 above the 25th percentile and $6,410 below the 75th — below the middle of its band, the reverse of the national shape.
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 Oklahoma hourly median is $13.92, against $17.00 nationally — an 18% 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.
What the employment estimate says
BLS estimates 3,170 animal caretakers were employed in Oklahoma across all industries, 28th of the 51 jurisdictions that publish an employment estimate.
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 Oklahoma vet tech median
In the same release, veterinary technologists and technicians in Oklahoma have a median of $39,100 — $10,160, or 35%, more than the all-industry animal caretaker median on this page, and $18.80 an hour against $13.92.
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 kennel-attendant work pays.
Same release, same state: veterinary technologists and technicians (SOC 29-2056) in Oklahoma have a median of $39,100 ($18.80/hr) — $10,160 above the animal caretakers median shown on this page. Vet tech salary in Oklahoma →
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the median kennel attendant salary in Oklahoma?
No federal wage series isolates kennel attendants.
The closest is SOC 39-2021, Animal Caretakers, which covers all industries; its Oklahoma median annual wage was $28,940 in May 2025, or $13.92 an hour.
Half of the animal caretakers counted earned more and half earned less.
The national median for the occupation is $35,360, so Oklahoma sits 18% below it.
What do the top-paid animal caretakers in Oklahoma earn?
The Oklahoma 90th percentile is $43,880, so one in ten animal caretakers counted across all industries earned more than that.
The national 90th percentile is $50,060; the Oklahoma figure sits 12% below it, a $6,180 gap.
The 75th percentile sits 12% below its national counterpart too — $35,350 against $40,050 — the smallest dollar shortfall of the five percentiles.
How does this all-industry figure compare with vet tech pay in Oklahoma?
In the same BLS release, veterinary technologists and technicians in Oklahoma have a median of $39,100, which is $10,160 above the $28,940 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 Oklahoma?
BLS estimates 3,170 animal caretakers were employed in Oklahoma across all industries, 28th of the 51 jurisdictions that publish an employment estimate.
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.
What does the low end of the Oklahoma distribution look like?
The Oklahoma 10th percentile is $21,320 — 22% below the national $27,250, the widest gap in percentage terms of the five percentiles.
The 25th percentile is $23,920, 20% below the national $29,820.
In dollar terms the ordering differs: the largest dollar shortfall sits at the median, $6,420 below the national $35,360.
More Oklahoma Kennel Attendant Resources
Sources
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May 2025 state estimates — Oklahoma, 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.