Pet Grooming Industry Statistics 2026
How many people BLS counts in grooming and animal care, how many grooming and pet care openings are live right now, and what federal data say about pay and growth.
BLS has no code for groomers, bathers, kennel or daycare attendants alone, so every federal figure below says which occupation or industry it covers.
Live Pet Grooming and Pet Care Openings
These numbers are GroomerHires’s own: every active listing on the board, from employer career sites and direct postings.
Every other figure on this page comes from a federal agency.
| Role | Listings with hourly pay | Median posted low | Median posted high |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pet Salon Receptionists | 122 | $16.00/hr | $18.00/hr |
| Dog Groomers | 79 | $18.00/hr | $22.00/hr |
| Grooming Apprentices | 57 | $15.00/hr | $18.00/hr |
| Dog Bathers | 50 | $15.00/hr | $17.50/hr |
| Dog Daycare Attendants | 43 | $14.00/hr | $14.00/hr |
| Kennel Attendants | 43 | $15.00/hr | $17.00/hr |
| Grooming Salon Managers | 31 | $20.00/hr | $25.00/hr |
| Dog Walkers | 29 | $21.00/hr | $24.00/hr |
| Pet Sitters | 19 | $18.00/hr | $24.00/hr |
Roles with at least 15 hourly-pay listings are shown; each column is the median of the posted range’s low or high end.
Posted ranges are what employers advertise, not what staff earn: commission and tips are often extra, and the ranges do not compare directly with the BLS wages below.
How to read these numbers.
This is a live sample of the openings GroomerHires tracks, not a count of every grooming or pet care job in the country.
Roles follow our job categories, not BLS occupations, and listings we cannot place in a state count only in the total.
If you cite them, include the date shown and link to this page.
How Big Is the Pet Grooming and Pet Care Workforce?
BLS counts groomers, bathers, kennel and daycare attendants inside one occupation, animal caretakers, and dog trainers inside animal trainers.
The second column shows how many of them work in other personal services, the BLS industry group that contains pet care services such as grooming salons, boarding and daycare.
Payroll counts leave out self-employed workers, while projection counts include them, and the two come from separate BLS programs.
| BLS occupation | Payroll jobs, all industries, May 2025 | Of which in other personal services | Employment 2025, incl. self-employed | Projected 2035 | Browse |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grooming and animal care | |||||
| Animal Caretakers (includes groomers) SOC 39-2021The BLS occupation that counts groomers, bathers, kennel and daycare attendants, pet sitters, dog walkers and shelter staff, along with zookeepers and aquarists; BLS has no groomer-only code. | 266,910 | 146,190 | 365,300 | 409,400 | Dog groomer openings |
| Training | |||||
| Animal Trainers (includes dog trainers) SOC 39-2011Dog trainers and obedience instructors, along with horse and marine-mammal trainers. | 18,770 | 9,090 | 47,800 | 49,700 | Dog trainer openings |
| Management (stand-in) | |||||
| First-Line Supervisors of Personal Service Workers SOC 39-1022A stand-in for grooming salon and pet resort managers: it counts supervisors of every kind of personal service worker, and some working salon managers are counted as animal caretakers instead. | 114,110 | 13,460 | 122,500 | 130,200 | Grooming salon manager openings |
Payroll jobs are BLS OEWS May 2025 national estimates for wage and salary workers; the second column is the OEWS row for Other Personal Services (NAICS 812900), which contains pet care services along with unrelated services. Employment 2025 and 2035 are BLS Employment Projections figures for the whole occupation in every industry, including the self-employed.
Roles BLS does not count on their own
- Dog groomers, bathers and mobile groomers. BLS has no groomer-only occupation. O*NET lists Dog Groomer, Pet Groomer, Pet Stylist and Dog Bather as job titles inside animal caretakers, so every BLS figure here that covers them also counts kennel and daycare staff, pet sitters, dog walkers and zookeepers. Source
- Dog walkers and pet sitters. BLS counts them inside animal caretakers too, with no walker-only or sitter-only figure, and OEWS wage data leave out walkers and sitters who work for themselves. Source
- Grooming salon and pet resort managers. BLS has no grooming or pet resort manager code. The closest row is supervisors of personal service workers, a stand-in that counts supervisors in every personal service business, so it is not salon manager pay. Source
- Grooming salon owners. Owners are self-employed, and OEWS covers payroll employees only, so BLS publishes no owner income and none is shown here.
Where BLS has no occupation for a role, we name the broader or closest group and label it, or show no figure at all.
Sources: BLS OEWS May 2025 national estimates, BLS OEWS May 2025 industry estimates, BLS Employment Projections 2025–35, O*NET OnLine: animal caretakers
Where Animal Caretakers Work
BLS reports animal caretaker jobs and pay separately for the three industries closest to pet care: other personal services, veterinary services and other miscellaneous retailers, which include pet stores.
None of them is a grooming-only industry, so each row says what else it contains.
| Industry | Payroll jobs, May 2025 | Median hourly wage | Median annual wage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Other personal services NAICS 812900Contains pet care services such as grooming salons, boarding and daycare, plus unrelated services | 146,190 | $16.92 | $35,190 |
| Veterinary services NAICS 541940Vet clinics and animal hospitals | 33,720 | $15.46 | $32,150 |
| Other miscellaneous retailers NAICS 459900Contains pet and pet-supply stores | 32,480 | $16.96 | $35,280 |
BLS OEWS May 2025 industry estimates for animal caretakers (SOC 39-2021, includes groomers), payroll employees only. The three rows do not add up to the national total, because animal caretakers also work in other industries.
BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook, shares of the about 365,300 animal caretaker jobs in 2025 (Employment Projections count, including the self-employed). The largest groups are shown.
BLS OEWS May 2025 state estimates, payroll employees only, not adjusted for cost of living. Shown: the four highest states, four large states and the lowest.
Sources: BLS OEWS May 2025 industry estimates, BLS OEWS May 2025 state estimates, BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook: animal care and service workers
BLS Pay and Growth Benchmarks for Pet Care
In May 2025 the BLS median wage for animal caretakers, the occupation that includes groomers, was $35,360 across all industries and $35,190 in other personal services.
Animal trainers, the occupation that includes dog trainers, had a median of $39,990 across all industries.
BLS projects 12.1% growth for animal caretakers and 4.2% for animal trainers from 2025 to 2035, against 3% for all occupations.
| BLS occupation | Median wage, all industries (10th to 90th percentile) | Median, other personal services | Growth 2025–35 | Openings a year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grooming and animal care | ||||
| Animal Caretakers (includes groomers) SOC 39-2021 | $35,360$27,250 to $50,060 | $35,190 | +12.1% | 62,800 |
| Training | ||||
| Animal Trainers (includes dog trainers) SOC 39-2011 | $39,990$29,600 to $75,490 | $39,990 | +4.2% | 6,500 |
| Management (stand-in) | ||||
| First-Line Supervisors of Personal Service Workers SOC 39-1022 | $48,590$34,010 to $75,330 | $45,720 | +6.3% | 12,000 |
Wages are BLS OEWS May 2025 annual figures for payroll employees: the first column covers all industries and the second Other Personal Services (NAICS 812900). No column is groomer pay, because BLS publishes no groomer-only wage, and none includes the earnings of self-employed groomers or salon owners. Growth and openings are BLS Employment Projections for the whole occupation in every industry; the supervisor row is a stand-in for salon and pet resort managers.
Sources: BLS OEWS May 2025 national estimates, BLS OEWS May 2025 industry estimates, BLS Employment Projections 2025–35, BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook: animal care and service workers
Statistics by Role
Each role page combines live listing figures with the BLS data for that role’s occupation.
A role page is published once the board tracks at least 300 of its listings from 25 employers.
- Dog Groomer statistics3,286 live listings from 42 employers
- Kennel Attendant statistics495 live listings from 58 employers
Frequently Asked Questions
How many pet grooming and pet care openings are live right now?
GroomerHires listed 8,302 live grooming, bathing, kennel, daycare, training and pet care openings from 173 employers on November 14, 2026.
The count covers every active listing on the board and is refreshed every six hours.
How many dog groomers are there in the U.S.?
BLS does not count groomers on their own.
It counted 266,910 animal caretakers, the occupation that includes groomers, on employer payrolls in May 2025 (OEWS), a figure that leaves out the self-employed.
Its Employment Projections, which include the self-employed, put animal caretakers at 365,300 jobs in 2025.
Both counts also include kennel and daycare staff, pet sitters, dog walkers and zookeepers.
How much do dog groomers make?
BLS publishes no groomer-only wage.
The median for animal caretakers, the occupation that includes groomers, was $17.00 an hour ($35,360 a year) in May 2025, across all industries.
In other personal services, the industry group that contains grooming salons, the median was $16.92 an hour, and in other miscellaneous retailers, which include pet stores, it was $16.96.
These are payroll wages: commission, tips and self-employed earnings are not broken out.
How many dog trainers are there?
BLS counted 18,770 animal trainers on payroll in May 2025, at a median of $39,990 a year (OEWS).
Its Employment Projections, which include the self-employed, put the occupation at 47,800 jobs in 2025.
Both counts include horse and other animal trainers, so neither is a dog-trainer count.
Is pet care employment growing?
BLS projects employment of animal caretakers (includes groomers) to grow 12.1% from 2025 to 2035, against 3% for all occupations, with about 62,800 openings a year.
It projects 4.2% growth for animal trainers, with about 6,500 openings a year (BLS Employment Projections 2025–35).
Does BLS publish groomer, bather or dog walker pay?
No. BLS has no occupation for groomers, bathers, mobile groomers, kennel attendants, dog walkers or pet sitters on their own.
All of them are counted as animal caretakers (SOC 39-2021), so any figure called a BLS groomer salary is really the animal caretaker figure.
Methodology and Sources
Live figures count every active, paid listing on GroomerHires when the page was generated, and the page refreshes every six hours.
Federal pay and employment figures are quoted as BLS published them: OEWS May 2025 for payroll jobs and wages, and Employment Projections 2025–35 for growth, openings and the self-employed share.
OEWS counts payroll employees only, while Employment Projections include the self-employed, so the two employment counts for the same occupation differ.
BLS has no groomer, bather, kennel, daycare, dog walker or pet sitter occupation, so every figure for those roles is for animal caretakers (SOC 39-2021) and is labelled that way.
The narrowest industry figures shown are for other personal services, veterinary services and other miscellaneous retailers, none of which is limited to pet care.
Grooming salon and pet resort managers have no BLS occupation of their own, so we show supervisors of personal service workers as a labelled stand-in, and salon owners, who are self-employed, get no figure at all.
- BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025, national filePayroll employment and wage percentiles for each occupation, all industries.
- BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025, industry filePayroll jobs and medians for animal caretakers in other personal services (NAICS 812900), veterinary services (541940) and other miscellaneous retailers (459900).
- BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025, state fileState median wages for animal caretakers.
- BLS Employment Projections 2025–35, Table 1.22025 and 2035 employment (including the self-employed), percent change, average annual openings and self-employed share.
- BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook: Animal Care and Service WorkersWhere animal caretakers and trainers work, schedules and typical entry-level education.
- O*NET OnLine: Animal Caretakers (39-2021.00)Reported job titles, including dog groomer, dog bather and kennel attendant.
- O*NET OnLine: Animal Trainers (39-2011.00)Reported job titles, including dog trainer and dog obedience instructor.
- GroomerHires job listingsActive, paid listings on the board, queried live.