Animal Caretakers in Connecticut
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$31,045
after federal, FICA and Connecticut tax
Tax takes
$6,265
16.8% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$29,940
Connecticut costs more than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Connecticut — roughly, since only five points along the band are published.
One filer, standard deduction, no dependants and nothing paid in before tax — the same household the rest of this page uses, so the comparison holds. City and school-district income taxes are not included.
Median here
$37,310
Kept after tax
$31,045
Worth in national money
$29,940
State rank
9
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for animal caretakers is strong here. Connecticut's middle earner gets $37,310, putting the state 9 of 51 — about 5.51% ahead of the national figure.
- Within Connecticut this is lower-paid work. Of 482 occupations the state publishes figures for, animal caretakers ranks 448. That is the bottom quarter locally, whatever the national comparison says.
- The wage here flatters the reality. From $37,310 the take-home is $31,045. But Connecticut costs more than the national average, so that money behaves more like $29,940 would elsewhere. Worth knowing before comparing offers across states. The average is higher, $42,710, because the best-paid pull it up.
- For animal caretakers, Connecticut sits in the upper band nationally: a median of $37,310, ranking 9 of 51 and running about 5.51% above the national midpoint. Nominal advantage of this size is usually, though not always, large enough to survive the state's own tax and price levels.
- Against every occupation Connecticut reports, animal caretakers ranks 448 of 482, in the lowest quartile of the state's distribution. That position is set by the local labor market and is independent of how the state compares nationally for this work.
- Retained pay after federal, FICA and Connecticut income tax is $31,045 for animal caretakers, from $37,310. The state's price level exceeds the national average, so the price-adjusted equivalent is $29,940. ⚠️ This is purchasing power and not a wage; cross-state offer comparisons that stop at the nominal figure systematically overvalue high-cost states. The mean of $42,710 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Animal Caretakers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $35,150 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $37,310 |
| Top tenth earn over | $62,540 |
| This salary | $37,310 |
Positions between the published tenth, quarter, half, three-quarter and ninetieth points are estimated by straight line.
The same pay, somewhere else
The state median for this job
| Take-home in Connecticut | $31,045 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $32,159 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$3,153 |
State income tax and state price levels only. No city income tax, and no housing market.
What you would need there
The state median for this job
| To match take-home only | $35,924 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$3,814 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 104 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Half the people doing this work in Connecticut earn less than $37,310. The published range is $35,150 up to $62,540, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- In Connecticut the take-home figure of $31,045, from $37,310, assumes one filer, no dependants, and nothing paid into a pension before tax. Each of those lowers the bill, so treat it as the plain case. City and school-district income taxes are not included either, and in a few states those are real money. It ranks 448 of 482 occupations here.
- One number stands for prices across all of Connecticut, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $29,940, the adjusted value of that $37,310 median, as a way to compare states fairly, not as a quote for any particular place. The two datasets are also from different years. This job sits at 448 of 482 in the state.
- Reported values are medians; for animal caretakers in Connecticut the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $35,150 to $62,540. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Take-home for Connecticut is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $31,045 from $37,310. Each omitted item reduces taxable income, so the figure is a lower bound on retained pay for this household shape. Municipal and school-district income taxes are excluded, which understates the burden materially in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Maryland. The occupation ranks 448 of 482 locally.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Connecticut, so $29,940 — the adjusted value of that $37,310 median — establishes comparability between states rather than accuracy within one. The wage and parity series are dated independently, each following its own publication cycle, and neither is projected forward. This occupation sits at 448 of 482 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
It is the midpoint, not the average. The average here is $42,710, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
The label is broader than the work. From $35,150 at the bottom tenth to $62,540 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
Does a bigger number here mean I am better off?
The number and the value are different things. Connecticut costs more than the national average, so this take-home stretches like $29,940 rather than its face figure.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Four deductions, stacked. The federal layer and the two payroll taxes apply wherever you work; Connecticut then takes its own share, leaving $31,045.
Can I compare this job across every state?
All 51 jurisdictions report this work, which makes the ranking a like-for-like one.
How does the published median differ from the mean for this occupation?
The median is the midpoint of the distribution; the mean for this occupation in Connecticut is $42,710. Wage distributions are right-skewed, so the mean exceeds the median wherever a minority earn substantially more. BLS publishes both because substituting one for the other misstates a typical worker's pay.
What drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($35,150) and the ninetieth ($62,540) exceeds the family median dispersion. SOC codes aggregate roles differing in seniority, industry and specialisation, and BLS does not disaggregate below the detailed occupation level, so within-title variance is not separable from the published series.
How does the state price level affect real compensation?
Connecticut's regional price parity sits above the national average, so nominal wages overstate purchasing power. Deflating take-home by the state price level gives $29,940 in national-average terms. ⚠️ RPPs are an all-items index; housing parities vary far more widely than the headline figure.
What accounts for the gap between gross wage and take-home here?
Take-home of $31,045 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Connecticut income tax for a single filer with no adjustments. The state layer is levied in addition to the federal one; only its rate and base differ between states.
Is this occupation's state coverage complete?
State-level estimates are published for all 51 jurisdictions for this occupation, so cross-state comparison is not confounded by suppression. ⚠️ Estimates remain survey-based and carry sampling error; small differences between adjacent states should not be over-read.