Animal Caretakers in Georgia
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$25,281
after federal, FICA and Georgia tax
Tax takes
$4,579
15.3% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$26,144
Georgia costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Georgia — 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
$29,860
Kept after tax
$25,281
Worth in national money
$26,144
State rank
44
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Georgia is among the lower-paying states for animal caretakers. The middle earner takes $29,860, ranking 44 of 51 states — about 15.55% below the national middle. Costs here are often lower too, which the figures further down account for.
- Measured against other jobs in Georgia, this one sits low: 470 of 492 occupations with published pay, in the bottom quarter.
- Here is where Georgia does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $29,860 you keep $25,281, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $26,144 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $32,250, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Georgia ranks 44 of 51 for animal caretakers, with a median of $29,860 — about 15.55% below the national figure. A nominal shortfall is not by itself a real one: lower-paying states frequently carry lower tax and lower price levels, and the adjusted figures below are where that is settled rather than assumed.
- Animal caretakers occupies position 470 of 492 in Georgia's occupational wage distribution, in the bottom quartile. National ranking and local ranking answer different questions and frequently disagree; this is the one a resident experiences.
- After federal, FICA and Georgia income tax, retained pay for animal caretakers on $29,860 is $25,281. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $26,144 in national-average terms. ⚠️ That figure is purchasing power, not a wage, and nobody is paid it; it is what the take-home buys. The mean of $32,250 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 | $21,370 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $29,860 |
| Top tenth earn over | $47,260 |
| This salary | $29,860 |
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 Georgia | $25,281 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $26,173 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$789 |
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 | $28,751 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$954 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 97 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $29,860 as a midpoint for Georgia, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $21,370 and the ninetieth is $47,260 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- That $25,281 take-home in Georgia comes from $29,860. It is the no-frills case: single filer, standard deduction, nothing set aside before tax. Real circumstances almost always reduce the tax. City and school-district taxes are not counted at all. Locally the work ranks 470 of 492.
- One number stands for prices across all of Georgia, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $26,144, the adjusted value of that $29,860 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 470 of 492 in the state.
- The Georgia median of $29,860 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $21,370 to $47,260. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Retained pay of $25,281, from $29,860, assumes a single Georgia filer with the standard deduction and no elective deferrals. Pre-tax retirement or HSA contributions, dependants and itemized deductions all reduce it further; local income taxes, excluded here, would increase it in the states that levy them. This occupation ranks 470 of 492 locally, and the state ranks 44 of 51 for it.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Georgia, so $26,144 — the adjusted value of that $29,860 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 470 of 492 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
Half earn more than this and half earn less. The average sits at $32,250 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
One title, many jobs. The lowest tenth take $21,370, the highest tenth $47,260, and what separates them is experience, employer and what exactly the role does.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
Further than the number implies. Georgia is cheaper than the national average, so this take-home behaves like $26,144 in national terms.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Three of them are federal and one is not. After income tax, Social Security, Medicare and Georgia's own levy, $25,281 remains.
Can I compare this job across every state?
Yes for this one. Pay is published in all 51 jurisdictions, so a state-to-state comparison here rests on the same survey everywhere rather than on a patchwork.
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 Georgia is $32,250. 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 ($21,370) and the ninetieth ($47,260) 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.
What is this occupation's price-adjusted compensation in this state?
Georgia's regional price parity is at or below the national average, so nominal wages understate purchasing power. Take-home deflated by the state price level is $26,144 in national-average terms. The adjustment uses an all-items index and does not isolate housing.
What accounts for the gap between gross wage and take-home here?
Take-home of $25,281 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Georgia 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.