Animal Caretakers in Wyoming
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$25,546
after federal, FICA and Wyoming tax
Tax takes
$3,534
12.2% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$28,119
Wyoming costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Wyoming — 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
$29,080
Kept after tax
$25,546
Worth in national money
$28,119
State rank
46
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- The nominal figure here is modest. Wyoming pays animal caretakers a middle wage of $29,080, 46 of 51 states and about 17.76% below the national middle. Hold that thought until the adjusted numbers.
- Within Wyoming this is lower-paid work. Of 433 occupations the state publishes figures for, animal caretakers ranks 420. That is the bottom quarter locally, whatever the national comparison says.
- Here is where Wyoming does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $29,080 you keep $25,546, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $28,119 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $34,150, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Wyoming's $29,080 median for animal caretakers places it 46 of 51 states, about 17.76% below national. Because both the tax and price adjustments tend to favor lower-nominal states, this ranking is the least stable of the three reported here.
- Against every occupation Wyoming reports, animal caretakers ranks 420 of 433, 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.
- After federal, FICA and Wyoming income tax, retained pay for animal caretakers on $29,080 is $25,546. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $28,119 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 $34,150 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 | $21,330 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $29,080 |
| Top tenth earn over | $50,290 |
| This salary | $29,080 |
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 Wyoming | $25,546 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $25,546 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,831 |
The raise and the real gain point in opposite directions here.
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 | $29,080 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$2,214 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 91 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Half the people doing this work in Wyoming earn less than $29,080. The published range is $21,330 up to $50,290, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- That $25,546 take-home in Wyoming comes from $29,080. 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 420 of 433.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $28,119 uses one figure for the whole of Wyoming. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 433 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 420.
- Reported values are medians; for animal caretakers in Wyoming the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $21,330 to $50,290. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Retained pay of $25,546, from $29,080, assumes a single Wyoming 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 420 of 433 locally, and the state ranks 46 of 51 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $28,119, worked from $29,080, deflates by a statewide parity that conceals substantial intra-state variation, concentrated in housing — so it supports comparison between states rather than the pricing of a move to a particular Wyoming address, on work sitting at 420 of 433 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
It is the midpoint, not the average. The average here is $34,150, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
One title, many jobs. The lowest tenth take $21,330, the highest tenth $50,290, and what separates them is experience, employer and what exactly the role does.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
More than the figure suggests. Prices in Wyoming sit below the national level, so take-home here stretches like $28,119 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
No. $25,546 survives, because Wyoming levies no wage income tax. The federal share does not change with the state you work in.
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 Wyoming is $34,150. 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 ($21,330) and the ninetieth ($50,290) 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?
Wyoming'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 $28,119 in national-average terms. The adjustment uses an all-items index and does not isolate housing.
Why is the take-home ratio comparatively high in this state?
Wyoming levies no personal income tax on wages, so take-home of $25,546 reflects the federal layer and FICA alone. Federal income tax and FICA are unchanged; states without a wage income tax generally recover revenue through consumption and property bases instead.
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.