Animal Trainers in Texas
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$31,403
after federal, FICA and Texas tax
Tax takes
$4,967
13.7% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$32,316
Texas costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Texas — 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
$36,370
Kept after tax
$31,403
Worth in national money
$32,316
State rank
33
of 47 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- The nominal figure here is modest. Texas pays animal trainers a middle wage of $36,370, 33 of 47 states and about 9.05% below the national middle. Hold that thought until the adjusted numbers.
- Within Texas this is lower-paid work. Of 493 occupations the state publishes figures for, animal trainers ranks 431. That is the bottom quarter locally, whatever the national comparison says.
- No great distortion either way. Texas costs about what the country costs, so from $36,370, take-home of $31,403 is worth roughly $32,316 in national money. The average comes to $39,700, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Texas's $36,370 median for animal trainers places it 33 of 47 states, about 9.05% 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 Texas reports, animal trainers ranks 431 of 493, 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.
- Price parity in Texas is near the national base, so for animal trainers, whose median is $36,370, the adjusted figure of $32,316 differs little from $31,403 retained after tax. The state's position for this occupation is therefore set by wage and tax rather than by living costs. At $39,700 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
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Pay band: Animal Trainers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $25,970 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $36,370 |
| Top tenth earn over | $57,490 |
| This salary | $36,370 |
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 Texas | $31,403 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Florida | $31,403 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,961 |
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 | $36,370 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$2,525 |
| Prices in Florida | 103 vs 97 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- A median is the middle, not an offer. Half of animal trainers in Texas earn under $36,370 and half over. The published range runs $25,970 at the tenth percentile to $57,490 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- In Texas the take-home figure of $31,403, from $36,370, 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 431 of 493 occupations here.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $32,316 uses one figure for the whole of Texas. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 493 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 431.
- Figures are distribution medians for animal trainers in Texas, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $25,970 to $57,490; within-state dispersion of that width routinely exceeds the dispersion between states, so tenure, employer and metropolitan area predict an individual's pay better than geography does.
- Take-home for Texas is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $31,403 from $36,370. 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 431 of 493 locally.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $32,316, worked from $36,370, 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 Texas address, on work sitting at 431 of 493 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
It is the midpoint, not the average. The average here is $39,700, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $25,970 and the top tenth $57,490 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
Further than the number implies. Texas is cheaper than the national average, so this take-home behaves like $32,316 in national terms.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
No. $31,403 survives, because Texas levies no wage income tax. The federal share does not change with the state you work in.
Why is this job missing from some states?
The survey withholds small samples rather than publish an unreliable number. Pay appears for 47 states here, and a missing state means too few reports, not no jobs.
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 Texas is $39,700. 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 ($25,970) and the ninetieth ($57,490) 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?
Texas'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 $32,316 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?
Texas levies no personal income tax on wages, so take-home of $31,403 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.
Why does this occupation lack published estimates in every state?
BLS suppresses estimates failing disclosure or reliability criteria. This occupation has published state-level estimates in 47 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.