2025 Animal Care Entry-level Jobs in Chicago, IL
For animal lovers, entry-level jobs in animal care offer a wonderful opportunity for breaking into this exciting and quickly growing field. Animal care entry-level jobs are expected to grow rapidly in availability in the next few years—somewhere around 23% growth is expected. One of the main reasons for this, aside from new and developing opportunities, is that jobs in animal care have a high rate of employee turnover. This is largely due to the fact that new employees are often unprepared for the realities of working with animals and have an idealized view of what working in the field will be like. If you have prepared properly for animal care jobs, however, you should be able to earn a nice salary in the process. For example, you may be interested As of 2010, general animal care workers were earning an average of around $19,950 per year, while animal trainers and some lower level zoo workers were making approximately $26,580 per year. For those who decide to work independently and/or open their own businesses, flexibility is a definite perk. If you open a pet-sitting business, for example, you can control how much you work, whom you work with, what you charge, and when you work. Also, depending on how much you wish to further your skills, you could potentially enter into a very high paying job such as a veterinarian or a zoologist. You have to start somewhere, however, and a basic, entry-level position, such as being a kennel or shelter worker, is an excellent entrance into the field.
