Animal Caretakers vs Childcare Workers: Similar Pay, 12.1% vs -2% Growth

Animal Caretakers vs Childcare Workers: what changes?

Consider Animal Caretakers if you want to feed, water, groom, bathe, exercise, or otherwise provide care to promote and maintain the well-being of pets and other animals that are not raised for consumption, such as dogs, cats, race horses, ornamental…. Consider Childcare Workers if you would rather attend to children at schools, businesses, private households, and childcare institutions. Both list high school diploma or equivalent; compare training and prior experience separately.

Try this next: Compare three local entry-level postings for Animal Caretakers and Childcare Workers. List the duties, credentials, prior experience, and paid training each employer actually asks for. Try a supervised class or sample project from each field before choosing a program.

BLS 2025 wages and 2025–2035 projections. National medians are not starting offers. Occupation size is not a count of vacancies. View the BLS data.

Compare the practical differences

Animal Caretakers

National median pay (2025): $35,360
Route into the job: High school diploma or equivalent; One month or less of on-the-job training, in addition to any qualifying education or licensing
Prior related experience: No prior related occupation is typically required; employer requirements vary.
Training and licensing: One month or less of on-the-job training, in addition to any qualifying education or licensing.
Work to investigate: Feed and water animals according to schedules and feeding instructions.
Annual openings (2025–2035): 62,800

Know before you choose

Long periods of standing are part of the normal workday.

See the full Animal Caretakers brief

Childcare Workers

National median pay (2025): $34,980
Route into the job: High school diploma or equivalent; One month or less of on-the-job training, in addition to any qualifying education or licensing
Prior related experience: No prior related occupation is typically required; employer requirements vary.
Training and licensing: One month or less of on-the-job training, in addition to any qualifying education or licensing.
Work to investigate: Maintain a safe play environment.
Annual openings (2025–2035): 150,300

Know before you choose

BLS projects employment to shrink 2% from 2025 to 2035. Openings can still occur when existing workers leave.

See the full Childcare Workers brief

How the national numbers differ

Animal Caretakers has the edge on projected growth

Animal Caretakers is at 12.1% projected growth, compared with -2% projected growth for Childcare Workers.

Childcare Workers has the edge on annual openings

Childcare Workers is at 150,300 annual openings, compared with 62,800 annual openings for Animal Caretakers.

National pay benchmarks are very similar.

Compare actual offers, expected paid hours, schedule, and benefits before treating either career as the higher-paying option.

63.8/ 100

Animal Caretakers

46.8/ 100

Childcare Workers

Each available metric is ranked from 0 to 100 against the careers on ChooseField. The weighted average uses this profile: pay 30%, growth 25%, openings 30%, preparation level 15%. Missing values are not scored as zero; their weights are redistributed across available metrics. Occupation size has zero weight: employment is not accessible vacancies. Preparation categories do not measure admission difficulty or years without earnings. The score summarizes national measures; local opportunities and personal fit still need separate consideration.

Detailed evidence

Animal Caretakers vs Childcare Workers

Dimension	Animal Caretakers	Childcare Workers
Median pay (2025)	$35,360	$34,980
Pay percentile	3 percentile	1.9 percentile
Projected growth (2025–2035)	12.1%	-2%
Annual openings (2025–2035)	62,800	150,300
2025 employment	365,300	1,010,300
How you qualify	High school diploma or equivalent; One month or less of on-the-job training, in addition to any qualifying education or licensing	High school diploma or equivalent; One month or less of on-the-job training, in addition to any qualifying education or licensing
O*NET preparation group	Job Zone 2	Job Zone 2
Related work experience	No prior related occupation is typically required; employer requirements vary.	No prior related occupation is typically required; employer requirements vary.
On-the-job training	One month or less of on-the-job training, in addition to any qualifying education or licensing.	One month or less of on-the-job training, in addition to any qualifying education or licensing.

The table reports national benchmarks and reviewed work descriptions. It does not rate personal suitability, job security, or physical safety.

Read Animal Caretakers brief Read Childcare Workers brief

Animal Caretakers vs Childcare Workers: what changes?

The facts most likely to affect your decision

Animal Caretakers

Childcare Workers

How the national numbers differ

Animal Caretakers has the edge on projected growth

Childcare Workers has the edge on annual openings

National pay benchmarks are very similar.

Animal Caretakers vs Childcare Workers

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