Animal Caretakers vs Costume Attendants: $35K vs $50K Median Pay

Animal Caretakers vs Costume Attendants: 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 Costume Attendants if you would rather select, fit, and take care of costumes for cast members, and aid entertainers. 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 Costume Attendants. 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

Costume Attendants

National median pay (2025): $50,400
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: Create worksheets for dressing lists, show notes, or costume checks.
Annual openings (2025–2035): 1,700

Know before you choose

This is a small national occupation (6,600 jobs in 2025), so location and employer concentration can matter more than the national median suggests.

See the full Costume Attendants brief

How the national numbers differ

Animal Caretakers has the edge on annual openings

Animal Caretakers is at 62,800 annual openings, compared with 1,700 annual openings for Costume Attendants.

Costume Attendants has the edge on median pay

Costume Attendants is at $50,400, compared with $35,360 for Animal Caretakers.

Animal Caretakers has the edge on projected growth

Animal Caretakers is at 12.1% projected growth, compared with 5.9% projected growth for Costume Attendants.

63.8/ 100

Animal Caretakers

50.5/ 100

Costume Attendants

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 Costume Attendants

Dimension	Animal Caretakers	Costume Attendants
Median pay (2025)	$35,360	$50,400
Pay percentile	3 percentile	33.6 percentile
Projected growth (2025–2035)	12.1%	5.9%
Annual openings (2025–2035)	62,800	1,700
2025 employment	365,300	6,600
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 Costume Attendants brief

Animal Caretakers vs Costume Attendants: what changes?

The facts most likely to affect your decision

Animal Caretakers

Costume Attendants

How the national numbers differ

Animal Caretakers has the edge on annual openings

Costume Attendants has the edge on median pay

Animal Caretakers has the edge on projected growth

Animal Caretakers vs Costume Attendants

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