Animal keeper vs groomer assistant

The differences between animal keepers and groomer assistants can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 1-3 months to become both an animal keeper and a groomer assistant. Additionally, an animal keeper has an average salary of $30,829, which is higher than the $30,725 average annual salary of a groomer assistant.

The top three skills for an animal keeper include animal husbandry, zoo animals and animal exhibits. The most important skills for a groomer assistant are PET, customer service, and appointment scheduling.

Animal keeper vs groomer assistant overview

	Animal Keeper	Groomer Assistant
Yearly salary	$30,829	$30,725
Hourly rate	$14.82	$14.77
Growth rate	28%	28%
Number of jobs	5,971	9,294
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 72%	High School Diploma, 39%
Average age	32	32
Years of experience	3	3

Animal keeper vs groomer assistant salary

Animal keepers and groomer assistants have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Animal Keeper	Groomer Assistant
Average salary	$30,829	$30,725
Salary range	Between $20,000 And $45,000	Between $21,000 And $43,000
Highest paying City	-	-
Highest paying state	-	-
Best paying company	-	-
Best paying industry	-	-

Differences between animal keeper and groomer assistant education

There are a few differences between an animal keeper and a groomer assistant in terms of educational background:

	Animal Keeper	Groomer Assistant
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 72%	High School Diploma, 39%
Most common major	Biology	Business
Most common college	Cornell University	Vermont Technical College

Animal keeper vs groomer assistant demographics

Here are the differences between animal keepers' and groomer assistants' demographics:

	Animal Keeper	Groomer Assistant
Average age	32	32
Gender ratio	Male, 26.4% Female, 73.6%	Male, 16.6% Female, 83.4%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 4.5% Unknown, 6.5% Hispanic or Latino, 18.0% Asian, 2.7% White, 67.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5%	Black or African American, 4.3% Unknown, 6.3% Hispanic or Latino, 18.3% Asian, 2.6% White, 68.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4%
LGBT Percentage	11%	11%

Differences between animal keeper and groomer assistant duties and responsibilities

Animal keeper example responsibilities.

Manage complicated water filtration systems, and implement nutrition plans for a variety of snake species.
Prepare diets according to USDA guidelines to help maintain foodsupplies and animal weights.
Aid in vaccinations, wind treatment, artificial insemination procedures, castrations, tagging and tattoos.
Assist in producing illustrations and animation material to develop tutoring videos for math and physics.
Help with incoming pets as well as with the adoption of the pet by their forever home families.

Groomer assistant example responsibilities.

Manage all breeding, whelping, raising of puppies, grooming and showing of dogs for owners in the AKC.
Perform animal grooming duties such as washing, brushing, clipping and trimming coats.
Bath animals: clean ears, express anal glands, trim nails, dry & brush coats.
Wash, dry, and brush dogs of various breed and temperament, as well as clipping nails and cleaning ears.
Bath dogs and perform related activities, including nail clipping and grinding, ear cleaning and plucking, and gland expression.
Maintain electronic record of pet information and file paper documents.

Animal keeper vs groomer assistant skills

Common animal keeper skills

Animal Husbandry, 17%
Zoo Animals, 11%
Animal Exhibits, 10%
Exotic Animals, 6%
Animal Handling, 5%
AZA, 4%

Common groomer assistant skills

PET, 39%
Customer Service, 19%
Appointment Scheduling, 12%
Coats, 5%
Teeth, 4%
Front Desk, 3%