If you're looking to have a hand in working with animals, a Wrangler is an intensive job that lets you work alongside various species. You'll have the opportunity to work with dogs, cats, horses, reptiles, and more.
The animals you work with will depend on what all your company covers. While coming in with a basic understanding of animal needs and medical information will be important, you'll get plenty of on-the-job training. You may be expected to guide horseback riding, assist in ranch or barn maintenance, or help bring sickly pets back to their full strength.
As you can expect, with such a vast availability to apply for, different employers will be expecting a range of education. On average, companies will be looking for vocational training or a bachelor's degree. A Wrangler can expect to make between $15,000 to $61,000 per year.
What is a Wrangler?
What Does a Wrangler Do
There are certain skills that many wranglers have in order to accomplish their responsibilities. By taking a look through resumes, we were able to narrow down the most common skills for a person in this position. We discovered that a lot of resumes listed dexterity, listening skills and physical strength.
How To Become a Wrangler
If you're interested in becoming a wrangler, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 57.0% of wranglers have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 4.3% of wranglers have master's degrees. Even though most wranglers have a college degree, it's possible to become one with only a high school degree or GED.
Wrangler Career Paths
As you move along in your career, you may start taking on more responsibilities or notice that you've taken on a leadership role. Using our career map, a wrangler can determine their career goals through the career progression. For example, they could start out with a role such as veterinary technician, progress to a title such as technician and then eventually end up with the title general manager.
Average Salary for a Wrangler
What Am I Worth?
Roles and Types of Wrangler
There are several types of wrangler, including:
Farm Hand
Role:
Since farming is an unpredictable industry, your work differs per season. Nonetheless, you will be required to do heavy lifts and manual labor throughout the day to help farmers to reduce unforeseen and unpredictable circumstances. Helping out farmers involves a lot of participation in farm activities, which include providing water for the animals, cleaning out pens and closures, and providing fresh straw and hay. You are also responsible for moving animals from one area of the farm to another, planting and spraying crops, and watching them as they grow.
As a farmhand, you have to be very vigilant in every aspect to alert the farmer whenever you observe a problem concerning the animals or the crops. Sensitivity, flexibility, attention to detail, problem-solving skills, critical thinking, and a genuine love for farm work are crucial for this role. You must also be physically fit for this role. Plus, you need a bachelor's degree in agriculture or other related fields. The average salary of a farmhand annually is $25,000.
- Average Salary: $26,594
- Degree: Bachelor's Degree
Ranch Hand
Role:
The ranch hand cleans and maintains animal housing areas, shears wool from sheep, collects eggs from hatcheries, and do routine menial tasks such as repairing fences, operating heavy machinery like tractors, and so on. They require physical stamina to do tasks around the ranch. They have to be up very early in the mornings and retire late at night.
Only a high school diploma or GED is necessary. A ranch hand earns an average of $25,368 per year, which translates to $12.20 per hour. Career growth is described as having little or no change at 1% and will produce 10,900 new jobs across the US by 2028.
- Average Salary: $27,569
- Degree: Bachelor's Degree
Farm Worker
Role:
You will be responsible for maintaining ditches pipes and pumps, direct and monitoring work crews' activities, operating and service farm machinery, spray fertilizer or pesticide solutions to control environmental pests, feed livestock, and cleaning and disinfecting the yards. You need to be stable, persistent, genuine, practical, and thrifty. You need to like tasks that are physical, athletic, or mechanical. You must also be communicative and able to follow orders. You will make a salary of $26,000 per year.
- Average Salary: $26,598
- Degree: Bachelor's Degree
States With The Most Wrangler Jobs
Mouse over a state to see the number of active wrangler jobs in each state. The darker areas on the map show where wranglers earn the highest salaries across all 50 states.
Number Of Wrangler Jobs By State
| Rank | State | Number of Jobs | Average Salary |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Montana | 57 | $22,221 |
| 2 | Virginia | 4 | $27,336 |
| 3 | Colorado | 4 | $23,567 |
| 4 | Texas | 3 | $23,771 |
| 5 | Utah | 3 | $23,633 |
| 6 | Michigan | 2 | $31,982 |
| 7 | Georgia | 2 | $28,747 |
| 8 | Missouri | 2 | $27,109 |
| 9 | Iowa | 2 | $23,440 |
| 10 | Oregon | 2 | $23,354 |
| 11 | North Dakota | 1 | $33,704 |
| 12 | Ohio | 1 | $32,454 |
| 13 | Illinois | 1 | $27,398 |
| 14 | California | 1 | $29,824 |
| 15 | Florida | 1 | $25,374 |
| 16 | Arizona | 1 | $24,341 |
| 17 | Rhode Island | 0 | $38,621 |
| 18 | Vermont | 0 | $38,751 |
| 19 | Maine | 0 | $37,635 |
| 20 | New York | 0 | $39,880 |
| 21 | Pennsylvania | 0 | $35,460 |
| 22 | Massachusetts | 0 | $37,376 |
| 23 | Delaware | 0 | $35,688 |
| 24 | New Hampshire | 0 | $34,824 |
| 25 | Connecticut | 0 | $35,343 |
| 26 | New Jersey | 0 | $35,279 |
| 27 | Maryland | 0 | $34,053 |
| 28 | West Virginia | 0 | $31,468 |
| 29 | Wisconsin | 0 | $30,258 |
| 30 | Nebraska | 0 | $29,648 |
| 31 | New Mexico | 0 | $27,792 |
| 32 | Hawaii | 0 | $31,128 |
| 33 | South Dakota | 0 | $26,800 |
| 34 | Minnesota | 0 | $27,256 |
| 35 | Kansas | 0 | $26,492 |
| 36 | Nevada | 0 | $26,344 |
| 37 | Mississippi | 0 | $26,744 |
| 38 | Wyoming | 0 | $24,398 |
| 39 | Kentucky | 0 | $23,924 |
| 40 | Tennessee | 0 | $23,917 |
| 41 | Washington | 0 | $25,150 |
| 42 | South Carolina | 0 | $24,238 |
| 43 | Alabama | 0 | $23,283 |
| 44 | Indiana | 0 | $22,823 |
| 45 | Idaho | 0 | $23,104 |
| 46 | Alaska | 0 | $23,219 |
| 47 | North Carolina | 0 | $22,861 |
| 48 | Oklahoma | 0 | $22,443 |
| 49 | Arkansas | 0 | $21,968 |
| 50 | Louisiana | 0 | $21,202 |
Top Skills For a Wrangler
The skills section on your resume can be almost as important as the experience section, so you want it to be an accurate portrayal of what you can do. Luckily, we've found all of the skills you'll need so even if you don't have these skills yet, you know what you need to work on. Out of all the resumes we looked through, 27.0% of wranglers listed tack on their resume, but soft skills such as dexterity and listening skills are important as well.
Choose From 10+ Customizable Wrangler Resume templates
Zippia allows you to choose from different easy-to-use Wrangler templates, and provides you with expert advice. Using the templates, you can rest assured that the structure and format of your Wrangler resume is top notch. Choose a template with the colors, fonts & text sizes that are appropriate for your industry.
Wrangler Demographics
Wrangler Gender Distribution
After extensive research and analysis, Zippia's data science team found that:
- Among wranglers, 62.3% of them are women, while 37.7% are men.
- The most common race/ethnicity among wranglers is White, which makes up 67.9% of all wranglers.
- The most common foreign language among wranglers is Spanish at 54.0%.
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See More on CourseraBest States For a Wrangler
Some places are better than others when it comes to starting a career as a wrangler. The best states for people in this position are New York, Vermont, Rhode Island, and Maine. Wranglers make the most in New York with an average salary of $39,880. Whereas in Vermont and Rhode Island, they would average $38,751 and $38,621, respectively. While wranglers would only make an average of $37,635 in Maine, you would still make more there than in the rest of the country. We determined these as the best states based on job availability and pay. By finding the median salary, cost of living, and using the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Location Quotient, we narrowed down our list of states to these four.
1. North Dakota
$33,704
Avg. Salary
2. Rhode Island
$38,621
Avg. Salary
3. Vermont
$38,751
Avg. Salary
How Do Wrangler Rate Their Jobs?
Top Wrangler Employers
Most Common Employers For Wrangler
| Rank | Company | Average Salary | Hourly Rate | Job Openings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Automattic | $104,366 | $50.18 | 7 |
| 2 | Wellmark Blue Cross Blue Shield | $86,532 | $41.60 | 4 |
| 3 | Wind River | $61,677 | $29.65 | 4 |
| 4 | Rocking Horse Ranch Resort | $36,262 | $17.43 | 4 |
| 5 | Woodside | $34,833 | $16.75 | 5 |
| 6 | Sanborn | $32,033 | $15.40 | 4 |
| 7 | Ensign Group | $29,210 | $14.04 | 3 |
| 8 | Rranch Market | $29,001 | $13.94 | 4 |
| 9 | Sombrero Ranches | $28,985 | $13.94 | 15 |
| 10 | Spotted | $28,983 | $13.93 | 4 |