Highest Salary for an Animal Cruelty Investigator
Television and print ads featuring mistreated, abandoned or neglected animals pull at our heartstrings as advocates attempt to inform the public of a huge social problem affecting the treatment of animals. Working directly to combat animal abuse are animal cruelty investigators — sometimes known as animal control workers or animal control officers. These professionals are skilled at handling domestic and wild animals and trained at uncovering mistreatment of animals. The highest salary for an animal cruelty investigator is about $51,840 per year, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
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Salary Information
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The top salary of $51,840 a year for animal control workers including animal cruelty investigators represents those in the 90th percentile of pay, according to bureau information as of May 2010. That rate is 50 percent higher than the mean annual rate for this profession, reported as $34,020 by the bureau. At the lowest end of the salary spectrum, such professionals earned $19,720 per year on average. Those in the 25th percentile averaged $25,490 per year and those in the 50th percentile averaged $32,050. For workers in the 75th percentile, salaries averaged $41,150 per year. Although certification is not a requirement in this field, the bureau reports that such professionals usually receive instruction from groups such as the Humane Society of the United States, the American Humane Association and the National Animal Control Association.
Industry Data
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The bureau reports there were 15,040 animal control workers in the United States as of 2010. Of these, about 90 percent worked for local governments, earning an annual mean wage of $34,380. Social advocacy groups paid $29,880 per year on average while those working for other personal service companies earned $31,110. Professional, scientific and technical service companies paid $45,940 on average. State governments and educational institutions including colleges and universities paid $38,120 and $32,250, respectively.
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State Comparisons
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Pay for animal cruelty workers and animal control workers varies sharply across the United States. Those professionals working in Nevada earned the highest wages on average, making $48,930 yearly, followed closely by California, where wages averaged $47,220 per year. Oregon offered average earnings of $40,120, Alaska followed at $40,060 with Minnesota rounding out the top five highest earning states at $39,410. On the other end of the spectrum, West Virginia animal control workers averaged $24,150 per year. Other states with wages well below the national mean included Kentucky at $25,070, Idaho at $25,120 and South Dakota at $26,190.
Metropolitan Areas
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Among metropolitan areas, Las Vegas-Paradise, Nevada, offered the highest wages at $53,270 per year. San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, California, followed with average earnings of $50,920. Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach-Deerfield Beach, Florida, offered $50,020; Santa Ana-Anaheim-Irvine, California Metropolitan Division paid $49,780; and the
Nassau-Suffolk, New York Metropolitan Division averaged $47,510.
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