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Animal Scientists: Job Description

Conduct research in the genetics, nutrition, reproduction, growth, and development of domestic farm animals.

What Tasks Do Animal Scientists Do?

Typical responsibilities of animal scientists include:

• Study nutritional requirements of animals and nutritive values of animal feed materials.
• Write up or orally communicate research findings to the scientific community, producers, and the public.
• Develop improved practices in feeding, housing, sanitation, or parasite and disease control of animals.
• Advise producers about improved products and techniques that could enhance their animal production efforts.
• Conduct research concerning animal nutrition, breeding, or management to improve products or processes.
• Study effects of management practices, processing methods, feed, or environmental conditions on quality and quantity of animal products, such as eggs and milk.
• Research and control animal selection and breeding practices to increase production efficiency and improve animal quality.

Skills and Knowledge

Top animal scientists draw on a mix of skills and domain knowledge.

Key Skills

The abilities that matter most in this role, rated on an importance scale of 0 to 5:

Knowledge Areas

Related Job Titles

People in this occupation may also be known by titles such as:

• Animal Anatomist
• Animal Behaviorist
• Animal Biologist
• Animal Geneticist
• Animal Nutrition Consultant
• Animal Nutritionist
• Animal Scientist
• Bacteriologist

Job Outlook

There are roughly 78,475 animal scientists working in the United States today. This occupation is expected to decline by -1.4% over the projection horizon.

How Much Do Animal Scientists Make?

Statistic	Value
Annual median	$93,823
Hourly median	$45.11
10th percentile	$64,697
25th percentile	$79,260
75th percentile	$108,386
90th percentile	$122,949

Pay can vary substantially based on experience, location, and industry.

How Much Do Animal Scientists Make in Different U.S. States?

State	Annual median salary
Minnesota	$138,030
Missouri	$119,110
Georgia	$114,560
Iowa	$95,680
New York	$87,390
Texas	$84,010
Wisconsin	$79,750
Washington	$78,660
Pennsylvania	$77,130
Maryland	$73,560
Ohio	$61,650
Illinois	$60,590
Florida	$57,810
South Dakota	$56,400
Michigan	$51,290
Nebraska	$51,270

Where Animal Scientists Earn the Most

Pay for animal scientists vary by region. The following regions pay the most:

Region	Median annual wage	Share of U.S. jobs	Location quotient
Southeast	$91,860	6.7%	0.55
Southwest	$84,010	4.0%	0.26
Far Western US	$78,660	2.7%	0.68
Plains States	$76,029	30.7%	8.25
Middle Atlantic	$74,667	19.3%	3.45
Great Lakes	$66,650	36.7%	2.93

Top Metro Areas

Metro area	State	Median annual wage	Employment
Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers, AR	AR	$218,610
Madison, WI	WI	$81,330	190
Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV	DC	$78,800	150
Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD	PA	$76,560	80
Lincoln, NE	NE	$62,380	60
Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD	MD	$60,290	50
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN	IL	$59,900	40
Omaha, NE-IA	NE	$54,260

Industry Breakdown

Most animal scientists are found across these industries:

Industry	Employment	Median annual wage
Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services	810	$79,250
Educational Services	640	$65,190
Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Hunting	290	$64,940
Manufacturing	250	$119,640
Wholesale Trade	150	$138,030
Management of Companies and Enterprises	70	$124,940
Arts, Entertainment, and Recreation	60	$49,350
Other Services (except Public Administration)	50	$82,090

Animal Scientists work in the following industries:

Software Animal Scientists Use

• Computer aided design CAD software: Autodesk AutoCAD (hot technology)
• Geographic information system: ESRI ArcGIS software (hot technology)
• Data base user interface and query software: Microsoft Access (hot technology)
• Spreadsheet software: Microsoft Excel (hot technology)
• Office suite software: Microsoft Office software (hot technology)
• Presentation software: Microsoft PowerPoint (hot technology)
• Word processing software: Microsoft Word (hot technology)
• Enterprise resource planning ERP software: Oracle PeopleSoft (hot technology)
• Analytical or scientific software: SAS (hot technology)
• Data base user interface and query software: Structured query language SQL (hot technology)
• Business intelligence and data analysis software: Tableau (hot technology)

The Day-to-Day Environment

The on-the-job environment of animal scientists is shaped by the following characteristics:

• E-Mail
• Telephone Conversations
• Face-to-Face Discussions with Individuals and Within Teams
• Determine Tasks, Priorities and Goals
• Freedom to Make Decisions

Education and Training

This career aligns with Extensive Preparation Needed (Job Zone 5), indicating the level of preparation typically expected.

Related Careers

Similar Occupations

• Farmers, Ranchers, and Other Agricultural Managers (Primary-Short)
• Food Scientists and Technologists (Primary-Short)
• Soil and Plant Scientists (Primary-Short)
• Biochemists and Biophysicists (Primary-Long)
• Microbiologists (Primary-Short)
• Zoologists and Wildlife Biologists (Primary-Long)
• Geneticists (Primary-Long)
• Biologists (Primary-Long)

References

This profile draws on the following authoritative sources:

• U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics — Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) for employment and wage data by state and industry.
• BLS Employment Projections for total employment and growth forecasts.
• O*NET (Occupational Information Network) for skills, knowledge, tasks, work activities, work context, technology, and education-zone data.

SOC code: 19-1011.00 (Animal Scientists).