Salary and Outlook

According to the US Department of Labor, there are 3,500 people employed as animal scientists in the United States. The median annual salary is $63,500. Entry level employees earn approximately $40,720 per year and senior employees earn approximately $125,250 per year.

Estimates do not include other potential benefits such as health insurance, overtime pay, or retirement benefits that may be offered by employers.

Job Duties

• Study nutritional requirements of animals and nutritive values of animal feed materials.
• Advise producers about improved products and techniques that could enhance their animal production efforts.
• Develop improved practices in feeding, housing, sanitation, or parasite and disease control of animals.
• Write up or orally communicate research findings to the scientific community, producers, and the public.
• Study effects of management practices, processing methods, feed, or environmental conditions on quality and quantity of animal products, such as eggs and milk.
• Conduct research concerning animal nutrition, breeding, or management to improve products or processes.
• Research and control animal selection and breeding practices to increase production efficiency and improve animal quality.
• Determine genetic composition of animal populations and heritability of traits, using principles of genetics.
• Crossbreed animals with existing strains or cross strains to obtain new combinations of desirable characteristics.

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