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This Is the State Where Dog Walkers Make the Most Money
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In America, almost 50 million households have a dog. In some homes, people have several. That is well ahead of the next most frequently owned pet. Just over 31 million homes have one cat or more.
Dog ownership can be expensive. Some puppies cost over $1,000. Most people spend between $1,900 and $9,900 each year to keep a dog. Among the major costs are food, beds, toys, grooming, training and visits to the vet. Among the highest costs are for people who do not have a yard or somewhere else where the dog can stay unattended. The price of a dog walker can run as high as $5,200 a year, according to The Spruce Pets.
Dog walkers tend to be poorly paid, and many make little more than what is needed to stay above the poverty level. 365PetInsurance.com’s recently released “Here’s How Much You Can Make as a Dog Walker in Every State study was based on ZipRecruiter wage data. Once the data were gathered, they were averaged by state.
The poverty line observation is accurate. The state where dog walkers make the least is Florida, at $22,915. According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of the Assistant Secretary of Planning and Evaluation, the national poverty line for a family of four is $26,500.
Interestingly, there is no relationship between median state incomes and what dog walkers make. Tennessee ranks fifth on the list at $31,211, but it ranks 42nd for median household income at $56,071. However, the some of the states where dog walkers make the most are those with the highest median incomes. The highest-paid dog walkers are in Massachusetts, with pay of $31,656, followed by Hawaii and Connecticut.
These are the 10 states where dog walkers make the most:
- Massachusetts ($31,656)
- Hawaii ($31,203)
- Connecticut ($30,887)
- Wisconsin ($30,409)
- Tennessee ($30,211)
- Washington ($30,103)
- Minnesota ($30,095)
- Rhode Island ($30,028)
- Ohio ($29,990)
- New York ($29,849)
Click here to see which are America’s most popular dog breeds.
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