CCollegeMatcher

Animal Scientists

US occupation · SOC 19-1011

Job titles people report: Animal Nutrition Consultant, Animal Nutritionist, Animal Scientist, Beef Cattle Nutritionist, Beef Cattle Specialist, Companion Animal Nutritionist, Dairy Nutrition Consultant, Dairy Research Nutritionist, Research Scientist, Scientist

Pay and outlook

Median annual wage, May 2025
$68,940
Half earn more, half earn less
Middle half earn
$49,770 – $103,300
25th to 75th percentile
People employed, May 2025
3,100
Wage and salary jobs (OEWS)
Projected change, 2025–35
+5.8%
At or above the all-jobs rate (3.5% to under 7%)
Openings a year (projected)
200
New jobs plus replacing people who leave
Typical education to enter
Bachelor's degree
BLS
  • All figures are for the United States as a whole. Pay varies a lot by state and city.
  • Wages are for everyone working in the occupation in May 2025, at every career stage. They are not starting salaries or figures for new graduates.
  • Growth and openings are BLS projections for 2025–35. They are estimates, not promises. Openings include jobs that open up when people retire or change occupation, not just new jobs.

What the work involves

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

Main tasks

  • 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.

Description and tasks from the O*NET® 31.0 Database.

Getting in

Typical education to enter (BLS)
Bachelor's degree
O*NET Job Zone 5
Extensive preparation
Most of these occupations require graduate school. For example, they may require a master's degree, and some require a Ph.D., M.D., or J.D. (law degree).

Interests it suits

The strongest of the six O*NET interest types for this occupation, highest first. The short glosses are ours.

  • Investigative: research, analysis and solving problems with ideas
  • Realistic: hands-on work with tools, machines, plants or animals
  • Conventional: organising information, records and procedures

Fields of study that lead here

From the federal CIP–SOC crosswalk, which links 20 programmes to this occupation. A link means the programme prepares people for this kind of work. It doesn't mean the programme is required, or that it's the only route.

Agriculture

  • Agriculture, General
  • Apiculture
  • Animal Sciences, General
  • Agricultural Animal Breeding
  • Animal Health
  • Animal Nutrition
  • Dairy Science
  • Poultry Science
11 more programmes
  • Animal Sciences, Other
  • Range Science and Management
  • Large Animal/Food Animal and Equine Surgery and Medicine
  • Veterinary Anatomy
  • Veterinary Infectious Diseases
  • Veterinary Microbiology and Immunobiology
  • Veterinary Pathology and Pathobiology
  • Veterinary Physiology
  • Veterinary Preventive Medicine, Epidemiology, and Public Health
  • Veterinary Toxicology and Pharmacology
  • Veterinary Biomedical and Clinical Sciences, Other

Find colleges that fit you with our matcher: choose Agriculture at the Major step.

Where many students take agriculture

Ordered by the field's share of degrees awarded times undergraduate enrolment (College Scorecard), among colleges with at least 1,000 undergraduates. Online universities are included. It's a rough measure of how big the programme is. It says nothing about quality. The share counts every programme in the field, not only the ones linked to this career.

Other fields

Our college matcher doesn't offer this field as a major, so we can't suggest colleges for it here.

Multi/Interdisciplinary Studies

  • Anthrozoology

Related careers

Related occupations from the O*NET database, in its order.

← All careers

Sources

This page includes information from the O*NET 31.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. CollegeMatcher has modified all or some of this information. USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications. O*NET 31.0 Database · CC BY 4.0

Changes: we show the core tasks in the O*NET database with the highest importance ratings (up to eight, in that order), the top three O*NET interest types by score, and shortened Job Zone names. Titles, descriptions and task text are unchanged.

Wages: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025. Projections, typical entry education and training: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Projections 2025–35. Fields of study: NCES and BLS CIP 2020–SOC 2018 Crosswalk. All public domain. OEWS · Employment Projections · CIP–SOC crosswalk