How Much Do Dog Walkers Make?
No government agency publishes pay for dog walkers alone. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) files dog walkers under animal caretakers (code 39-2021), together with groomers, sitters and kennel workers, and it counts employees only. BLS says 25% of animal caretakers are self-employed, and its pay figures leave them out. The Census Bureau counts dog walkers with every other one-person pet business.
This page sets BLS wages and Census receipts beside what walkers charge, what Rover keeps from a booking and one walker's published year. A ZIP code tool shows pay levels near you, and a calculator works out a year from your own price and schedule.
The rest of this page covers price per walk, walks a day and platform fees.
Employed animal caretakers' median runs from $21,950 a year in rural southwest Alabama to $52,000 in the High Desert area of Utah
BLS and Census both file dog walkers together with groomers and sitters. BLS publishes an employed median for 517 of 528 US areas, and the tool adds Census receipts for your county (2,459 counties). The tool covers every US ZIP code.
Sources: BLS OEWS May 2025, SOC 39-2021 (animal caretakers), by metro and nonmetro area; Census 2024 Nonemployer Statistics by county, NAICS 81291; Census ZIP-to-county file; USDA rural-urban codes. The calculator uses the same local level. One step is modeled: no agency publishes self-employed pay by area, so the calculator uses the employed pay level of your area. The lookup runs in your browser. It loads a small file for the first three digits of your ZIP code from this site and sends nothing else.
The District of Columbia has the highest employed median ($44,210) and Mississippi the lowest ($26,970); one-person pet businesses gross the most in Hawaii ($32,015)
The table shows the national figures, the five highest and five lowest states by employed median, and six states with the most people employed in this job. Dog walkers are one part of the BLS and Census groups.
| State | Animal caretakers, median a year (BLS May 2025) | Pet care business with no employees, average gross (Census 2024) |
|---|---|---|
| United States | $35,360 | $24,658 |
| Highest five | ||
| District of Columbia | $44,210 | $12,579 |
| Washington | $40,570 | $23,413 |
| Hawaii | $40,130 | $32,015 |
| Massachusetts | $39,650 | $23,510 |
| California | $38,700 | $28,243 |
| Lowest five | ||
| Mississippi | $26,970 | $24,474 |
| Louisiana | $27,910 | $27,331 |
| Alabama | $28,330 | $27,706 |
| West Virginia | $28,550 | $26,254 |
| Oklahoma | $28,940 | $26,190 |
| Most people employed in this job | ||
| Texas | $32,730 | $24,662 |
| Florida | $34,150 | $28,962 |
| New York | $37,840 | $25,375 |
| Illinois | $35,570 | $20,404 |
| Virginia | $34,380 | $18,854 |
| Pennsylvania | $31,360 | $23,066 |
First column: BLS May 2025 state medians for animal caretakers (SOC 39-2021), employees only. Second column: Census 2024 Nonemployer Statistics, pet care businesses with no employees (NAICS 81291), gross receipts before costs and tax. Puerto Rico is left out.
Rover's fee page sets a 20% fee on each booking, so a walker on the platform takes home 80%
You can find your own customers, or take a platform's customers and give up a share of each booking.
The calculator below compares a year on your own with a year on a platform, from your price and walks a day.
Work out what you would take home before tax
A full-time walker's year comes from the price of a walk, the walks you do a day, and the days and weeks you work. Every number starts as an example, so change each one to match you.
- Walks you do in a year$43,200
- Your share$43,200
- Card fees− $1,296
Checked November 2026. Insurance, gas and supplies are not deducted. With a ZIP code entered, the price per walk follows pay levels in that area.
Pet walkers are named on the IRS list of tipped jobs, entry 506
Tipping is the most-asked dog walker pay question in our measurement, with 117 phrasings. The IRS names pet walkers on its list of jobs that customarily receive tips.
IRS entry 506 reads "Pet and show animal caretakers. Feed, groom, bathe, exercise, and care for pets or show animals. Pet groomer, pet sitter, pet walker, kennel worker, pet trainer, horse groomer 39-2021". The IRS list covers occupations that customarily and regularly received tips on or before December 31, 2024.
Employees and the self-employed can both claim the deduction. The deduction phases out above $150,000 of modified adjusted gross income ($300,000 on a joint return). For the self-employed the deduction cannot exceed the net income of the business, and the tips must be voluntary. The IRS sets the deduction rules, and this page is not tax advice.
The IRS says employees report cash tips of $20 or more in a month to their employer by the 10th of the next month.
The IRS list says who customarily receives tips, not how much. This page does not rule on how much to tip.
One Rover dog walker published a full year: $21,751
We searched videos from 2023 to 2026 for US walkers giving their own income, and few publish it. Tana Cabana's figure is pet sitting on Rover, not walking. It is here because BLS and Census file sitters and walkers together.
Bark & Stroll says "in one full year on Rover doing dog walking, I made $21,751.23". The walker held a half-time seasonal job for about 5 months of that Rover year. Highest month: $2,436. Average take-home for a half-hour walk: about $20.
Tana Cabana says "I made $40,000 in one year just by petsitting on Rover". Monthly figures ran from $213 to $5,848. This is pet sitting on Rover (boarding and drop-ins), not walking. BLS and Census file sitters and walkers together.
The lowest-paid tenth of employed animal caretakers earn under $27,250 a year
BLS reports $27,250 a year at the 10th percentile and $29,820 at the 25th for employed animal caretakers, a group that includes groomers, sitters and kennel workers. The 10th and 25th percentiles mark the bottom of the whole pay range, not new walkers' pay, and they leave out self-employed walkers.
BLS's Occupational Outlook Handbook says "Many states require self-employed animal care and service workers to have a business license". Some cities add their own rules for commercial walkers, so check your city.
BLS says "part-time work is common" among animal care and service workers, and projects 11% growth from 2025 to 2035 with about 69,400 openings a year.
Bark & Stroll says average take-home for a half-hour walk was about $20, in a year that came to $21,751 on Rover, gross or net not stated.
Measured by us in November 2026. Dog walking course phrasings came to 3, and that row was left off the chart.
Dog walker pay questions
If you walk dogs on your own, let customers book and pay online between walks.
Set up your services and prices once, then share one booking link.
- A booking page that works as the link in your bio.
- Each service with its own length and price, like a 30-minute walk, a 60-minute walk or a home visit.
- A deposit at booking, or a card on file for later.
- Tap to Pay on iPhone, to take a card in person.
Sources
Where every number on this page comes from: the agency, trade body or walker who published it, linked where a public page exists.
- Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025: Animal Caretakers (39-2021), national, state and area, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2026-05-15 Employees only; the self-employed are not surveyed. 517 of 528 areas have an area median.
- Occupational Outlook Handbook: Animal Care and Service Workers, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2026-11-08 25% of animal caretakers are self-employed. Part-time work is common. Projected growth is 11% from 2025 to 2035.
- Nonemployer Statistics 2024: Pet Care (except Veterinary) Services (NAICS 81291), national, state and county, U.S. Census Bureau, 2026-09-29 Gross receipts of businesses with no paid employees, before costs and tax. Walkers, sitters, groomers, boarding and training are counted together.
- Occupations that customarily and regularly received tips on or before Dec. 31, 2024, Internal Revenue Service, 2026-06-28 Entry 506, Pet and show animal caretakers, names pet walker.
- One Big Beautiful Bill Act: tax deductions for working Americans and seniors (no tax on tips), Internal Revenue Service, 2026-11-09 Qualified tips deductible for 2025 through 2028, up to $25,000; for the self-employed no more than net income from the trade; phases out above $150,000 of modified AGI ($300,000 joint); tips must be voluntary.
- Topic no. 761, Tips: withholding and reporting, Internal Revenue Service, 2026-11-09 Employees who receive $20 or more in cash tips in a calendar month report them to the employer by the 10th of the following month.
- New pet sitting data highlights strong career outlook, 2026 State of the Industry, Pet Sitters International, 2026-11-08 PSI members, self-reported, average gross revenue for 2025. The release says nearly 4,000 members were contacted and 24% completed the survey; it does not state a respondent count.
- Stripe pricing, standard US card rate, Stripe, 2026-10-25 the card processor kiwilaunch uses; quoted for the 3% card fee in the calculator
- What are the service fees?, Rover, 2026-09-27 Read from the Internet Archive capture of September 27, 2026; Rover blocks direct fetches.
- Wag! terms of service, Wag!, 2026-11-08 Read November 2026. Gives no percentage for what Wag takes from a walker.
- Let's Walk Austin pricing, Let's Walk Austin, 2026-11-08 30 minutes $30 weekday, $40 weekend; 60 minutes $55, $65.
- Windy City Paws services and pricing, Windy City Paws, 2026-11-08 30 minutes $31 recurring, $41 periodic; 60 minutes $49, $59; individual walks only.
- How much do dog walkers charge, Four Dog Paws, 2026-11-08 30 minutes $38 plan, $40 on demand; 60 minutes $56, $60.
- Named walkers' and sitters' own figures, Various the people named above
- Bark & Stroll, How Much I Made Dog Walking For A FULL Year, July 2025, YouTube From the video's captions.
- Tana Cabana, One Year Pet Sitting on Rover, June 2025, YouTube From the video's captions. Pet sitting, not walking.
Not tax, legal or financial advice. Prices, pay and what you keep vary by state and city, licensing rules differ by state, and the tax rules on tips have conditions. A tax professional who knows your situation can answer for you.