Also called: Shelter Manager, Executive Director (Shelter)
Runs an animal shelter: staff, budget, adoptions, medical care, and community programs.
Decides how to handle a surge of 40 surrendered dogs, meets with the city about the shelter contract, launches a low-cost vaccine clinic, and celebrates when a long-stay dog finally gets adopted.
Estimate.
Approximate: anchored on Bureau of Labor Statistics data for a broader job group.
Bachelor's degree (4-year), about 6 years after high school. Bachelor's degree plus years of shelter experience; CAWA certification.
Ways in: 4-year college, On-the-job training, Certification. Training cost: $15k – $60k.
Majors to look at: Animal Science, Nonprofit Management, Biology.
Growing about average. Steady.
Low risk for 10 years. Shelter software tracks intakes and adoptions; leading staff, budgets and tough community decisions stay human.
Classes: Business or economics, Speech & debate, Biology, Psychology.
Official data: O*NET occupation 11-9151.
Career Universe is an early version. Pay, training and AI-risk figures are estimates to start your own research, not verified facts. The research was written with AI research assistants, checked by validation scripts and spot-checked by hand. Check anything important with schools, employers and official sources. How the numbers work.