Bathe, clip and style dogs and cats all day. No license anywhere in the country, and your hands do the talking.
Click through it
Pay, the path, pros and cons and the facts on one printable page. Counsellors: send it to a student from your own email in one click.
The median pay is about $35,360 a year. Across everyone in the job it runs from about $27,250 at the lower end to about $50,060 at the upper end. The source is listed under Sources at the end of this page.
1 to 2 years, on the usual route, and you are paid while you train from the first day.
$1,000 to $11,000 all in for tuition, fees, exams and kit. Living costs are not counted.
No. There is no license to hold, though many employers still ask for training or a certificate.
Very high demand nationally, from government outlook data. Demand varies by region, so check your area.
Or read the whole thing here
What you earn and what it costs to get there.
Median
$35,360
Bottom tenth
$27,250
Top tenth
$50,060
The 2025 national median is $35,360 a year, and the bottom tenth earn $27,250 or less. The federal survey counts groomers inside a wider group called Animal Caretakers, which also includes kennel, shelter and zoo staff, so the figure is broader than grooming alone.
$27,250 to $29,820
The bottom tenth to the bottom quarter of the national wage survey, 2025, for all animal caretakers
Almost everyone starts by washing, drying and brushing while watching the groomers work.
$40,050 a year or more
The 75th percentile of all animal caretakers, 2025
Many salons pay a cut of each groom rather than an hourly wage, so finishing more grooms and getting customers to rebook with you is how you move up.
Roughly, all in
$1,000 to $11,000
Tuition, fees, exams and kit. Not rent, food or travel
The low end is learning on the job, which costs nothing and pays you, with your own clippers, blades and shears bought gradually over the first couple of years. The high end is a grooming school program of roughly two to six months, a fuller tool kit and voluntary written and practical certification. School prices vary a lot for the same piece of paper, so compare hours of hands on animal time rather than the brochure. The cheap door is harder to walk through because it depends on finding an established groomer willing to slow down and teach you, and the first year is lean either way while your hands get fast enough to earn real commission.
No student loans are needed here. The bigger cost is the slow first year while your hands get fast enough to earn real commission.
Hourly at a chain store
Predictable, with benefits at the larger companies.
Commission at a salon
The common arrangement. You keep a share of every groom.
Booth rent
You pay the salon a weekly rent and keep the whole ticket. Good once you are booked solid.
Mobile grooming
Your own van, your own prices, and a loan for the vehicle.
Veterinary clinic
Steadier hours, often hourly, and more medical and senior pets.
The exact path from high school to qualified.
Nobody tests you before you start. Skill and speed are the whole career.
High school
Grade 12
A diploma is enough for almost every salon. Volunteer at a shelter or kennel to prove you can handle animals.
Start as a bather
6 to 12 months
Washing, drying, brushing, nails and ears. This is the real entry point, whether or not you go to school.
Learn to groom
2 months to 2 years
Either a grooming school program of a few months, or an apprenticeship under a working groomer who lets you take simple dogs.
Build speed and a book
1 to 2 years
Income depends on finishing more dogs per day and on customers rebooking with you by name.
Certify, rent a chair or buy a van
Year 3 onward
Optional, and this is where the money changes. Certification is voluntary, ownership is not cheap.
Biology
Skin, coat, parasites and the signs an animal is unwell.
Art
Breed trims are shape and symmetry. Drawing helps more than you would think.
Business
Many groomers end up self-employed, booking and pricing their own work.
Communication
You will tell an owner their matted dog has to be shaved. That conversation is a skill.
No state requires a license to groom pets, the way it does for barbers or nurses. Anyone can open a salon tomorrow. Some cities and states regulate the kennel or facility rather than the person, so check local rules before you open your own place. Because there is no legal standard, voluntary certification is how groomers prove skill: the National Dog Groomers Association of America awards the NCMG (National Certified Master Groomer) through written and practical testing, and International Professional Groomers runs its own safety, advanced and master tracks.
On the job in a salon
The most common route. Paid, slow, and only as good as the groomer teaching you.
Private grooming schools
A few months of full-time hands-on work. Ask how many dogs you will personally groom.
Pet store training programs
The national chains train bathers into groomers and pay you through it.
Certification bodies
Workshops, breed modules and testing, used to level up rather than to start.
Things you don't need, but that help.
Cat grooming
Far fewer groomers will touch cats.
Hand stripping and breed trims
Terrier and show coats done the traditional way. Slow and skilled.
Mobile grooming
One dog at a time at the customer's door. You are buying a van and a business.
Veterinary and senior pets
Grooming old, anxious or medically fragile animals in a clinic setting.
Master certification
The National Certified Master Groomer title, earned through written exams and judged practical work.
Calm hands with a scared animal
The single most valuable thing on this list.
A strong back and shoulders
You lift wet, struggling dogs all day, and the injuries are real.
Shelter or kennel volunteering
Shows an employer you can read an animal before it bites.
Before and after photos
Social media is how groomers fill a book and later fill a van.
Day to day, pros and cons, where you'd work.
Dogs arrive between 7am and 9am and the day is a queue. Check each coat for mats, fleas and lumps, then bathe, force dry, brush out, clip nails, clean ears and do the trim the owner asked for. Several dogs in a day once you are fast. Some are easy. Some scream, snap or will not stand still. Between dogs you answer the phone, book the next appointment and explain your prices. You go home wet, covered in hair, and sore.
The good
The hard parts
Things people don't tell you.
Federal projections give animal caretakers, the group groomers are counted in, a Bright Outlook: much faster than average growth from 2025 to 2035 and about 62,800 openings a year.
International Professional Groomers has certified groomers since 1988 and has certified members in more than 42 countries. It runs a separate cat grooming certification.
The National Dog Groomers Association of America awards a National Certified Master Groomer credential through written exams and judged practical evaluations.
Every list is built from the same numbers shown above, so you can see where this career sits next to the others.
Personal, food and outdoor trades first, then the rest of the field. See every career in skilled trades.
Last checked October 2026. Pay figures are typical full-time annual amounts in United States dollars, based on Bureau of Labor Statistics wage data and published pay scales. They vary by state, employer and experience. Tuition is for in-state students at public schools unless the card says otherwise. How every figure on this site is sourced and checked.
Tell us about this page. A person reads every message.
No email app on this device? Use Gmail instead: report a mistake in Gmail or say what you like in Gmail.