Science
What you can do with Zoology
Animals, from cells to ecosystems. Leads to wildlife, conservation, zoos and veterinary school.
- Careers
- 3
- Early career
- $46,000
- Mid-career
- $80,000
- Growing fast
- 1 of 3
How these numbers work: A major does not have its own salary. Early and mid-career pay is what people who hold this degree earn at the start of their careers and midway through them. Career pay comes from the 3 careers a Zoology degree commonly leads to, and counts everyone in those jobs, including people who have been doing them for thirty years. The two answer different questions, which is why they do not match.
The New York Fed does not report Zoology on its own. Its early and mid-career figures here are for Miscellaneous Biological Science, the broader group it places this major in.
60% of people with this degree go on to a graduate degree, so the higher-paying careers below usually mean more school after the bachelor's.
1 of 3 careers this degree leads to is projected to grow faster than average from 2024 to 2034. Of those, Veterinarian has the most openings, about 3,000 a year.
Set on Zoology?
Save it as your major and PlanexAI will shape your dashboard, career matches, and study plan around it.
3 careers this degree leads to
Veterinarian
$130,100Diagnose and treat illness and injury in animals, from companion pets to livestock, and safeguard public health through disease control.
- Middle half of workers
- $101,460 to $166,120
- Growth
- Much faster than average
- Openings a year
- 3,000
Work-life68Remote1- Clinical Diagnosis
- Surgery
- Science
- Active Learning
Biologist
$98,920Study living things and how they work, in labs, in the field and for agencies and industry.
- Middle half of workers
- $76,800 to $127,670
- Growth
- Slower than average
- Openings a year
- 4,800
- Research
- Lab Techniques
- Data Analysis
- Scientific Writing
Zoologist / Wildlife Biologist
$76,780Study animals in the wild and the lab, informing conservation and how species and habitats are managed.
- Middle half of workers
- $61,180 to $96,100
- Growth
- Slower than average
- Openings a year
- 1,400
Work-life51Remote58- Field Research
- Species Identification
- Data Collection
- Science
Related majors
Set on Zoology?
Save it as your major and PlanexAI will shape your dashboard, career matches, and study plan around it.
Where these pay figures come from
Early and mid-career pay is the median annual wage of full-time workers who hold a bachelor's degree in that major, ages 22 to 27 and ages 35 to 45, from 2024 data. Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey (IPUMS). Published as Outcomes by Major by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
Career pay is the annual wage of everyone working in that occupation, not only recent graduates, so it includes people who have done the job for decades. The middle half is the 25th to the 75th percentile. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and O*NET OnLine (median and percentile annual wages May 2025; employment projections 2024-2034).
All figures are national. What you earn depends on where you work, who you work for, and how far you take the degree.