Guides
How much to pay pet grooming staff for 2027
Groomer pay in 2027 runs about 16 to 30 dollars an hour, set by station rent, coat skill, salon overhead and local demand rather than by job title alone.
What to take away
- For pet grooming staff in 2027, budget by station and adjust for your metro. The ranges are in the table below.
- Commission groomers typically keep 40 to 50 percent of the ticket, or draw a guaranteed hourly floor against it.
- Pay follows what a person can finish alone on a wet dog, not the title on the schedule.
- Confirm wage, overtime and recordkeeping duties with the Department of Labor before the first shift.
- Write the rate, expected daily volume and review date into the offer.
A grooming wage buys hands that can hold a struggling dog safely, read a coat, and finish inside the booked appointment. Nothing else in the salon is harder to replace.
What the numbers look like for 2027
For 2027, plan on $16 to $19 an hour for a bather, $20 to $28 for a finishing groomer, and $28 to $34 for a salon lead. Experienced groomers more often work on commission, keeping 40 to 50 percent of the ticket with a guaranteed hourly floor against slow days.
These are planning ranges, not a survey. They reflect what salons advertise across most U.S. metros heading into 2027. Treat them as a starting bracket, then move the number to match your own postings.
| Station | 2027 hourly range | Typical structure |
|---|---|---|
| Bather | $16 to $19 | Hourly, often part time, no commission |
| Finishing groomer | $20 to $28 | Hourly through training, then 40 to 50 percent commission with a floor |
| Salon lead | $28 to $34 | Hourly, usually with a production share or a per dog bonus |
Commission is the common structure for experienced groomers. The groomer keeps 40 to 50 percent of the ticket. The salon covers supplies, rent and the front desk. A guaranteed hourly floor protects the groomer on a slow Tuesday. It also protects you from a walkout on a busy Saturday.
The two structures pay the same groomer differently across a week.
Six dog day at $70
- 45 percent commission
- $189
- $24 an hour, 8 paid hours
- $192
Two dog day at $70
- 45 percent commission
- $63
- $24 an hour, 8 paid hours
- $192
Who carries a slow week
- 45 percent commission
- The groomer
- $24 an hour, 8 paid hours
- The salon
A floor plus commission splits the difference: the groomer keeps the higher of the two figures each week.
Tips are separate. They belong to the groomer who did the work, and commission is calculated on the ticket before tips are added. A 45 percent groomer on a $70 groom with a $10 tip takes home $31.50 plus the $10. Say it in the offer, not in week three.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics groups groomers with animal care and service workers, under the nonfarm animal caretakers code, and publishes median wages by state. That median also covers kennel staff, dog walkers and shelter workers, so it runs below a groomer's rate. Read it for direction, then check your state before you set the bracket.
The gap between a rural salon and a coastal city is wider than the gap between bather and groomer.
Salons in Seattle, San Francisco and Boston tend to advertise at the top of the bracket. Dallas, Phoenix and Atlanta cluster in the middle. Rural markets in the Midwest and the South anchor the bottom.
As a planning spread, that is roughly $24 to $34 an hour for a finishing groomer in the top metros, $18 to $26 in the middle, and $16 to $22 in rural markets.
State floors differ too. Washington, California and New York City sit above $16 an hour ahead of their 2027 increases, against the federal $7.25. Check your state rate before you post the job.
Price the station, not the title
The same word covers very different work. A bather who dries a double coat to skin without damp patches saves the finishing groomer twenty minutes on every dog.
A written role description also feeds the daily standards a salon runs at intake, at the table and at closeout.
Pay is an employment decision from day one
Wage, overtime, timekeeping and recordkeeping duties apply to a two-person salon the same as a large one. The Department of Labor's guidance for new and small businesses sets out those duties. The EEOC's small business resource center covers fair hiring and accommodations.
Two habits keep a salon out of trouble. Record the hours actually worked, not the hours you meant to schedule. Put the rate and review date in writing. A verbal figure drifts the first time someone covers a Saturday. Federal minimum wage is $7.25 an hour, but many states set a higher floor, so check your state's 2027 rate.
Worked example: costing a second groomer
Use your own figures in place of these names. Let A be the average ticket, B the dogs one groomer finishes in a day, and C the days a week they work. Gross weekly production is A x B x C. That figure is what a pet grooming business needs before it can set a wage.
Costing a second groomer
- Gross weekly production = A x B x C
- Wage cost = D x E
- Total cost = D x E x (1 + F)
- Hire pays for itself when production covers total
- If not, fix B with training or shorter book
Let D be the hourly rate you are considering and E the paid hours in that week, including setup and cleanup. Wage cost is D x E. Add payroll taxes and benefits as a percentage F, so total cost is D x E x (1 + F).
The hire pays for itself when A x B x C covers that total with room left for supplies, rent and drying time. If it does not, the problem is usually B. The fix is training or a shorter appointment book, not a lower rate. For example, 32 paid hours at $25 costs $800 before payroll taxes.
Hiring is the harder half
A rate that attracts nobody costs more than a rate that attracts the wrong person, because the wrong person damages coats and clients.
- Write the role as the work on the appointment, with the coat types and the daily volume.
- Test on a real tub and dryer before deciding.
- Ask references about the bad days, not the good ones.
- Train alongside a trusted worker through a full coat cycle.
- Hold the first review against the written role and the booked hours.
The full sequence, including where to advertise and how to read a working interview, is in how to hire reliable staff for a pet grooming business.
Common questions
Should I pay a bather and a groomer the same rate?
No. They carry different risk and different rework. A bather who leaves a coat damp pushes time onto the finishing groomer. That cost shows up in the day's overrun rather than on the wage line.
How often should the rate be reviewed?
Set a fixed date in the offer. Review against booked hours and rework. A rate reviewed only when somebody threatens to leave is a rate set by whoever threatens hardest.
Can I start someone on a lower rate and raise it after training?
Yes, if the raise is written down with the date and the standard it depends on. An unrecorded promise is the most common reason a good groomer leaves in month four.
What if I cannot match what the postings show?
Change the package instead of the rate. Shorter appointments, fewer coat types per groomer, or a paid drying assistant can lift production enough to close the gap without breaking the week.
