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by MoeGo on Apr 24, 2025 5:27:32 PM
Curious about dog daycare owner salaries in 2025? Learn how much you can earn, what impacts your income & whether owning a dog daycare is profitable.
Average Dog Daycare Owner Salary in 2025
There are many factors that affect the size of salary that dog daycare owners receive. Location, size of dog daycare, and whether or not overnight boarding is offered all work together to adjust a salary up or down accordingly.
National Salary Ranges
On average, dog daycare owners seem to bring home between $25,000 and $150,000 per year. That is quite a large range, and depends on the factors listed above — and more.
Your location is going to be the biggest factor. Are you in a rural area where costs are lower? Or in a major metro area where people expect to pay premium prices?
Monthly vs. Annual Earnings
If you are thinking of opening a dog daycare business, keep in mind that your salary may fluctuate quite a lot in the early months and years, and even from month to month once you are an established business. If you offer overnight boarding, you’ll likely see peaks around the holidays, during local spring breaks, and over the summer months when families are taking vacations. Likewise, there may be some weeks or months that are less profitable, so don’t jump to conclusions and forecast income for the next year off of a record high one month.
How Much Revenue Can a Dog Daycare Generate?
Let’s lay out three different dog daycare size examples and what a potential salary might look like.
Smaller Dog Daycare: 5 dogs at a time
This smaller dog daycare business has space for 5 dogs at a time, from five different families. They charge $25 per day per dog. Even if every dog comes every day of the week, the maximum revenue they can expect from the business is $2,500 per month, or $30,000 per year. This does not take into account any expenses for the business, but a daycare this small is likely run out of someone’s home, eliminating many of the fixed costs of owning a separate commercial facility. The business likely has no employees, and minus the cost of treats, beds, toys, basic liability insurance, and replacing home furnishings that experience the wear and tear of the dog daycare, much of that revenue could be interpreted as income.
This business owner could increase their dog daycare salary by offering overnight boarding for when clients are out of town, or could decide to offer add-on services such as dog grooming or nail clipping as well.
Medium Dog Daycare: 20 dogs at a time
Let’s assume this medium dog daycare business in an urban midwestern market can care for 20 dogs a day. A facility this size almost certainly offers overnight boarding as well. They charge $45 per dog per night of boarding, and $30 for an 8-hour doggy daycare.
If they have 10 overnight clients at a time for 30 days, they can make $13,500 per month on overnight boarding.
In addition, they have 10 other pups that come just for the day, each weekday, for a total of 20 days per month. This totals $6,000 per month.
Total of $19,500 per month, or $234,000 per year. That’s a lot more than the smaller business, but this dog daycare business has significant fixed costs each month: commercial rent is more than $5,000 per month, as well as utilities, insurance, software services, and employee salaries and benefits.
If this dog daycare owner wants to increase their salary, they could work to be fully booked out to 20 dogs overnight most nights of the month, and care for 20 dogs per day at daycare. Provided they don’t increase their fixed costs by adding additional employees or space, this would increase the net revenue of the business, and therefore the owner’s salary.
Large Dog Daycare: 50 dogs at a time
Similar to the medium-sized dog daycare business, this Large Dog Daycare is a fully commercial facility. They are likely located in a larger metro area, or are a destination dog boarding facility in a smaller one. Consequently, they charge higher rates than the previous two businesses, with $55 per night per dog for overnight boarding, and $40 per day for 8 hours of dog daycare. They offer longer dropoff and pickup windows, which means more employee hours to fill.
If they are booked out to 75% capacity all month long, here’s their revenue breakdown:
- 38 dogs for overnight boarding, 30 days per month: $62,700
- 38 dogs for dog daycare, 20 days per month: $30,400
This results in a total of $93,100 per month in revenue, without factoring in fixed costs like rent on a large, well-situated facility or the amount of employee salaries necessary to run a facility this large.
Key Factors That Affect a Dog Daycare Owner’s Income
As you can see, there are a lot of factors that go into calculating a dog daycare owner's salary.
Location & Demand
One of the biggest factors is location and demand for dog daycare services. If your dog daycare is in a high-traffic area that is very convenient for dog owners on their way to work, demand for your services will likely be higher. Likewise, if you are running a facility where dog daycare services are in short supply, you’ll likely be full-up and running a waiting list more often than not, meaning you’ll be closer to operating at full capacity and increasing your revenue without increasing your fixed expenses.
Size and Capacity of the Facility
In the examples above, the most significant difference was the number of dogs the facility was able to care for, either as overnight guests or as daycare guests. When setting up your facility, it’s important to strike a balance between creating a cozy and inviting place for dogs to stay and maximizing the number of clients you can take on at one time.
Amount of Services Offered
In addition to the facility’s capacity, the add-on services that you can offer at your dog daycare matter when it comes to revenue, too. If you begin with daycare only, have a plan in place to add overnight dog boarding as soon as it seems feasible. This will allow you to utilize your facility more fully and create more revenue while maintaining the same fixed costs.
If you can find a way to offer dog grooming services (offer a discount for overnight guests!), that can also add to your bottom line. Similarly, if you are an expert dog trainer, booking sessions with daycare dogs while they are already in the building will save clients valuable time and add to the reasons they keep bringing their furry friend back to see you time and time again.
Business Model: Independent vs. Franchise
Another factor that can affect a dog kennel owner's salary is whether or not you own the kennel outright or operate under a franchise model. A franchise can offer a dog daycare owner an amazing amount of brand recognition, marketing assistance, and more — but it also costs a good deal to license the name and business model that the brand is selling, and the franchise can come with all sorts of constraints when it comes to pricing models or expected hours of operation.
Opening a dog daycare as a sole proprietor allows you the flexibility of an independent business, but it can take a lot of initial effort on the part of the owner/operator as they build a business from scratch.
Startup Costs and Monthly Expenses to Expect
So, how much does it cost to open a dog daycare? The sky really is the limit. If you want to open a large, luxury-oriented facility, you are going to need some serious capital to get started. But you don’t have to shoot for the stars on the first iteration of your business, especially if you are starting from scratch. The best way to test a business idea is often to start small and expand from there. Many dog daycare businesses start in an owner’s backyard and grow as the need arises, so don’t be intimidated by the startup costs for a dog daycare business below.
Typical Startup Budget
A typical dog daycare startup budget needs to include outfitting a location, whether that is your own home or a commercial facility. This could include building from scratch, or retrofitting an existing space to your own needs. If you are starting in your own backyard, improvements might be minimal and mostly concerned with having enough beds and tennis balls so no two dogs have to fight over the same one. You’ll also need to purchase food, toys, first aid supplies, and more.
We can’t give you an exact figure, because each dog daycare location will have its own unique factors, but many owners spend between $5,000 and $50,000 to get their business off the ground, with some investing as much or more than $100,000-350,000.
Check out our article on How to Start a Dog Boarding Business for a more detailed list of supplies.
Operating Costs
In addition to the initial setup costs, a dog daycare owner will need to consider the recurring operating costs of running the business month after month. Rent, utilities, staff salaries and benefits, insurance payments, and more will all affect the cost of running your business — and how much of a dog daycare salary you will be able to take from the business.
Tools to Track Profit Margins
There are many tools available today to help pet business owners run their business and track their dog daycare profit margins. MoeGo’s dog daycare software can help monitor revenue, customer retention, time spent per client, and more. With metrics tailored to your specific dog daycare business, it’s easy to see where the most profitable parts of the business are — and where the least profitable are, too.
Is Owning a Dog Daycare Profitable?
Are doggy daycares profitable? That depends on the location, the manager, and the state of the facility's operations.
Average Profit Margins
About 20% of businesses fail in their first year, according to the Commerce Institute. This can happen for many reasons, such as not correctly anticipating fixed costs, not having a large enough market, or not having an emergency fund for unexpected expenses. This is especially common in low-margin industries, like restaurants. Luckily, dog daycare and other pet care businesses usually see larger profit margins than restaurants, closer to 10% — or more, if the business is run well.
Break-Even Point Timeline
Even with a higher-profit-margin business, a dog daycare owner's salary is going to take some time to become as high as you’d ideally like it to be. Every business has a break-even point, where revenue has risen enough to equal the costs put into the business. Before your dog daycare hits that break-even point, you’ll likely be taking a lesser salary than is ideal — or none at all. Make sure you have some personal savings and as low of overhead as possible to get through to your break-even point.
You can calculate the break-even point — and estimate how soon your dog daycare business might reach it — by adding up your fixed costs + variable costs projected, then comparing that to expected revenue. This is your estimated break-even point — when the business will hopefully be in the black and ready to start paying out a larger doggy daycare salary than before.
Common Mistakes That Hurt Profitability
There are a few common ways that a pet care business often fails. One is that the monthly fixed costs exceed revenue for too long — never hitting that break-even point, and eventually any owner savings run out and can’t sustain the business any longer.
Another is that clients who try out the new business aren’t in love with the service. There are always snags in rolling out a new dog daycare, and many people will be forgiving if staff don’t all know how to do everything on Day One. Still, these are their furry loved ones you’re talking about: they want to see and feel that you and your business are able to provide excellent care for their dog.
If possible, plan a “soft opening” and invite friends and family members to try out your new business, pretending they are strangers and don’t know you. Ask them to book a stay, enter their client information, and go through what you think will be the actual check-in and check-out process for their pet. This way, you and any employees get the chance to go through the steps, find any snags that you haven’t anticipated, and take care of them before the real launch day arrives.
If possible, plan a “soft opening” and invite friends and family members to try out your new business, pretending they are strangers and don’t know you. Ask them to book a stay, enter their client information, and go through what you think will be the actual check-in and check-out process for their pet. This way, you and any employees get the chance to go through the steps, find any snags that you haven’t anticipated, and take care of them before the real launch day arrives.
Tips to Maximize Your Dog Daycare Income
There are a lot of ways opening a dog daycare can go wrong… and also a lot of ways that it can go well, too.
Streamline Operations with Software
One of the most important things you can do is to select a pet care business software that adapts to fit your business needs as you launch and grow. MoeGo offers a dog daycare software built with pet care business owners in mind. With MoeGo, you can streamline your pet care business operations right from the start, and if you expand into dog boarding or dog grooming, your MoeGo software will grow with you.
Build Long-Term Client Relationships
Another thing that will grow alongside your business and your software are your relationships with your dog daycare clients. Convincing a client to try out your new business is one thing, but keeping them coming back is even more rewarding. MoeGo’s dog daycare software offers built-in memberships, loyalty programs, and client referrals so that you can tailor your packages and services to retain clients and create predictable revenue streams.
Expand Through Add-On Services
Feel like your dog daycare business is off to a great start? It might be time to add in something new. Have you tried dog boarding? Or allowing overnight guests to add-on a bath and brush at a discount? Perhaps you’re ready to tackle some behavioral issues through targeted training.
These are all great ways to boost your revenue and expand your business without adding huge overhead costs. Add-on services can be loaded into the MoeGo pet care management software and tailored to your offerings so that clients can see what you offer when they book, enabling you to become their one-stop pet care service shop.
Final Thoughts: Is Dog Daycare Ownership Worth It?
The chance to make furry friends, spend all day with great dogs, and create lasting contentment for pet owners? That’s pretty priceless. Still, a business is a business, and only you can answer whether or not dog daycare ownership is worth it.
Luckily, you don’t have to go it alone. If you’re new to the business, join the MoeGo Care Program for 50% off of the first six month and resources to get you ready to launch. The MoeGo team and our community of MoeGo users are here to come alongside you and offer a listening ear, camaraderie, and pet care business advice when you need it most.
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