Portland, OR (population: 573,530) has two animal behavior schools within a 100-mile radius of its city center. Oregon State University, the highest ranked school in this group with an animal behavior program, has a total student population of 21,950. It is the 1117th highest ranked school in the USA and one of the highest in the state .
Animal Behavior students from Portland schools who go on to become animal behavioralists, animal trainers, dog trainers, animal scientists, etc. have a good chance at finding employment. For example, there are 10,080 people working as animal trainers alone in the US, and their average annual salary is $31,080. Also, Zoologists and wildlife biologists make on average $60,670 per year and there are about 17,460 of them employed in the US today. In fact, in the Portland-Vancouver-Beaverton-WA area alone, there are 710 employed zoologists and wildlife biologists earning an average salary of $68,770. Animal trainers in this area earn $21,530/yr and there are 80 employed.
Portland lies in Clackamas county, which is one of the 16 counties in Oregon. Overall, the Portland-Vancouver-Beaverton-WA area has 993,470 total employed workers according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, with a 0.6% unemployment rate, $22.15/hr average worker wage, and a $46,080 average annual salary. Thus, about 0.078 out of every 1000 jobs in Portland are held by animal trainers, and 0.717/1000 are held by zoologists and wildlife biologists.
Of the 2 animal behavior schools with a 100-mile radius of Portland, only 1 has a student population over 10k. After taking into account tuition, living expenses, and financial aid, Oregon State University comes out as the most expensive ($12,738/yr) for animal behavior students, with Linn-Benton Community College as the lowest, reported at only $5,982/yr.
| Name | State | Population | # of Schools | Avg School Rank | Total Programs | Distance from Portland |
| Vancouver | WA | 169,603 | 5 | 29.2795 | 91 | 6.3 miles |
| Beaverton | OR | 94,639 | 1 | 27.5128 | 6 | 8.8 miles |
| Aloha | OR | 48,328 | 1 | 25.9507 | 7 | 10.8 miles |
| Gresham | OR | 104,562 | 1 | 12.9715 | 88 | 11.0 miles |
| Oregon City | OR | - | 1 | 13.6089 | 75 | 12.9 miles |
| McMinnville | OR | - | 3 | 33.009 | 71 | 34.7 miles |
| Salem | OR | 157,890 | 12 | 32.4146 | 406 | 46.3 miles |
| The Dalles | OR | - | 1 | 11.3829 | 21 | 71.8 miles |
| Astoria | OR | - | 2 | 18.4622 | 36 | 72.0 miles |
| Corvallis | OR | 51,582 | 1 | 28.8426 | 8 | 73.6 miles |