San Francisco, CA (population: 817,411) has twelve animal care schools within a 100-mile radius of its city center. University of California-Davis, the highest ranked school in this group with an animal care program, has a total student population of 31,247. It is the 41st highest ranked school in the USA and the 6th highest in the state of California (#1 is University of California-Los Angeles).
Animal Care students from San Francisco schools who go on to become animal care supervisors, veterinarians, animal trainers, animal behavioralists, etc. have a good chance at finding employment. For example, there are 15,320 people working as animal control workers alone in the US, and their average annual salary is $33,560. Also, Veterinary assistants and laboratory animal caretakers make on average $23,400 per year and there are about 71,350 of them employed in the US today.
San Francisco lies in San Francisco county, which is one of the 57 counties in California. Overall, the San Francisco-San Mateo-Redwood City Metropolitan area has 982,930 total employed workers according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, with a 1% unemployment rate, $30/hr average worker wage, and a $61,940 average annual salary.
Of the 12 animal care schools with a 100-mile radius of San Francisco, only 6 have a student population over 10k. After taking into account tuition, living expenses, and financial aid, Western Career College-Pleasant Hill comes out as the most expensive ($25,515/yr) for animal care students, with Cosumnes River College as the lowest, reported at only $5,940/yr.
| Name | State | Population | # of Schools | Avg School Rank | Total Programs | Distance from San Francisco |
| South San Francisco | CA | 64,345 | 0 | - | 0 | 7.8 miles |
| Alameda | CA | 71,628 | 3 | 11.6549 | 62 | 10.4 miles |
| Berkeley | CA | 102,237 | 13 | 2.98519 | 59 | 12.0 miles |
| Oakland | CA | 412,612 | 12 | 26.3295 | 321 | 12.6 miles |
| San Mateo | CA | 93,990 | 1 | 15.1982 | 101 | 16.4 miles |
| San Leandro | CA | 78,904 | 1 | 29.9223 | 11 | 16.9 miles |
| Hayward | CA | 145,517 | 6 | 17.5402 | 239 | 21.5 miles |
| Castro Valley | CA | 65,952 | 0 | - | 0 | 21.7 miles |
| Walnut Creek | CA | 64,055 | 0 | - | 0 | 24.1 miles |
| Vallejo | CA | 114,029 | 1 | 31.5233 | 11 | 25.7 miles |
| Union City | CA | 76,462 | 1 | 13.7752 | 0 | 26.3 miles |
| Concord | CA | 122,338 | 7 | 21.1076 | 136 | 28.2 miles |
| Fremont | CA | 207,431 | 5 | 26.457 | 262 | 29.7 miles |
| Dublin | CA | 46,208 | 3 | 13.8145 | 117 | 29.7 miles |
| Sunnyvale | CA | 135,564 | 4 | 17.5213 | 21 | 34.9 miles |
| Pittsburg | CA | 67,613 | 2 | 20.7913 | 157 | 35.1 miles |
| Napa | CA | 75,759 | 1 | 15.1485 | 56 | 37.6 miles |
| Santa Clara | CA | 112,889 | 4 | 29.9373 | 188 | 38.2 miles |
| Antioch | CA | 102,439 | 2 | 25.0238 | 14 | 38.6 miles |
| Milpitas | CA | 69,900 | 1 | 18.2292 | 19 | 38.7 miles |
| Fairfield | CA | 104,184 | 9 | 23.8893 | 386 | 40.0 miles |
| San Jose | CA | 977,893 | 9 | 20.6572 | 297 | 46.3 miles |
| Santa Cruz | CA | 57,690 | 2 | 37.6705 | 80 | 59.8 miles |
| Stockton | CA | 291,422 | 7 | 28.794 | 278 | 63.8 miles |
| Laguna | CA | 60,976 | 0 | - | 0 | 71.9 miles |
| Woodland | CA | 56,758 | 0 | - | 0 | 73.0 miles |
| West Sacramento | CA | 50,542 | 1 | 29.8049 | 4 | 73.4 miles |
| Salida | CA | - | 2 | 26.0837 | 19 | 74.8 miles |
| Sacramento | CA | 475,452 | 20 | 22.3687 | 626 | 76.8 miles |
| Modesto | CA | 203,882 | 4 | 24.9737 | 137 | 80.2 miles |