Hover over a state or tap to explore median veterinarian salaries across the United States.
Explore Median Salary Across the United States
Compare median veterinarian salaries across the U.S.
Hover over a state or tap one to see its median veterinarian salary.
So, how much do veterinarians make?
Veterinarian salaries can vary considerably across the U.S. The national median annual wage for veterinarians was $130,100 in May 2025, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. However, the number on a salary offer doesn't always tell the whole story... Read the full BLS data here.
Veterinarian Salary & Veterinary Market Data by State
Explore median veterinarian salaries alongside the number of licensed veterinarians and veterinary services businesses in each U.S. state.
| State | Median Veterinarian Salary | Licensed Veterinarians | Veterinary Services Business Listings |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | $105,630 | 1,898 | 498 |
| Alaska | Not published | 444 | 27 |
| Arizona | $152,020 | 3,642 | 337 |
| Arkansas | $107,710 | 1,217 | 324 |
| California | $163,920 | 14,344 | 1,564 |
| Colorado | $130,840 | 5,871 | 372 |
| Connecticut | $126,190 | 950 | 175 |
| Delaware | Not published | 737 | 41 |
| Florida | $131,660 | 11,159 | 1,041 |
| Georgia | $126,590 | 4,668 | 497 |
| Hawaii | $130,120 | 787 | 50 |
| Idaho | $116,170 | 1,325 | 102 |
| Illinois | $133,580 | 5,008 | 488 |
| Indiana | $124,530 | 2,822 | 318 |
| Iowa | $124,610 | 3,099 | 250 |
| Kansas | $107,080 | 2,917 | 263 |
| Kentucky | $104,100 | 2,723 | 245 |
| Louisiana | $124,370 | 1,893 | 552 |
| Maine | $130,600 | 1,092 | 18 |
| Maryland | $163,170 | 3,349 | not published |
| Massachusetts | $140,260 | 4,035 | 624 |
| Michigan | $125,390 | 4,554 | 1,026 |
| Minnesota | $133,110 | 3,504 | 340 |
| Mississippi | $105,370 | 1,323 | 178 |
| Missouri | $114,660 | 3,994 | 336 |
| Montana | $99,390 | 1,347 | 134 |
| Nebraska | $103,500 | 1,504 | 171 |
| Nevada | $125,550 | 1,342 | 98 |
| New Hampshire | $128,190 | 1,245 | 104 |
| New Jersey | $160,140 | 3,889 | 297 |
| New Mexico | $129,390 | 1,061 | 76 |
| New York | $131,830 | 8,203 | 592 |
| North Carolina | $129,240 | 6,094 | 360 |
| North Dakota | $102,180 | 519 | 55 |
| Ohio | $125,060 | 5,468 | 563 |
| Oklahoma | $98,090 | 2,340 | 299 |
| Oregon | $128,880 | 2,669 | 225 |
| Pennsylvania | $133,520 | 5,257 | 495 |
| Rhode Island | $126,570 | 430 | 43 |
| South Carolina | $122,130 | 2,806 | 208 |
| South Dakota | $88,650 | 874 | 79 |
| Tennessee | $124,350 | 3,448 | 281 |
| Texas | $131,330 | 11,870 | 1,006 |
| Utah | $123,990 | 1,344 | 88 |
| Vermont | $131,820 | 732 | 55 |
| Virginia | $126,730 | 5,247 | 391 |
| Washington | $160,510 | 4,643 | 266 |
| West Virginia | $128,990 | 800 | 87 |
| Wisconsin | $108,780 | 4,176 | 361 |
| Wyoming | $97,240 | 769 | 71 |
What does the data tell us?
Where you work can make a difference. Median veterinarian salaries vary considerably across the U.S. making location an important factor when considering your next move.
Some states offer both high salaries and large veterinary communities. California, Texas, Florida, and other major markets combine significant veterinarian populations with a wide range of career opportunities.
The bigger picture matters. Salary is just one part of the equation. The number of veterinarians and veterinary businesses in a state can give you a better sense of the wider market you’re entering.
What can affect your earning potential as a veterinarian?
Think of the salary on the job advertisement as the starting point… not the whole package.
The BLS data gives us a useful snapshot of veterinarian salaries across the U.S. but your actual earning potential can look very different depending on what you do, where you work, how you’re paid and what your employer includes in your package.
Your veterinary role matters!
Not every DVM job is paid the same way.
Emergency & Critical Care: ER, overnight and emergency veterinary roles can come with different compensation structured to reflect demanding schedules, out-of-hours work and case intensity.
Urgent Care: Higher-acuity caseloads and extended-hour services can create different earning opportunities from traditional daytime general practice.
Speciality: Board-certified and speciality-focused veterinarians will have different compensation opportunities from general-practice DVMs.
Medical Director roles: Taking on leadership, mentoring and hospital management responsibilities can change your overall compensation.
Production-Based Pay: Base salary plus production bonuses can make your total annual compensation significantly different from advertised base salary. Production bonuses are included in BLS wage data, but many other forms of compensation are not.
Relief Veterinary Work: Relief and independent work can have very different pay structures from permanent employment. Importantly, BLS OEWS data does not include self-employed workers, so the state salary map should not be treated as a guide to relief or self-employed veterinarian rates.
Don’t just negotiate the salary.. Look at the package!
A $140,000 veterinarian salary isn’t necessarily worth more than a $130,000 salary if the benefits are dramatically different.
When comparing veterinary jobs, look beyond the headline number and how to negotiate the full package.
Health insurance: What does the employer contribute? Is spouse or dependent coverage available, and what does it cost you?
Retirement: Is there a 401(k)? Is there an employer match or profit-sharing contribution?
Professional liability: Is your malpractice or professional liability insurance covered?
Veterinary license: Does the practice pay your state licensing and renewal fees?
DEA registration: If required for your role, is DEA registration and renewal covered?
Professional dues: Ask whether AVMA, state veterinary association and other professional membership fees are included.
Continuing education: Look at both the CE allowance and paid CE days. A bigger allowance is less useful if you have to use your own PTO to attend.
CVE travel: Does the package cover travel, accommodation and registration for conferences?
PTO: How much vacation, sick leave and paid time off do you actually receive? And how is your PTO accounted for when it comes to your production figures?
Signing & retention bonuses: Is it an actual signing bonus, or is it paid over time as a retention bonus? When is it paid, and are there repayment or clawback conditions if you leave within a certain period?
Relocation: Is there a relocation package, and are there repayment conditions?
Student loan support: Some veterinary employers offer student loan assistance in addition to salary and bonuses.
Pet care: Employee pet discounts can be a meaningful benefit over the course of a career.
These benefits have real financial value. BLS wage figures do not include employer costs for supplementary benefits such a heath insurance or retirement contributions.
Before accepting an offer, ask exactly what you will have to pay yourself. Every dollar you don’t have to take out of your salary is part of the value of your compensation package.
Where you work can change the equation
Your state is only part of the location story.
Two veterinarians earning the same salary can have very different financial outcomes depending on the local market, cost of living, client base and tax environment.
State income tax matters! Alaska, Florida, Nevada, New Hampshire, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Washington, and Wyoming do not have a state individual income tax, although other taxes and living costs still matter.
… and then there is the local veterinary market.
Rural veterinary jobs: A rural hospital may offer mixed-animal work, broader clinical responsibilities, a different cost of living and potentially less competition for veterinary talent.
Urban veterinary jobs: Larger cities often have a greater concentration of small-animal hospitals, specialized practices and veterinary services.
Affluent communities: Household income and local demographics can influence what clients are able and willing to spend on diagnostics, treatment plans and additional services. Which can affect the economics of a veterinary practice and the opportunities available to its veterinarians.
Tourist destinations: Veterinary hospitals in seasonal or vacation markets may experience significant fluctuations in demand throughout the year.
Local demand: A shortage of veterinarians can change the compensation and benefits hospitals offer when recruiting.
State Income Tax by State
Compare top marginal individual income tax rates across the U.S.
Your salary isn't the whole story.
State income tax can affect how much of your veterinary salary you ultimately keep. Rates vary significantly across the U.S., with some states levying no individual income tax and others applying graduated rates that rise with taxable income.
The map shows each state's top marginal individual income tax rate. This is not the same as the effective tax rate you would actually pay, which depends on your income, deductions, filing status and other state-specific rules.
Hospital support can affect your earning potential too
A busy hospital isn’t automatically a better-paying hospital.
The question is whether the hospital has the team and systems to support that caseload.
Think:
Enough licensed veterinary technicians and assistants?
Strong reception and client-service support?
Efficient appointment flow?
In-house diagnostics?
Modern equipment?
Additional services such as rehabilitation, acupuncture or advanced dentistry?
Enough doctors to share the workload?
A well-supported veterinarian may be able to see patients, perform procedures and generate production without opening the day doing jobs that could be handled by the wider team.
That can matter particularly in a production-based compensation model.
Your schedule can influence your income.
Don’t overlook the calendar.
A hospital open seven days a week may have access to clients who simply cannot attend Monday-Friday opening.
That doesn’t automatically mean you should work every weekend. It means the opening hours, appointment demand and compensation structure are worth understanding.
Ask:
Are Saturdays required?
Are Sundays required?
Is there emergency or on-call work?
Are evenings compensated differently?
Are additional hours paid?
Is there a production opportunity attached to weekend or extended-hour appointments?
How much flexibility do you actually have over your schedule?
The right schedule can be worth more than a small increase in base salary if it gives you better control over your working week.
Corporate vs. Private veterinary practice
The ownership model can change what sits behind the salary.
Private veterinary practices may offer opportunities for partnership, practice ownership or profit participation.
Corporate veterinary groups can offer structured benefits, production bonuses, retirement plans and in some cases, profit sharing, long-term incentive or equity opportunities.
And here’s the important part:
Profit sharing isn’t necessarily the same thing as buying into a practice.
Some veterinary employers offer profit sharing or incentive programs without requiring an associate veterinarian to make a traditional ownership buy-in.
If ownership interests you, ask the big questions:
Is there a buy-in or equity opportunity?
How does profit sharing work?
What does it cost?
When would I become eligible?
Is financing available?
Your total compensation can look very different once bonuses, profit sharing or equity enter the picture.
Want to understand the differences in more detail? Our guide to Corporate vs. Private Veterinary Practice explores how ownership structure, compensation, benefits, autonomy, and career opportunities can differ.
The services a hospital offers can matter!
A hospital that can offer more to its clients may have more ways to generate revenue.
Think advanced dentistry, complex surgery, ultrasound, advanced diagnostics, rehabilitation, acupuncture, laser therapy, emergency or urgent care, and other specialised services.
That doesn’t mean every veterinarian should choose the hospital with the longest equipment list.
It means the clinical scope of the hospital can influence the type of work available to you, and potentially your production opportunities.
For veterinarians interested in growing their income, developing additional clinical skills can therefore be worth considering alongside simply negotiating a higher base salary.
The bottom line?
Don’t compare veterinarian salaries. Compare veterinarian compensation packages!
Your real earning potential could be influenced by:
Base salary + production + bonuses + benefits + retirement contributions + student loan assistance + paid CE + licensing + professional dues + insurance + PTO + profit sharing + equity + ownership opportunities
That is the number worth looking at when you’re comparing veterinary jobs.
And remember the BLS state salary data is a market benchmark, not a prediction of what you personally should earn. Your experience, role, schedule, clinical skills, location, hospital model and compensation structure can all move your actual package significantly higher.