Vet Salary in 2026: How Much Veterinarians Make a Year and an Hour
25th percentile
$101,460
Median (50th)
$130,100
75th percentile
$166,120
90th percentile
$215,700
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May 2025 national release — SOC 29-1131, Veterinarians.
The median vet salary in the United States is $130,100 a year, or about $62.55 an hour, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) May 2025 Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics release for veterinarians (SOC 29-1131).
The middle half of veterinarians earn between $101,460 and $166,120.
The lowest-paid 10% earn $73,920 or less, and the top 10% earn $215,700 or more.
How you are paid, whether you own a practice, your setting and your state explain most of that spread.
How Much Does a Veterinarian Make an Hour?
At the national median of $130,100 a year, a veterinarian makes about $62.55 an hour, $2,502 a week or $10,842 a month before taxes.
The middle half of veterinarians earn about $48.78 to $79.87 an hour, and the top 10% earn $103.70 an hour or more.
Hourly, weekly and monthly figures are our calculations from the BLS OEWS May 2025 annual figures for Veterinarians (SOC 29-1131): annual ÷ 2,080 hours (the 40-hour, 52-week year BLS uses to annualize wages), ÷ 52 weeks and ÷ 12 months.
To estimate part-time pay, multiply an hourly figure by the hours worked.
Veterinarian Compensation Structure
Compensation for veterinariansvaries significantly by employment type.
Here's how the most common structures break down:
Bottom 10%
BLS does not say who sits here.
It is not a typical first-job figure: AVMA puts the Class of 2025's average starting salary at $129,000.
$73,920 or less
Middle 50%
Where half of all veterinarians sit.
Compensation model and ownership move pay inside this band more than job title does.
$101,460–$166,120
Median
Half of veterinarians earn more, half less.
About $62.55 an hour on a standard-hours basis.
$130,100
Top 10%
BLS does not break the top decile out.
In AVMA census data, practice owners and medical directors report higher median incomes than associates.
$215,700 or more
What Affects Veterinarian Salary?
The band above is unusually wide for a single occupation, and the reason is structural rather than statistical noise.
Five factors do most of the work.
Compensation model does more work than job title.
A large share of veterinarians are paid on a production formula — a base draw reconciled against a percentage of what they produce — rather than a flat salary; AVMA data put about 56% of associates on ProSal in 2024.
Two associates with identical titles and similar caseloads can earn very differently depending on the percentage, on what counts as production, and on how the reconciliation is written.
ProSal and production pay, explained walks through the formula.
Ownership is the other major driver.
In the AVMA's 2025 economic report census (income earned in 2023), associates in companion-animal-exclusive practice reported a median income of $133,000 against $160,000 for practice owners, and owner income ran above associate income in every practice type the census broke out.
Owners are paid through profit as well as production — see buying into a veterinary practice.
Position matters too.
The same census put hospital and medical directors at a $166,500 median and relief or contract veterinarians at $120,000.
Setting — general practice, emergency or specialty — is widely assumed to move pay, but no national survey measures the difference; see the specialist section below.
Geography and cost of living then modify all of it.
State medians vary widely, and no BLS figure on this page is adjusted for cost of living, so a higher headline number is not automatically more purchasing power.
Two caveats specific to this occupation.
BLS does not separately break out emergency or relief practice: both are inside the figures on this page, so this is not a general-practice number, and it should not be used to infer a relief day rate, which is contract pricing rather than employment.
And BLS publishes no series by years of experience: a percentile is a position in the wage distribution, not a pay step, so the 75th percentile is not what a veterinarian earns after ten years.
Veterinary salaries by percentile: what the BLS figures mean
BLS publishes five percentile points for veterinarians, and together they are the most complete national picture of veterinary income.
The table restates them from the May 2025 OEWS release (SOC 29-1131).
| Percentile | Annual wage | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| 10th | $73,920 | 10% of veterinarians earn less |
| 25th | $101,460 | A quarter earn less |
| 50th (median) | $130,100 | Half earn more, half less; about $62.55 an hour |
| 75th | $166,120 | A quarter earn more |
| 90th | $215,700 | 10% earn more |
| Mean (average) | $142,680 | The simple average; about $68.60 an hour |
Median vs. mean.
Many salary articles quote the mean annual wage, the simple average.
In the same May 2025 release, BLS puts the mean annual wage for veterinarians at $142,680, or about $68.60 an hour, above the $130,100 median.
That gap is the pattern you would expect: in a distribution like this one, where the top 10% start at $215,700, the highest earners pull the average up, while the median stays at the midpoint.
This page leads with the median for that reason.
When you compare salaries from another source, check which of the two it quotes.
By industry.
BLS also reports veterinarians employed in the veterinary services industry (NAICS 541940) separately: 75,160 of them, at a median annual wage of $129,990, almost identical to the all-industry $130,100.
The industry table this site draws on covers veterinary services only, so this page does not quote government, university or corporate-industry medians.
Source and scope
Starting salary and student loan debt for new vets
BLS does not publish starting pay, so the figures here come from the AVMA's Report on the Economic State of the Veterinary Profession.
For the Class of 2025, the average real starting salary was $129,000 (AVMA, 2026 edition, as reported by JAVMA News).
The Class of 2024 survey (2025 edition) splits it further.
New graduates in full-time private practice averaged $131,210, those in companion-animal-predominant practice $137,727, and those in public practice $105,829.
Graduates who took an internship averaged $56,705 and those in a residency $54,847 — see veterinary internship and residency pay.
Debt is the other half of the number.
The Class of 2025 graduated with average DVM debt of $174,484 across all graduates, or $212,499 among those who borrowed, for an average debt-to-income ratio of about 1.4 to 1 (AVMA, 2026 edition).
Where you study, with its in-state or out-of-state tuition and local cost of living, is the biggest lever on that ratio.
For first-offer structure and signing bonuses, see new-grad veterinarian salary by practice type; for the debt distribution behind the average, see vet school debt and the debt-to-income ratio.
Do specialists and emergency veterinarians earn more?
No national source measures it.
BLS counts every veterinarian in one occupation, and the AVMA publishes no income figure by board certification or by individual specialty.
That is why this page does not rank specialties by pay.
What is documented is the route.
Board certification runs through one of 22 AVMA-recognized specialty organizations, covering 48 recognized specialties, with 20,636 active diplomates at the end of 2025.
Surgery (ACVS), for example, requires a one-year internship and a three-year residency: at least four training years before any specialist income.
Veterinary specialist vs GP salary sets out what each source does and does not show, and how veterinary specialization works covers the routes.
Emergency and critical care pay is built on the same production formula as general practice, plus shift differentials and on-call pay, but no named survey sets a national figure for any of them.
Emergency pay, shift differentials and on-call explains the components, and the emergency veterinarian career guide covers the role.
Companion animal practice, which treats pets such as dogs and cats, paid new graduates the most of the four practice types in the AVMA's Class of 2025 survey, at a $140,000 average.
The degree letters do not matter: a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (DVM) and the University of Pennsylvania's VMD are the same degree with the same licensing rights, so every figure on this page covers both (DVM vs VMD).
How to raise your vet salary and negotiate a better offer
Most of the levers that move veterinarian salaries sit in the contract, not the headline number.
- Negotiate the formula, not just the base. On a ProSal contract, the production percentage and the negative-accrual terms usually move more pay over a year than a few thousand dollars on the base. Industry commentary generally cites production percentages of 18–25%, a directional range rather than a survey, and the definitions (production vs. collections, gross vs. net) decide what that percentage is worth. See base vs production.
- Bring evidence to your second contract. A year of your own production reports is leverage the first negotiation never had — see negotiating your second veterinary contract.
- Price the whole package. AVMA reports that 61% of the Class of 2025 received a signing bonus, though it publishes no average amount. Corporate-employed veterinarians are more likely to report employer-provided health, dental, life and short-term disability insurance, paid continuing education and professional memberships (corporate vs private practice). Compare those, along with any signing bonus or loan-repayment help, alongside the base.
- Look at ownership and leadership. Owner and medical-director medians sit above associate medians in the AVMA census figures above — see becoming a medical director.
- Weigh a move against cost of living. A higher-paying state only helps if its higher median outruns its higher costs, which the BLS figures do not account for.
- Read the contract before you sign. The associate contract checklist covers the clauses that change what an offer is worth.
Highest- and lowest-paying states for veterinarians
State medians for veterinarians run from $88,650 in South Dakota to $163,920 in California in the May 2025 OEWS release.
The three highest and three lowest reliable state medians:
| State | Median | vs. national |
|---|---|---|
| California | $163,920 | +26% |
| Maryland | $163,170 | +25% |
| Washington | $160,510 | +23% |
| Oklahoma | $98,090 | −25% |
| Wyoming | $97,240 | −25% |
| South Dakota | $88,650 | −32% |
BLS publishes no veterinarian estimate for Alaska or Delaware.
Arizona's $152,020 median is not ranked because BLS's relative standard error on Arizona's mean wage estimate ($187,410) is 15.7%, above the 10% cutoff this page uses.
BLS does not publish reasons for the gaps between states, and none of these medians is adjusted for cost of living.
The highest-paying states for veterinarians guide compares the top and bottom five, and every published state is in the directory below.
Veterinarian Salary by State
Of the 49 jurisdictions below, California ($163,920), Maryland ($163,170) and Washington ($160,510) have the highest median pay.
The guide to the highest-paying states for veterinarians compares the top- and bottom-paying states.
What Veterinarian Job Listings Show Right Now
From the 4,836 active veterinarian listings on VeterinaryHires as of November 1, 2026.
Employers with the most openings
Where the openings are
- California633
- Texas459
- Florida348
- North Carolina223
- New York195
Pay employers post
- Median $135,000 a year; the middle half of posted pay runs $125,000–$147,500 (721 listings that state a salary)
- 15% of veterinarian listings state any pay at all.
Benefits listings name
- Dental & Visionnamed in 83%
- Health Insurancenamed in 77%
- 401k Matchnamed in 72%
- PTO / Paid Time Offnamed in 69%
- CE Allowancenamed in 61%
Source: active veterinarian listings on VeterinaryHires, updated daily. Pay figures use only listings that state pay (midpoint of each posted range). Benefits count listings that name the benefit; a listing that doesn’t mention one may still offer it.
Browse 4,836 jobs →Frequently Asked Questions
How much do veterinarians make an hour?
The median hourly wage for veterinarians is $62.55, according to the BLS May 2025 OEWS release (SOC 29-1131).
That is the hourly equivalent of the $130,100 annual median on a standard-hours basis.
Many veterinarians are paid a salary or a production-based formula rather than an hourly rate, so treat the hourly figure as a way to compare offers, not as a description of how every veterinary job is paid.
What is the job outlook for veterinarians?
BLS projects employment of veterinarians to grow 9% from 2025 to 2035, from 91,100 jobs to 99,600, which it describes as much faster than the average for all occupations (Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2025–35 projections).
It expects about 3,100 openings for veterinarians each year on average over the decade, including openings created by growth and by the need to replace veterinarians who leave.
Which states pay veterinarians the least?
South Dakota has the lowest published state median for veterinarians, $88,650, about 32% below the $130,100 national median, per the BLS May 2025 OEWS release.
Wyoming ($97,240), Oklahoma ($98,090), Montana ($99,390) and North Dakota ($102,180) are the next-lowest.
BLS publishes no estimate for Alaska or Delaware, and state medians are not adjusted for cost of living.
How much do vet techs make compared to veterinarians?
In the BLS May 2025 OEWS release, veterinary technologists and technicians (SOC 29-2056) earned a median of $47,380, and veterinary assistants and laboratory animal caretakers (SOC 31-9096, a combined occupation) earned $38,150, against $130,100 for veterinarians.
The veterinary technician salary and veterinary assistant salary pages on this site carry the full percentiles for both roles.
How does board certification affect veterinarian salary?
Nobody publishes the premium.
AVMA reports no income figure by board-certification status, and BLS does not split specialists out.
What is known is the cost: most certification routes run through a multi-year residency, often after an internship, and the AVMA's Class of 2024 survey put average internship pay at $56,705 and residency pay at $54,847, well under the $131,210 full-time private-practice average that year.
Do companion animal vets earn more than livestock vets?
At the start of a career, the AVMA data says yes: companion animal practice paid the highest average starting salary, $140,000, of the four practice types in its Class of 2025 survey, ahead of mixed, equine and food animal practice.
The AAEP also cites lower starting pay than companion-animal practice as one reason equine veterinarians leave the field.
Among practicing veterinarians, the AVMA's census also shows companion-animal-exclusive associates with higher average income than mixed-animal or equine associates.
How much does a veterinarian make a month?
About $10,842 a month before taxes at the median: the $130,100 annual median from the BLS OEWS May 2025 release (SOC 29-1131, Veterinarians) divided by 12.
The middle half works out to $8,455 to $13,843 a month, and the 90th percentile to $17,975.
BLS publishes annual and hourly wages, not monthly ones, so these monthly figures are calculations from its annual numbers.
This page is general information about veterinarian pay, not legal, financial or veterinary advice.
Check current postings, and have an attorney who works with veterinary contracts review any offer before you sign.