Veterinarian Salary in Michigan
Veterinarians in Michigan earned a median annual wage of $125,390 in the Bureau of Labor Statistics' May 2025 estimates — $4,710, or 4%, below the national median of $130,100, which places Michigan 28th of the 49 jurisdictions that publish a median.
The gap is not even across the range: the state's 10th percentile actually sits above the national 10th percentile, while its 90th percentile trails the national 90th by 11%.
BLS counted 2,030 veterinarians in the state, 15th by employment among the same 49 jurisdictions.
10th percentile
$75,900
25th percentile
$100,950
75th percentile
$162,030
90th percentile
$192,800
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May 2025 state estimates — Michigan, SOC 29-1131 (Veterinarians). Retrieved 2026-09-16 from the BLS Public Data API.
How to read these figures
Michigan vs. the national figures
The Michigan median is below the national median by 4%. Among the 49 jurisdictions (states plus DC) where BLS publishes a veterinarian median for May 2025, it ranks 28th, and 15th by estimated employment.
Differences are whole percentages, rounded half away from zero, computed from the figures shown.
Below the national median, and further behind near the top
Michigan's median veterinarian wage of $125,390 sits $4,710, or 4%, below the national median of $130,100, and the hourly median tells the same story at $60.28 against $62.55, also 4% lower.
The gap is not even across the range.
The Michigan 10th percentile is 3% above the national 10th percentile, and the 25th percentile is 1% below the national 25th, but the 75th percentile falls 2% behind and the 90th percentile falls 11% behind.
A veterinarian benchmarking an offer against the national 90th percentile of $215,700 is measuring against a figure the Michigan distribution does not reach; the Michigan 90th percentile is $192,800.
A narrower range at the top than nationally
The middle half of Michigan veterinarians — everyone between the 25th and 75th percentiles — earned between $100,950 and $162,030, a band $61,080 wide.
The same band nationally is $64,660 wide.
The Michigan 90th percentile is 2.5 times the 10th percentile ($192,800 against $75,900); nationally the 90th percentile is 2.9 times the 10th percentile ($215,700 against $73,920).
Michigan's range sits closer together at the top than the national one does, but OEWS does not publish the reasons for the shape, so this page draws no conclusion about why the top of the range sits lower.
A mid-sized workforce, ranking higher by headcount than by pay
BLS estimates that 2,030 veterinarians were employed in Michigan, 15th among the 49 jurisdictions that publish a median — a rank well ahead of Michigan's 28th-place position by median wage.
The employment figure is a headcount of people in jobs during the survey period.
It is not a count of open positions, and it says nothing about how quickly any one employer fills a role, so read the two ranks side by side only as a description of the state's profession size against its pay level, and nothing more.
What it takes to practise in Michigan
Practising veterinary medicine in Michigan takes a license from the Michigan Board of Veterinary Medicine, under the Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs (LARA).
The NAVLE is the only exam the Board's rules name — Michigan sets no separate state jurisprudence exam, and builds state-law knowledge into continuing education instead.
An AVMA-accredited degree, an ECFVG certificate, or a PAVE certificate satisfies the education requirement, and an out-of-state veterinarian applies through Michigan's general health-profession reciprocity statute rather than a veterinarian-specific endorsement rule.
Licenses run on a 3-year cycle, renewing with 45 hours of continuing education.
Those steps are the same wherever a job sits in the wage distribution; the full Michigan license requirements page covers each one with its citation.
Michigan Board of Veterinary Medicine (MCL 333.18821), under LARA
Michigan licenses veterinarians through the Board of Veterinary Medicine under the Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs (LARA).
The Board adopts the NAVLE by rule and sets the passing score as the score determined by the ICVA, restating no number of its own
45 hours of Board-approved continuing education in the 3 years immediately preceding each renewal, on a 3-year license cycle (MCL 333.18813)
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the median veterinarian salary in Michigan?
The Bureau of Labor Statistics' May 2025 estimate puts the Michigan median annual wage for veterinarians at $125,390, or $60.28 an hour.
Half of the veterinarians counted earned more and half earned less.
The national median in the same release is $130,100, so Michigan sits 4% below it, a gap of $4,710 that also shows up in the hourly figures: $60.28 against a national $62.55.
How much do the highest-paid veterinarians in Michigan earn?
The Michigan 90th percentile is $192,800, meaning one in ten veterinarians counted earned more than that.
Nationally the 90th percentile is $215,700, so the top of the Michigan distribution sits 11% below the national top — a wider gap than the 4% difference at the median.
At the 75th percentile the gap is narrower: $162,030 in Michigan against $166,120 nationally, a 2% difference.
What does a veterinarian at the lower end of the Michigan range earn?
The Michigan 10th percentile is $75,900 and the 25th percentile is $100,950 — 3% above and 1% below the national figures of $73,920 and $101,460.
Those percentiles are positions in the wage distribution, not particular jobs or career stages, so they cannot tell you what a given employer will offer.
They do show that Michigan's floor sits a little higher than the national one even as the rest of the range trails behind it.
Do I need a Michigan license to work as a veterinarian there?
To practise veterinary medicine in Michigan you need a license from the Michigan Board of Veterinary Medicine.
The NAVLE is the only exam required — the Board sets no separate state jurisprudence test — and licenses renew on a 3-year cycle with 45 hours of continuing education.
The Michigan license requirements page on this site sets out each step and its citation; confirm current rules with the Board before you apply.
More Michigan Veterinarian Resources
Sources
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May 2025 state estimates — Michigan, SOC 29-1131 Veterinarians (BLS Public Data API) (retrieved 2026-09-16)
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, OEWS May 2025 national estimates — SOC 29-1131 Veterinarians (via O*NET OnLine) (retrieved 2026-08-15)
- Michigan Board of Veterinary Medicine — governing statute, as summarised on the Michigan license requirements page (retrieved 2026-09-16)
Wage figures: BLS OEWS May 2025 state and national estimates, SOC 29-1131, retrieved 2026-09-16. Page last updated 2026-09-22.