Veterinarian Salary in Texas
Veterinarians in Texas earned a median annual wage of $131,330 in the Bureau of Labor Statistics' May 2025 estimates — $1,230, or 1%, above the national median of $130,100.
The near-match at the middle hides a different shape.
The Texas distribution is narrower than the national one, with a higher floor and a lower ceiling, and it describes a large workforce: 6,270 veterinarians, 2nd among the 49 jurisdictions that publish a median.
10th percentile
$76,510
25th percentile
$107,880
75th percentile
$164,000
90th percentile
$203,920
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May 2025 state estimates — Texas, SOC 29-1131 (Veterinarians). Retrieved 2026-09-16 from the BLS Public Data API.
How to read these figures
Texas vs. the national figures
The Texas median is above the national median by 1%. Among the 49 jurisdictions (states plus DC) where BLS publishes a veterinarian median for May 2025, it ranks 14th, and 2nd by estimated employment.
Differences are whole percentages, rounded half away from zero, computed from the figures shown.
At the national median — but not across the whole range
At the median, Texas and the nation are almost indistinguishable: $131,330 against $130,100, a difference of $1,230, or 1%.
The hourly median tells the same story at $63.14 against $62.55.
The gap opens away from the middle.
The Texas 10th percentile is 4% above the national 10th percentile and the 25th is 6% above, while the 75th is 1% below and the 90th is 5% below.
A veterinarian holding an offer against the national 90th percentile of $215,700 would be benchmarking against a figure the Texas distribution does not reach; the Texas 90th percentile is $203,920.
A narrower spread than the national distribution
The middle half of Texas veterinarians — everyone between the 25th and 75th percentiles — earned between $107,880 and $164,000, a band $56,120 wide.
The same band nationally is $64,660 wide.
From the 10th percentile ($76,510) to the 90th ($203,920), Texas spans $127,410, against $141,780 nationally.
A narrower spread means a Texas offer has less room to sit far from the median in either direction.
OEWS publishes the distribution, not the reasons for it, so this page does not assign the shape to any particular kind of practice.
A large workforce, counted as people in jobs
BLS estimates that 6,270 veterinarians were employed in Texas, 2nd among the 49 jurisdictions that publish a median, so the percentiles on this page summarise a large group rather than a handful of practices.
The 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 it as the size of the profession in the state and nothing more.
What it takes to practise in Texas
Practising veterinary medicine in Texas takes a license from the Texas Board of Veterinary Medical Examiners (TBVME).
The route layers the Board's own State Board Exam on top of the NAVLE, and there is no ordinary endorsement track: a veterinarian licensed in another state applies through the Provisional or Temporary License pathways.
Licenses renew every year, with 17 hours of continuing education a year.
Those steps are the same wherever a job sits in the wage distribution; the full Texas license requirements page covers each one with its citation.
Texas Board of Veterinary Medical Examiners (TBVME)
Texas licenses veterinarians through the Texas Board of Veterinary Medical Examiners.
Every applicant must pass the NAVLE — capped at five attempts, with no state-published passing score — and the Board's own State Board Exam (SBE), an online test layered on top of the national exam.
Continuing education runs 17 hours a year, and licenses renew annually on the licensee's birth month.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the median veterinarian salary in Texas?
The Bureau of Labor Statistics' May 2025 estimate puts the Texas median annual wage for veterinarians at $131,330, or $63.14 an hour.
Half of the veterinarians counted earned more and half earned less.
The national median in the same release is $130,100, so Texas sits 1% above it — close enough that the median alone says little about whether Texas pays more or less than the country as a whole.
How much do the highest-paid veterinarians in Texas earn?
The Texas 90th percentile is $203,920, meaning one in ten veterinarians counted earned more than that.
Nationally the 90th percentile is $215,700, so the top of the Texas distribution sits 5% below the national top even though the Texas median is slightly above the national median.
At the 75th percentile the gap is smaller: $164,000 in Texas against $166,120 nationally.
What does a veterinarian at the lower end of the Texas range earn?
The Texas 10th percentile is $76,510 and the 25th percentile is $107,880 — 4% and 6% above 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 the lower end of the Texas range sits higher than the national one.
Do I need a Texas license to work as a veterinarian there?
To practise veterinary medicine in Texas you need a license from the Texas Board of Veterinary Medical Examiners.
The route includes the NAVLE and the Board's own State Board Exam, and there is no ordinary endorsement track for veterinarians licensed elsewhere.
The Texas license requirements page on this site sets out each step and its citation; confirm current rules with the Board before you apply.
More Texas Veterinarian Resources
Sources
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May 2025 state estimates — Texas, 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)
- Texas Board of Veterinary Medical Examiners — licensing pages, as summarised on the Texas 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.