Veterinarian Salary in Wisconsin

Wisconsin's median annual wage of $108,780 sits $21,320, or 16%, below the national median of $130,100; the hourly figures track closely, $52.30 against $62.55, also a 16% gap.

That gap is not constant across the range.

At the 10th percentile, Wisconsin actually leads the national figure — $79,350 against $73,920, 7% above — and the 25th percentile is nearly level, 2% below at $98,950 against $101,460.

The gap opens above the median: the 75th percentile is $132,880 against a national $166,120, 20% below, and the 90th percentile is $159,940 against $215,700, 26% below.

A veterinarian benchmarking a Wisconsin offer against the national 90th percentile of $215,700 is comparing against a figure the state distribution falls well short of.

The middle half of Wisconsin veterinarians — the 25th to 75th percentile — earned between $98,950 and $132,880, a band $33,930 wide.

The same band nationally is $64,660 wide.

The full 10th-to-90th span in Wisconsin runs from $79,350 to $159,940, a range of $80,590; nationally that span is $141,780.

Wisconsin's median of $108,780 sits closer to the bottom of its own 25th-to-75th band than the top: it is only $9,830 above the 25th percentile but $24,100 below the 75th.

OEWS publishes the shape of the distribution, not why it takes that shape, so this page does not attribute the compression to any particular kind of employer.

BLS estimates that 1,830 veterinarians were employed in Wisconsin, ranked 19th of the 49 jurisdictions that publish a median — squarely in the middle of the list rather than near either end.

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 alongside the wage figures as the size of the profession in the state, and nothing more.

Practising veterinary medicine in Wisconsin takes a license from the Wisconsin Veterinary Examining Board, part of the state Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection.

Every applicant — examination-track or endorsement — must pass a separate Wisconsin Statutes and Rules Exam, an online open-book test with 60 days to complete it and a required score of at least 88; examination-track applicants also sit the NAVLE.

An out-of-state veterinarian can apply through endorsement instead, holding a current US or Canadian license and no prior NAVLE failure that was not later retaken and passed, plus one of three currency showings: a NAVLE pass within the last 5 years, 4,000 hours of active practice in the preceding 5 years, or a board determination of competence.

Renewal runs on 30 hours of continuing education every two years, with licenses expiring January 1 of even-numbered years and a $160 renewal fee.

None of those steps change with where a job falls in the wage range above; the full Wisconsin license requirements page covers each one with its citation.