US Veterinary Industry Statistics

Working numbers for anyone sizing, selling into, or writing about the US veterinary market. The primary sources are the American Veterinary Medical Association, the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and the American Pet Products Association. Each figure below includes its measurement year because publication date and data year are often different. Last reviewed September 2026.

The headline figures at a glance:

Metric	Figure	Source
Veterinarians in private or public practice	127,131 at year-end 2023	AVMA 2025 report
Veterinary establishments	34,000 in 2022	AVMA citing US Census data
Veterinarians providing medical services in private practice	More than 85% in the 2024 census	AVMA 2025 report
Veterinarian jobs	91,100 in 2025	BLS Occupational Outlook
Total US pet spending	$158 billion in 2025	APPA 2026 release
US households owning a pet	95 million in 2025	APPA 2026 release
Median veterinarian pay	$130,100 in May 2025	BLS Occupational Outlook
Median veterinary technician pay	$47,380 in May 2025	BLS Occupational Outlook

How many veterinarians are there in the US?

The AVMA's 2025 profession report estimates that 127,131 veterinarians were actively engaged in private or public practice at the end of 2023. Its 2024 Census of Veterinarians found that more than 85% provided medical services to animals in private practice. Companion animal practice alone accounted for 70.9% of veterinarians in that census, followed by mixed animal, equine, food animal, government, education, industry, and other sectors.

The BLS Occupational Outlook reports 91,100 veterinarian jobs in 2025. That figure is lower because BLS employment estimates and AVMA's count of veterinarians engaged in the profession are different measures. BLS projects employment to rise 9% from 2025 to 2035 and estimates about 3,100 openings per year over that period, including openings created when people leave the occupation. Anyone using a veterinarian count should name the source and population instead of merging those figures.

How many veterinary practices are there?

The AVMA report says the US Census Bureau counted 34,000 veterinary establishments in 2022, the latest Census year available to that report. The same series counted 32,634 in 2021 and 28,691 in 2009. AVMA uses "establishments" and "practices" interchangeably in that section, but a commercial database may use a different unit when it decides how to treat mobile services, house-call businesses, campuses, and multiple locations under one owner.

That definition changes the answer. A territory model should state whether the unit is an organization, an establishment, a staffed clinic, or a service location. Vettica's practice analytics scope names the inclusion rules and snapshot date. This page therefore does not present an internal location total as though it were directly interchangeable with the Census series.

What share of veterinary practices are corporate-owned?

There is no current national corporate-ownership percentage in the AVMA, BLS, or APPA sources used here. The AVMA's 2024 Veterinary Practice Owners Survey found that 93.9% of the 524 represented practices were independently owned. The respondents make this a practice-owner survey rather than a Census count of every US clinic. Inverting the result would not produce a definitive national corporate share.

Ownership also needs a definition. A practice can use a corporate business structure while remaining independently owned, and a local brand can belong to a larger group without making that relationship obvious on its website. A Vettica project can use stated ownership categories, a dated snapshot, and a separate label for uncertain affiliations. This produces a set of locations that follows the definition chosen for the project instead of applying an unsupported national percentage.

How much do Americans spend on veterinary care?

The APPA's March 2026 industry release reports $158 billion in total US pet industry expenditures for 2025 and projects $165 billion for 2026. It also reports that 95 million US households owned at least one pet in 2025. The 2026 total is a forecast, so it should not be described as completed sales.

Total pet spending covers food, supplies, veterinary care and products, and other services. It is broader than veterinary-practice revenue. Anyone sizing a clinical market should use the category definition attached to the source and resist applying the full pet-industry total to clinics, equipment, or pharmaceuticals.

How big is the veterinary equipment and disposables market?

The three primary-source families used on this page do not publish a single US market-size figure for veterinary equipment and disposables. Private market reports draw the category line differently. Some include imaging and anesthesia equipment, some add diagnostic consumables, and others stop at surgical supplies. A precise total without the report's category definition, geography, base year, and forecast method is not comparable.

An equipment vendor can build a bottom-up estimate from eligible practice locations, doctor headcount, specialty, and observed equipment needs. A general practice and a referral surgery center have different capital requirements even when both count as one establishment. Our equipment vendor page explains how practice attributes can support that model without borrowing an unsupported national figure.

How are veterinary specialties distributed?

The AVMA's 2024 Census of Veterinarians classified 70.9% in companion animal practice, 4.5% in mixed animal practice, 3.4% in equine practice, and 1.3% in food animal practice. Government, universities, industry, and other sectors account for the remaining categories. In the separate Practice Owners Survey, 82.6% of represented practices reported general medicine and surgery as their primary function, while 4.2% reported referral or specialty medicine and 3.4% reported production medicine.

Those are national distributions. They do not tell an equipment vendor or recruiter how many relevant clinicians work inside a chosen radius. Vettica's specialty pages describe the classification system used for project scoping, while the final quote identifies which specialty fields are available for the requested market.

What do veterinarians and vet techs earn?

The BLS veterinarian profile reports a median annual wage of $130,100 in May 2025. The lowest 10% earned less than $73,920, and the highest 10% earned more than $215,700. BLS notes that pay varies by experience, responsibility, performance, tenure, and geography, and its wage data do not include self-employed workers.

The BLS veterinary technician profile reports a $47,380 median annual wage in May 2025. It projects employment of veterinary technologists and technicians to grow 9% from 2025 to 2035, with about 13,400 openings per year on average. Those openings include replacement needs, so the figure is not the same as net job growth.

Sources and methods

Veterinarian population, sector distribution, and establishment counts come from the AVMA's 2025 report, which in turn identifies the relevant Census and survey sources. Employment and wage figures come from the BLS profiles for veterinarians and veterinary technologists and technicians. Spending and household figures come from the APPA's 2026 release. Vettica figures are labeled as internal estimates when used elsewhere; none are presented in the source table as official industry counts. For a practice-level analysis scoped to a state, metro, or specialty, ask us directly.