Veterinarian salary

Quoted Expert
Jamie Rauscher RVT

Average veterinarian salary

$109,524

$52.66 hourly rate

Entry-level veterinarian salary
$58,000 yearly salary
Updated January 8, 2025

How much does a veterinarian make?

The average veterinarian salary in the United States is $109,524. Veterinarian salaries typically range between $58,000 and $205,000 yearly. The average hourly rate for veterinarians is $52.66 per hour.

Veterinarian salary is impacted by location, education, and experience. Veterinarians earn the highest average salary in Maine.

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Where can a Veterinarian earn more?

Compare salary by location
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Vs
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135k
115k
95k
75k
55k
Columbus, OH$118,496
Denver, CO$84,647
Compare salary by company
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221k
201k
181k
161k
141k
121k
101k
Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium$195,081
Riverside Community Hospital$130,735

Veterinarian salary estimates from across the web

Based on the latest salary information compiled by Zippia, Salary.com, Indeed, Glassdoor, SalaryExpert, Comparably, Payscale and CareerExplorer, the average salary for a veterinarian typically falls between $89,891 and $128,495.
zippia
$109,524yearly
glassdoor[1]
$128,495yearly
indeed[2]
$124,663yearly
comparably[3]
$89,891yearly
Salary.com[4]
$106,945yearly
payscale[5]
$97,282yearly
SalaryExpert[6]
$114,074yearly
CareerExplorer[7]
$100,370yearly

Average veterinarian salary by state

The highest-paying states for veterinarians are Maine, New Mexico, and Vermont. The lowest average veterinarian salary states are Kansas, Mississippi, and Nebraska.

  • State View
  • County View
Average Salary:

Highest paying states for veterinarians

Rank
ascdesc
State
ascdesc
Avg. Salary
ascdesc
Hourly Rate
ascdesc
1Maine$116,665$56.09
2Rhode Island$107,862$51.86
3Massachusetts$107,585$51.72
4New Jersey$110,946$53.34
5New York$110,501$53.13
6Oregon$105,895$50.91
7Vermont$113,030$54.34
8Pennsylvania$107,414$51.64
9New Mexico$113,328$54.48
10Texas$102,430$49.25
11Arizona$102,186$49.13
12California$110,657$53.20
13Maryland$111,834$53.77
14Delaware$104,715$50.34
15North Dakota$110,753$53.25
16Utah$105,159$50.56
17Nevada$100,280$48.21
18New Hampshire$101,407$48.75
19Ohio$103,974$49.99
20Washington$102,235$49.15
21Michigan$97,868$47.05
22Montana$106,137$51.03
23Virginia$102,565$49.31
24Tennessee$98,307$47.26
25West Virginia$100,386$48.26
26North Carolina$97,914$47.07
27South Carolina$98,201$47.21
28Connecticut$99,455$47.81
29Arkansas$100,209$48.18
30Illinois$96,430$46.36
31District of Columbia$108,136$51.99
32Indiana$97,022$46.65
33Florida$91,716$44.09
34Minnesota$94,557$45.46
35Georgia$92,959$44.69
36Idaho$96,310$46.30
37Alaska$93,118$44.77
38Iowa$94,117$45.25
39Colorado$84,895$40.81
40Alabama$91,089$43.79
41Wyoming$88,138$42.37
42Wisconsin$84,118$40.44
43Missouri$83,042$39.92
44Hawaii$89,823$43.18
45Kansas$77,756$37.38
46Kentucky$80,867$38.88
47Oklahoma$61,224$29.43
48Nebraska$72,814$35.01
49Mississippi$75,330$36.22
50Louisiana$68,593$32.98
51South Dakota$68,059$32.72

Highest paying cities for veterinarians

The highest-paying cities for veterinarians are Portland, ME, Davis, CA, and Baltimore, MD.

Rank
ascdesc
City
ascdesc
Avg. Salary
ascdesc
Hourly Rate
ascdesc
1Portland, ME$118,496$56.97
2Davis, CA$115,733$55.64
3Baltimore, MD$112,500$54.09
4New York, NY$110,807$53.27
5Boston, MA$108,091$51.97
6Philadelphia, PA$107,771$51.81
7Portland, OR$105,792$50.86
8Fort Worth, TX$104,117$50.06
9Reno, NV$104,029$50.01
10Seattle, WA$103,365$49.69
11Richmond, VA$102,643$49.35
12Phoenix, AZ$102,391$49.23
13Raleigh, NC$100,057$48.10
14Lincoln Park, MI$97,980$47.11
15Chicago, IL$97,368$46.81
16Memphis, TN$96,562$46.42
17Indianapolis, IN$96,381$46.34
18Tallahassee, FL$94,914$45.63
19Marietta, GA$93,206$44.81
20Denver, CO$84,647$40.70

Veterinarians are the most in-demand in these five cities:

  1. Portland, ME
  2. Davis, CA
  3. Baltimore, MD
  4. New York, NY
  5. Boston, MA

Veterinarian salary details

A veterinarian's salary ranges from $58,000 a year at the 10th percentile to $205,000 at the 90th percentile.

Average Veterinarian Salary Graph
Average Veterinarian Salary Graph, Trends, and Summary

What is a veterinarian's salary?

Percentile
ascdesc
Annual Salary
ascdesc
Monthly Salary
ascdesc
Hourly Rate
ascdesc
90th Percentile$205,000$17,083$99
75th Percentile$152,000$12,667$73
Average$109,524$9,127$53
25th Percentile$78,000$6,500$38
10th Percentile$58,000$4,833$28

Highest paying veterinarian jobs

The highest paying types of veterinarians are animal doctor, doctor of veterinary medicine, and emergency veterinarian.

Job Title
ascdesc
Annual Salary
ascdesc
Monthly Salary
ascdesc
Hourly Rate
ascdesc
Job Openings
ascdesc
Doctor Of Veterinary Medicine$136,242$11,354$65.5027,902
Public Health Veterinarian$62,550$5,212$30.0763,067
Emergency Veterinarian$94,518$7,877$45.4434,931

How would you rate the starting salaries for Veterinarians, as well as the prospects for salary advancement?

J
I live in Georgia. Starting salaries for a RVT in this state is around $17 an hour. 25 years ago I made $5 an hour walking dogs and cleaning kennels. My salary now is set to cover that of a RVT with management duties. Again, I do believe that employers that pay their staff well will be able to retain them longterm. If you feel like you deserve a raise, prove it, stand up for yourself, and ask for it! Technicians that obtain their specialties or go into management will make more as their education/skills progress.

Which companies pay veterinarians the most?

Veterinarian salaries at Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium and SPCA of Wake County are the highest-paying according to our most recent salary estimates. In addition, the average veterinarian salary at companies like Valley Community Healthcare and Pomona Valley Hospital Medical Center are highly competitive.

Rank
ascdesc
Company
ascdesc
Average Salary
ascdesc
Hourly Rate
ascdesc
1Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium$195,081$93.79
2SPCA of Wake County$192,479$92.54
3Valley Community Healthcare$185,820$89.34
4Pomona Valley Hospital Medical Center$177,411$85.29
5University of Maryland, Baltimore$174,338$83.82
6Massachusetts General Hospital$163,318$78.52
7Madera Community Hospital$163,200$78.46
8New Day$160,169$77.00
9Private Practice$148,814$71.55
10City of El Dorado$148,050$71.18
11Central Florida Health Care, Inc.$143,806$69.14
12City of Farmington$143,159$68.83
13Edmond Oklahoma$139,900$67.26
14Brookville Hospital$138,931$66.79
15Adobe$136,671$65.71
16Boehringer Ingelheim$135,915$65.34
17Mission Regional Medical Center$135,834$65.30
18Saratoga Hospital$134,189$64.51
19Sona MedSpa$133,377$64.12
20Riverside Community Hospital$130,735$62.85

Wage gap by gender, race and education

$115,000$111,800$108,600$105,400$102,200$99,000
MaleFemale

Veterinarian salary trends

The average veterinarian salary has risen by $18,042 over the last ten years. In 2014, the average veterinarian earned $91,482 annually, but today, they earn $109,524 a year. That works out to a 12% change in pay for veterinarians over the last decade.

Compare veterinarian salaries for cities or states with the national average over time.

Average veterinarian salary over time

Compare veterinarian salaries for individual cities or states with the national average.

  • National Average
  • Columbus, OH

Veterinarian salary by year

Year
ascdesc
Avg. Salary
ascdesc
Hourly Rate
ascdesc
% Change
ascdesc
2025$110,000$52.66+3.8%
2024$105,000$50.65+1.7%
2023$104,000$49.78+3.6%
2022$99,800$47.97+1.8%
2021$98,000$47.10+0.3%

Recently added veterinarian salaries

Company
ascdesc
Job
ascdesc
Location
ascdesc
Date Added
ascdesc
Salary
ascdesc
Petvet Care CentersVeterinarianNorth Providence, RI12/18/2024$110,000
Bond VetVeterinarianWashington, MN12/18/2024$130,000
CarevethealthVeterinarian-In Home EuthanasiaHenderson, NV12/18/2024$75,000
SouthboulderanimalhospitalVeterinarianBoulder, CO12/17/2024$130,000
Louisiana Department of State Civil ServiceVeterinarianNoble, LA12/17/2024$116,559
VCA Animal Hospitals, Inc.Relief VeterinarianAustin, TX12/16/2024$25,000
BanfieldVeterinarianPittsburgh, PA12/16/2024$102,000
BanfieldVeterinarianBoise, ID12/16/2024$240,005
BanfieldVeterinarianNew York, NY12/16/2024$102,000
BanfieldVeterinarianTucson, AZ12/16/2024$80,000

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