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Pay · 29-1131

Veterinarians earn $130,100 a year at the midpoint

The middle of the pay scale for veterinarians is $130,100. A typical start is nearer $101,460; the top tenth earn about $215,700.

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$130,100median a year · United States
$62.55an hour $142,680average 83,900people
Nine in ten people in this work earn between the two ends. The shaded part is the middle half — where most people are.
$101,46025th $130,100median $166,12075th
$73,92010th percentile $215,70090th percentile
$101,460a year at the 25th percentile, nearer a first job
$163,920best-paying state · California
$88,650lowest-paying state · South Dakota
+26%top state against the national median
  • Read the spread, not the middle. The median is the midpoint across everyone in the occupation, most of them years into the work. A beginner starts nearer the 10th to 25th percentile, which is why the spread is published alongside it.
  • What the figure counts. The figure counts base pay plus tips, commissions and production bonuses. It leaves out the self-employed, unpaid family workers, private household workers, and the value of benefits or profit sharing.
  • Where you live moves it more than your resume does. National figures. A state or metro area can sit far from the national number, and that gap is usually larger than any difference a resume makes.
  • Not in these numbers. Growth and annual openings are not in this dataset. They come from the separate Employment Projections tables, where an opening is a modelled ten year average and not a posted vacancy.

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, 2025. Retrieved through the BLS Public Data API on 2026-08-13. bls.gov/oes “BLS.gov cannot vouch for the data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from BLS.gov.”

State matters a lotThe same job pays $163,920 in California and $88,650 in South Dakota — a gap of $75,270 a year.

Veterinarian earnings, from starting pay up to the top 10%

Pick the job, where you work and how long you have done it. The range comes from the published wage percentiles for that job.

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An estimate from survey percentiles, not an offer. Employer, industry, shift and credentials move pay within and beyond this range. Full wage page for this job →

Veterinarian wages across the states

The 36 states where the most people do this work, of 49 with a published figure: their medians range by 1.67 times. Figures are the 2025 survey.

State Median a year Where most start 10th to 90th Employed
California $163,920 $74,850 $74,850 — $286,330 9,170
Maryland $163,170 $104,030 $104,030 — $214,960 1,430
Washington $160,510 $97,140 $97,140 — $265,600 2,390
New Jersey $160,140 $103,720 $103,720 — $274,850 1,910
Arizona $152,020 $81,990 $81,990 — $262,990 2,080
Massachusetts $140,260 $96,320 $96,320 — $260,010 1,920
Illinois $133,580 $74,840 $74,840 — $280,380 2,330
Pennsylvania $133,520 $79,780 $79,780 — $268,870 3,490
Minnesota $133,110 $83,280 $83,280 — $217,580 2,140
New York $131,830 $89,130 $89,130 — $251,000 3,390
Florida $131,660 $62,430 $62,430 — $209,520 5,360
Texas $131,330 $76,510 $76,510 — $203,920 6,270
Colorado $130,840 $77,710 $77,710 — $211,930 2,340
Maine $130,600 $81,780 $81,780 — $194,680 600
North Carolina $129,240 $77,650 $77,650 — $209,340 2,940
Oregon $128,880 $78,420 $78,420 — $205,850 1,660
New Hampshire $128,190 $74,780 $74,780 — $283,460 650
Virginia $126,730 $63,350 $63,350 — $220,170 2,700
Georgia $126,590 $66,710 $66,710 — $167,620 2,670
Connecticut $126,190 $46,960 $46,960 — $218,720 950
Nevada $125,550 $98,860 $98,860 — $189,620 680
Michigan $125,390 $75,900 $75,900 — $192,800 2,030
Ohio $125,060 $54,050 $54,050 — $207,190 3,430
Iowa $124,610 $72,800 $72,800 — $168,950 1,000
Indiana $124,530 $63,630 $63,630 — $173,810 1,500
Louisiana $124,370 $64,690 $64,690 — $165,560 950
Tennessee $124,350 $98,500 $98,500 — $167,900 1,730
Utah $123,990 $75,970 $75,970 — $215,720 640
South Carolina $122,130 $48,140 $48,140 — $200,860 1,380
Missouri $114,660 $61,270 $61,270 — $193,860 1,920
Wisconsin $108,780 $79,350 $79,350 — $159,940 1,830
Kansas $107,080 $71,200 $71,200 — $177,110 1,000
Alabama $105,630 $65,430 $65,430 — $172,290 1,020
Kentucky $104,100 $44,200 $44,200 — $169,220 1,190
Nebraska $103,500 $60,630 $60,630 — $165,660 780
Oklahoma $98,090 $51,710 $51,710 — $208,000 1,150

No estimate is published for 2 states: the survey withholds a figure when too few employers report it. Nothing has been filled in for them.

Veterinarian pay rate, hourly to yearly

Starts at this job’s median. Change the rate or the hours; a full-time year is 40 hours for 52 weeks.

$130,104a year

Examples

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Resumes for veterinarians

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  • Treated sick or injured animals by prescribing medication, setting bones, dressing wounds, or performing surgery.
  • Inoculated animals against various diseases, such as rabies or distemper.
  • Examined animals to detect and determine the nature of diseases or injuries.

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This page includes information from the O*NET 31.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. The owner of tiersi.com has modified all or some of this information. USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications.

Neighbouring work, and what it pays

Occupations in the same group of the federal classification — the usual next steps, or the ones beside this one.

Veterinarians$130,100
Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons$352,220+$222,120 Orthodontists$289,140+$159,040 Nurse anesthetists$236,590+$106,490 Podiatrists$160,300+$30,200 Pharmacists$140,910+$10,810 Nurse practitioners$132,300+$2,200

No. 44 of 788 by median pay

Better paid than 94% of the occupations in the survey.

  1. 42 Nurse practitioners $132,300
  2. 43 Electronics Engineers, Except Computer $130,220
  3. 44 Veterinarians $130,100
  4. 45 Actuaries $130,000
  5. 46 Information Security Analysts $129,180

Questions people ask

What is a veterinarian’s yearly income?

A veterinarian makes a median of $130,100 a year (2025 survey). The middle half earn between $101,460 and $166,120.

What is a veterinarian’s hourly pay rate?

The median pay rate is $62.55 an hour; the average is $142,680 a year.

What is the starting pay for a veterinarian?

Starting pay is usually near the 25th percentile, $101,460 a year, and sometimes as low as the 10th, $73,920.

Which state pays veterinarians the most?

California, with a median of $163,920 a year.

How many people work as veterinarians?

About 83,900 in the United States — number 44 of 788 occupations by median pay.

Jobs that pay about the same

Median pay within $1,600 of what veterinarians earn — $130,100 a year — but not always the same spread.

See all 788 occupations