Veterinarian Salary, Skills & Requirements (2026)
Advertised pay, starting pay, skills and experience from 8,554 US job postings by 461 employers. Data as of October 2026.
What US employers post for veterinarians: advertised pay, the skills and experience they ask for, and the job titles they use, from 8,554 open job postings (October 2026).
- The median advertised pay for veterinarians in US job postings is $148,000 a year (1,523 postings from 166 employers, October 2026).
- The middle half of those postings offer $128,000 to $176,000.
- The skills that most set veterinarian postings apart are dentistry, compassionate, collaborative.
- Postings that state a minimum ask for a median of 2 years of experience.
Veterinarian job postings in the US, October 2026
- $148,000
- Median advertised pay (1,523 postings)
- $128,000–$176,000
- Middle 50% of postings
- 8,554
- US job postings from 461 employers
- 2 years
- Median experience asked
How much does a veterinarian make?
The median advertised pay is $148,000 a year, from 1,523 US job postings by 166 employers that state pay. One in ten postings offers $225,000 or more.
Advertised pay in 1,523 US veterinarian job postings: median $148,000 a year, middle half $128,000 to $176,000.
- Median: $148,000
- 25th percentile: $128,000
- 75th percentile: $176,000
The figures as a table
| Annual pay | Share of postings |
|---|---|
| $10K–$20K | 0.3% |
| $20K–$30K | 0.1% |
| $30K–$40K | 0.4% |
| $40K–$50K | 0.3% |
| $50K–$60K | 0.1% |
| $60K–$70K | 0.7% |
| $70K–$80K | 1.2% |
| $80K–$90K | 0.7% |
| $90K–$100K | 2.7% |
| $100K–$110K | 3.0% |
| $110K–$120K | 6.7% |
| $120K–$130K | 10.2% |
| $130K–$140K | 11.5% |
| $140K–$150K | 12.4% |
| $150K–$160K | 10.8% |
| $160K–$170K | 9.0% |
| $170K–$180K | 5.5% |
| $180K–$190K | 3.5% |
| $190K–$200K | 2.4% |
| $200K–$210K | 5.3% |
| $210K–$220K | 0.9% |
| $220K–$230K | 3.5% |
| $230K–$240K | 0.7% |
| $240K–$250K | 2.8% |
| $250K–$260K | 0.4% |
| $260K–$270K | 0.5% |
| $270K–$280K | 0.7% |
| $280K–$290K | 0.7% |
| $290K–$300K | 0.3% |
| $300K–$310K | 1.1% |
| $310K–$320K | 1.1% |
Midpoint of each posting's pay range, hourly pay × 2,080 hours; at most 20 postings per employer; US, October 2026.
| Median | Middle 50% | Postings | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Postings that state an annual salary | $145,000 | $127K–$172K | 697 |
| All pay postings, annualised | $148,000 | $128K–$176K | 1,523 |
For comparison, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics puts the national median annual wage of Veterinarians (29-1131) at $130,000 (May 2025). Postings advertise pay; the BLS measures what people earn, across all employers and levels.
What is the starting salary for a veterinarian?
Figure withheld: fewer than 250 US postings list pay. How we decide.
Highest-paying veterinarian jobs
Specializations with at least 250 postings that state pay.
| Specialization | Median pay | Postings with pay | Employers |
|---|---|---|---|
| Veterinarian (general) | $145,000 | 1,489 | 160 |
Veterinarian pay by state
Single-location US postings; states with at least 100 postings that state pay. States with pay-transparency laws (such as California, Colorado, New York and Washington) are over-represented among postings that state pay.
| State | Median pay | Middle 50% | Postings with pay | Share of postings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| California | $185,000 | $165,000–$245,000 | 232 | 9.6% |
| New York | $160,000 | $139,000–$225,000 | 111 | 3.8% |
| Illinois | $139,000 | $121,000–$172,000 | 113 | 3.3% |
Skills employers ask for in veterinarian job postings
| Skill | Share of postings |
|---|---|
| Communication | 34% |
| Compassionate | 16% |
| Interpersonal skills | 11% |
| Collaborative | 11% |
| Teamwork | 10% |
| Integrity | 7% |
| Clinical experience | 6% |
| Mentorship | 6% |
| Professionalism | 6% |
| Clinical autonomy | 5% |
Skills named in the posting text; at most 20 postings per employer; US, October 2026. Methodology.
Skills that set veterinarians apart
- Dentistry266.6× as often as in all postings · 5%
- Compassionate5.7× as often as in all postings · 16%
- Collaborative10.1× as often as in all postings · 11%
- Mentorship38.9× as often as in all postings · 6%
- Patient care30× as often as in all postings · 5%
Skills named in at least 5% of these postings and at least 3 times as often as in job postings overall.
Have a veterinarian job posting in front of you? See which of its skills your resume is missing.
What does a veterinarian do?
Employers post these jobs as Associate Veterinarian, Emergency Veterinarian, Relief Veterinarian, Urgent Care Veterinarian, Clinical Veterinarian and other titles. The largest specializations are Veterinary Surgeon (under 1%), Associate DVM (under 1%).
The closest official occupation is Veterinarians (29-1131.00). Its most important tasks:
- Treat sick or injured animals by prescribing medication, setting bones, dressing wounds, or performing surgery.
- Inoculate animals against various diseases, such as rabies or distemper.
- Examine animals to detect and determine the nature of diseases or injuries.
- Collect body tissue, feces, blood, urine, or other body fluids for examination and analysis.
- Operate diagnostic equipment, such as radiographic or ultrasound equipment, and interpret the resulting images.
Source: O*NET 31.0 Database, U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (CC BY 4.0).
How much experience do you need to be a veterinarian?
Among 321 postings that state a minimum, the median is 2 years. Under 1% say 0 years and 35% ask for 1 year or less.
Minimum experience asked in 321 US veterinarian job postings: median 2 years, and 35% ask for 1 year or less.
The figures as a table
| Minimum experience asked | Share of postings |
|---|---|
| 0 yr | under 1% |
| 1 yr | 35% |
| 2 yrs | 22% |
| 3-4 yrs | 30% |
| 5-7 yrs | 11% |
| 8-9 yrs | 0% |
| 10+ yrs | 3% |
Postings that state a minimum (required or preferred); at most 20 postings per employer; US, October 2026.
We do not show a degree figure: in our checks, degree requirements in posting text were found too rarely to publish one. Why.
Full-time 80%, Part-time 20% of the 409 postings that state working hours.
Other names for a veterinarian: job titles employers use
| Job title | Employers using it |
|---|---|
| Veterinarian | 273 (59.2%) |
| Associate Veterinarian | 107 (23.2%) |
| Emergency Veterinarian | 41 (8.9%) |
| Relief Veterinarian | 37 (8.0%) |
| Urgent Care Veterinarian | 18 (3.9%) |
| Clinical Veterinarian | 17 (3.7%) |
| Veterinary Cardiologist | 14 (3.0%) |
| Staff Veterinarian | 14 (3.0%) |
| Lead Veterinarian | 14 (3.0%) |
| Veterinary Surgeon | 14 (3.0%) |
| Part-Time Veterinarian | 13 (2.8%) |
| Shelter Veterinarian | 11 (2.4%) |
| Veterinary Radiologist | 10 (2.2%) |
| Veterinary Internist | 10 (2.2%) |
| Veterinary Criticalist | 10 (2.2%) |
| Veterinary Oncologist | 9 (1.9%) |
| Veterinary Medical Director | 9 (1.9%) |
| Medical Director Veterinarian | 9 (1.9%) |
| Associate DVM | 8 (1.7%) |
| Part-Time Associate Veterinarian | 8 (1.7%) |
Titles read in our audit and used by at least 3 employers.
Veterinarian job titles compared
The titles people search for most, from the US job postings that use each exact title (October 2026).
| Job title | Open postings | Employers | Median pay | Median experience | Skills named most |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Relief Veterinarian | 1,278 | 37 | – | – | – |
Veterinarian compared with similar careers
| Career | Median pay | Median experience | Postings | Shares N of top 25 skills |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Veterinarian | $148K | 2 years | 8,554 | – |
| Dentist | $234K | 2 years | 6,288 | 14 |
| Physician | $312K | 2 years | 26,725 | 11 |
| Physical Therapist Assistant | $34.52/hr | 1 year | 12,964 | 10 |
| Physical Therapist | $104K | 1 year | 29,758 | 11 |
Similar careers
| Career | Shares N of the top 25 skills | Median pay |
|---|---|---|
| Dentist | 14 | $234K |
| Physician | 11 | $312K |
| Physical Therapist Assistant | 10 | $34.52/hr |
| Physical Therapist | 11 | $104K |
| Veterinary Technician | 14 | $26.50/hr |
| Occupational Therapy Assistant | 10 | $35.00/hr |
Applying for veterinarian jobs?
- Veterinarian resume examples: one-page examples for these roles
- Match your resume to a job: paste a posting and see the skills your resume is missing
- Check your resume: see how an applicant tracking system reads it
- Find veterinarian jobs: search open postings
Frequently asked questions
How much does a veterinarian make?
What are the highest-paying veterinarian jobs?
Source and method
Open US job postings collected from employers' applicant tracking systems, de-duplicated, counted only when their job title was read in our audit. Shares count at most 20 postings per employer, and franchise locations of one brand count as one employer. Pay uses hourly and annual figures only; a figure is shown when leaving out the largest employer moves it by 10% or less. Every figure states its number of postings. Methodology and measured accuracy.
Accuracy check: we read 20 randomly chosen postings counted on this page in full; 20 of them were this career or a closely related one (October 2026).
Download the figures on this page (CSV): every number above with its count of postings. Aggregate figures are licensed CC BY 4.0; cite the page when you reuse them.