Veterinarians
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Overview
Diagnose, treat, or research diseases and injuries of animals. Includes veterinarians who conduct research and development, inspect livestock, or care for pets and companion animals.
This career appears to require experience.
Highlights
Largest undergraduate program (28.3% of workers): Biology
Explore Pathways
Titles for this career often contain these words
VetVeterinaryAnimalVeterinarianInspectorDoctorMedicineEpidemiologistAnatomistPathologistPhysiologistSurgeonEquineDentistLaboratoryLabDVMEmergencyCareLargeMixedPoultryPublicHealthSmallBacteriologistDiagnosticianLivestockMeatScientistMicrobiologistParasitologistPharmacologistRadiologistSurgicalSpecialistToxicologistVirusSerumWildlifeZooChiropractorCompanionPractitionerHorseTreatmentCoordinator
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Responsibilities and activities

Veterinarians typically do the following:

  • Examine animals to assess their health and diagnose problems
  • Treat and dress wounds
  • Perform surgery on animals
  • Test for and vaccinate against diseases
  • Operate medical equipment, such as x-ray machines
  • Advise animal owners about general care, medical conditions, and treatments
  • Prescribe medication
  • Euthanize animals

Veterinarians treat the injuries and illnesses of pets and other animals with a variety of medical equipment, including surgical tools and x-ray and ultrasound machines. They provide treatment for animals that is similar to the services a physician provides to humans.

The following are examples of types of veterinarians:

Companion animal veterinarians treat pets and generally work in private clinics and hospitals. They most often care for cats and dogs, but they also treat other pets, such as birds, ferrets, and rabbits. These veterinarians diagnose and provide treatment for animal health problems; consult with animal owners about preventive healthcare; and carry out medical and surgical procedures, such as vaccinations, dental work, and setting fractures.

Food animal veterinarians work with farm animals such as pigs, cattle, and sheep, which are raised to be food sources. They spend their time visiting farms and ranches to treat ill and injured animals and to test for and vaccinate against disease. They may advise farm owners or managers about feeding, housing, and general health practices.

Food safety and inspection veterinarians inspect and test livestock and animal products for major animal diseases. They also provide vaccines to treat animals, enhance animal welfare, conduct research to improve animal health, and enforce government food safety regulations. They design and administer animal and public health programs to prevent and control diseases transmissible among animals and between animals and people.

Salary
Median salary: $99,250 annually
Half of those employed in this career earn between $79,430 and $126,260.
$99K$0$50K$100K$150K$200K
Context: Median Salary
How do salaries for this career compare to other jobs' salaries?
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Salary growth for veterinarians
Is this job likely to reward you for sticking with it through pay raises and promotions? The higher a job’s “experience quotient,” the more you are likely to get as you stay there.
Experience quotient percentile
Take a minute to look at how much you might expect your salary to increase with each five years' experience, as well as how the numbers working at each age change. Does this seem to be a job for the young or the old, or could it be a career offering steady salary growth for many years?
Salary distribution
$91K$64K$100K$84K$97K$89K$104K$96K$0$50K$100K$150K$200K20-2425-2930-3435-3940-4445-4950-5455-5960-64
Number employed
05K10K15K20-2425-2930-3435-3940-4445-4950-5455-5960-64
About Veterinarians
How do benefits for this career compare to other jobs? The availability of health care, especially employer provided health care, and pension plans can add significantly to the value of compensation you receive in a career. These charts compare how this career compares to other careers with regard to health care and pension plans.
Employee has health insurance
Employer is providing health insurance
Employer-provided pension plan is available
Worker concerns
Some jobs are more stressful than others, and some are just plain dangerous. The following list gives the percentages of veterinarians who report hazardous or difficult situations typically occurring at least once a week.
  • Radiation Exposure (85%)
  • Exposed to Disease or Infections (85%)
  • Time Pressure (84%)
  • Exposed to Contaminants (80%)
  • Responsible for Others' Health (80%)
  • Consequence of Error (79%)
  • Minor Burns, Cuts, Bites (73%)
  • High Conflict Frequency (62%)
  • Unpleasant or Angry People (55%)
  • Hazardous Conditions (53%)
SOURCES:
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Personality and skills
Can you see yourself in the ranks of Veterinarians? Here are the skills and traits that could lead to success.
Communication skills
. Strong communication skills are essential for veterinarians, who must be able to discuss their recommendations and explain treatment options to animal owners and give instructions to their staff.
Compassion
Veterinarians must be compassionate when working with animals and their owners. They must treat animals with kindness and respect, and they must be sensitive when dealing with the animal owners.
Decision-making skills
Veterinarians must decide the correct method for treating the injuries and illnesses of animals.
Manual dexterity
Veterinarians must control their hand movements and be precise when treating injuries and performing surgery.
Problem-solving skills
Veterinarians need strong problem-solving skills because they must figure out what is ailing animals. Those who test animals to determine the effects of drug therapies also need excellent diagnostic skills.
Injury and Illness
About 72 veterinarians become injured or ill for every 10,000 workers, making this job more dangerous than 73% of other careers. The most common specific illnesses or injuries are detailed following.
All cuts, lacerations, punctures
Bruises and contusions
Education pathways to this career
Education attained by veterinarians
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), veterinarians typically hold a doctoral or professional degree.
Sometimes the typical education identified by the BLS differs a bit from the reality of the how much education current workers actually have. The donut shows the education level held by people currently working as veterinarians as reported in responses to the American Community Survey.
Details: Education and training recommended for veterinarians

Veterinarians must complete a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (DVM or VMD) degree at an accredited college of veterinary medicine. A veterinary medicine program generally takes 4 years to complete and includes classroom, laboratory, and clinical components.

Admission to veterinary programs is competitive. Most applicants to veterinary school have a bachelor’s degree. Veterinary medical colleges typically require applicants to have taken many science classes, including biology, chemistry, and animal science. Most programs also require math, humanities, and social science courses.

Some veterinary medical colleges prefer candidates to have experience such as previous work with veterinarians in clinics, or working with animals on a farm, at a stable, or in an animal shelter.

In veterinary medicine programs, students take courses on animal anatomy and physiology, as well as disease prevention, diagnosis, and treatment. Most programs include 3 years of classroom, laboratory, and clinical work. Students typically spend the final year of the 4-year program doing clinical rotations in a veterinary medical center or hospital.

Details: Licensing and certification recommended for veterinarians

Veterinarians must be licensed in order to practice in the United States. Licensing requirements vary by state, but prospective veterinarians in all states must complete an accredited veterinary program and pass the North American Veterinary Licensing Examination.

In addition to passing the national exam, most states require that veterinarians pass a state licensing exam. However, veterinarians employed by state or federal government may not need a state license, because government agencies differ in what they require.

Each state’s exam covers its laws and regulations. Few states accept licenses from other states, so veterinarians usually must take exams for the states in which they want to be licensed.

The American Veterinary Medical Association has an Educational Commission for Foreign Veterinary Graduates (ECFVG) certification program, which allows foreign graduates to fulfill the educational prerequisites for licensure. 

Education level of Veterinarians
About 100% of veterinarians have a graduate-level education, and 100% have at least a bachelor's degree.
Education attained by veterinarians
None
High School
Some College
Associate's Degree
Bachelor's Degree
Master's Degree
Professional Degree
Doctorate
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College majors held by veterinarians
This table shows the college majors held by people working as veterinarians. If you see "**" before the name of a degree/program, that means this field is one that the Department of Education believes is preparatory for this career. However, you can see from this list that those recommendations are far from your only path to this job!
Salary comparison for bachelor's only
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Career salary (tail) versus Career/Major salary (dot)
Does the bachelor's-only salary rise or fall with this major?
Salary for bachelor's-only
For people with this career and major
Median
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Salary for all workers
For people with this career and major
Median
Middle 50%
Middle 80%
Education for Career and Major
Bachelor's
Master's
Professional
Doctorate
Workers with this career/major
Percentage in this career with this major
Not so much?
The link between degrees and this career
With the following sankey diagram, you can follow the top ten bachelor's degrees held by people working as veterinarians, and then, in turn, you can see the 10 occupations that hire the most of each degree's graduates. We hope this provides ideas for similar jobs and similar fields of study.
Expand degrees
BiologyAnimal SciencesZoologyNursingMultidisciplinary or...Health/Medical Speci...PsychologyChemistryHealth and Medical P...General AgricultureAll other degreesThis jobTop 10 majors
Where are the jobs
State-by-state employment numbers
Some careers tend to be centered in specific parts of the country. For example, most jobs in fashion are in New York or California. Let's see if your dream job is easy to find in your dream location! We have a few choices for viewing the data that can help you get a full employment picture.
Select a state to see local area details
Number of Veterinarians per 1,000 workers (ACS)
AKMEWIVTNHWAIDMTNDMNILMINYMAORUTWYSDIAINOHPANJCTRICANVCONEMOKYWVVAMDDEAZNMKSARTNNCSCDCOKLAMSALGAHITXFLPR
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Job density versus job count
Which states hire the most veterinarians? We wonder if that's a fair question since states come in all sizes, so instead let's start with the question of which states have the highest density of people working as veterinarians. You can choose to view the number of jobs per state if you prefer.
Salaries by state
Let's get a feel for where veterinarians earn the highest salaries. There are several choices for which data we consider and how we view that data, and each can lead to different conclusions, so please read on...
Median salary versus state ratio
We use two methods to compare salaries across states:
  • In-state comparisons: the ratio of median (middle) salaries for veterinarians compared to the median salary for all people working in each state, or
  • Median salary: the unaltered median salaries for veterinarians.
We hope the ratio allows perspective about how salaries may compare to the regional cost-of-living.
The darkest shading corresponds to states in which veterinarians earn the highest salary when compared to other jobs in the state. We think this figure might be a better indicator than the actual salary for your buying power as a state resident.
Select a state to see local area details
Location-adjusted median salary for Veterinarians (ACS)
AKMEWIVTNHWAIDMTNDMNILMINYMAORUTWYSDIAINOHPANJCTRICANVCONEMOKYWVVAMDDEAZNMKSARTNNCSCDCOKLAMSALGAHITXFLPR
Employment
13% of Veterinarians are working part time.
We’ve found that some jobs have a huge number of part-time workers, and typically that is because they are unable to find full-time work or the job itself can’t provide full-time hours. With 13% part-time workers, this occupation has a higher percentage of part-time workers than 51% of careers.
13%0%20%40%60%80%100%
Employer types
This donut shares the break-down of workers by employer type, giving us a picture of what employers most typically hire for this career.
Employers of undefined (ACS)
Private for-profit
Private not-for-profit
Local government
State government
Federal government
Self-employed incorporated
Self-employed not incorporated
Working without pay
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Distribution: Salaries of veterinarians by type of employer
Here are the salary distributions based on employer type.
$88K$88K$103K$74K$95K$75K$85K$0$50,000$100,000$150,000$200,000Self-employed not incorporatedSelf-employed incorporatedFederal governmentState governmentPrivate not-for-profitPrivate for-profitAll
Gender
Veterinarians and gender
With 62% women, this occupation has a higher percentage of women than 74% of careers.
Gender of Veterinarians
Men (38%)
Women (62%)
Distribution: salaries by gender
Does gender greatly influence your salary in this career? The closer the bars are, the less discrepancy there is.
$84K$96K$0$100K$200K$300KWomenMen
We only include salary data when the survey error is less than 20%, so you may see only partial information for some categories.
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Context: Women in the workforce
How does this career compare to other careers with regard to the percentage of women in the career.
62%0%20%40%60%80%100%
Context: Salary inequity
The median salary for all full-time male workers in the US exceeds the full-time median salary for women by 19%. The situation is a little better for veterinarians, with the median salary for men 14% higher than the median salary for women.
14%0%20%40%60%80%100%
Race/Origin
Race and origin of Veterinarians
This donut shows the distribution of race and origin among those employed as Veterinarians.
Race/origin of veterinarians
White (91% )
Asian (4% )
Multiracial (2% )
Black (2% )
Other (1% )
Hispanic (0% )
American Indian (0% )
Distribution: salaries by race/origin
Some careers might have a pay disparity based on race or origin, the closer the below bars are the less of a discrepancy is present.
$78K$88K$0$50K$100K$150KMultiracialWhite
We only include salary data when the survey error is less than 20%, so you may see only partial information for some categories.