Veterinarians
Agriculture, Food and Natural ResourcesO*NET 29-1131.00United States
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.
- Median annual earnings
- $127,964
- Projected change
- +12.7%
- Typical education
- Doctoral degree or more
- Employment
- 95.43K jobs
50th percentile, United States
2025 to 2035
90.9% of the workforce
Growing to 107.54K by 2035
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These courses and certificates are connected through catalog career relationships and Lightcast skill tags.
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The work
What veterinarians do
Tasks reported for this occupation, ordered by how often they come up in the role.
- 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.
- Educate the public about diseases that can be spread from animals to humans.
- Counsel clients about the deaths of their pets or about euthanasia decisions for their pets.
- Euthanize animals.
- Advise animal owners regarding sanitary measures, feeding, general care, medical conditions, or treatment options.
- Attend lectures, conferences, or continuing education courses.
- Train or supervise workers who handle or care for animals.
- Perform administrative or business management tasks, such as scheduling appointments, accepting payments from clients, budgeting, or maintaining business records.
- Plan or execute animal nutrition or reproduction programs.
- Conduct postmortem studies and analyses to determine the causes of animals' deaths.
Pay and outlook
What the job pays and where it is heading
Annual earnings range
Reported earnings by percentile, United States
- 10th percentile
- $69,351
- 25th percentile
- $97,492
- 50th percentile
- $127,964
- 75th percentile
- $170,296
- 90th percentile
- $229,144
The gold marker shows the median. Half earn more than $127,964 and half earn less.
Employment outlook
2025 to 2035 projection
+12.7%faster than average
202595,428 jobs
2035 projected107,538 jobs
12,110 more positions over the decade, before replacement hiring.
Preparation
Education levels
What people currently working in the career hold. These are not entry requirements.
- Doctoral degree or more
- 90.9%
- Master's or Professional degree
- 9.1%
Skills
Skills employers ask for
Technical skills appearing most often in job postings for this occupation.
How the work gets done
Core competencies
Broad capabilities associated with strong performance in this occupation.
- Reading Comprehension
- Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work-related documents.
- Active Listening
- Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
- Active Learning
- Understanding the implications of new information for both current and future problem-solving and decision-making.
- Speaking
- Talking to others to convey information effectively.
- Critical Thinking
- Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions, or approaches to problems.
- Judgment and Decision Making
- Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one.
- Science
- Using scientific rules and methods to solve problems.
- Complex Problem Solving
- Identifying complex problems and reviewing related information to develop and evaluate options and implement solutions.
- Writing
- Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.
- Service Orientation
- Actively looking for ways to help people.
- Social Perceptiveness
- Being aware of others' reactions and understanding why they react as they do.
- Monitoring
- Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.
- Time Management
- Managing one's own time and the time of others.
- Coordination
- Adjusting actions in relation to others' actions.
- Mathematics
- Using mathematics to solve problems.
- Instructing
- Teaching others how to do something.
- Systems Evaluation
- Identifying measures or indicators of system performance and the actions needed to improve or correct performance, relative to the goals of the system.
- Management of Personnel Resources
- Motivating, developing, and directing people as they work, identifying the best people for the job.
- Learning Strategies
- Selecting and using training/instructional methods and procedures appropriate for the situation when learning or teaching new things.
- Systems Analysis
- Determining how a system should work and how changes in conditions, operations, and the environment will affect outcomes.
In the market
Job titles and employers
Recent job postings in United StatesCommon job titles
- 01Associate Veterinarians17,169 postings
- 02Veterinarians16,115 postings
- 03Relief Veterinarians3,435 postings
- 04Emergency Veterinarians2,503 postings
- 05Small Animal Veterinarians1,384 postings
- 06Clinical Veterinarians906 postings
- 07Veterinary Hospital Managers764 postings
- 08Doctors of Veterinary Medicine701 postings
- 09Chiefs of Staff622 postings
- 10Student Externs468 postings
- 11Veterinarians/Practice Owners454 postings
- 12Managing Veterinarians425 postings
- 13Veterinary Surgeons345 postings
- 14Professional Services Veterinarians263 postings
- 15Technical Services Veterinarians207 postings
- 16Veterinary Oncologists179 postings
- 17Locum Tenens Veterinarians160 postings
- 18Shelter Veterinarians152 postings
- 19Equine Veterinarians140 postings
- 20Sales Support Managers124 postings
Top employers
- 01Lap Of Love9,854 postings
- 02George Desort Staffing3,626 postings
- 03Banfield Pet Hospital3,284 postings
- 04The Vet Recruiter ®1,362 postings
- 05Vetco1,210 postings
- 06GPAC1,002 postings
- 07VCA Animal Hospitals979 postings
- 08Thrive Pet Healthcare829 postings
- 09Shotvet704 postings
- 10Global Talent Partners Ltd703 postings
- 11Veterinary Emergency Group673 postings
- 12PetCo630 postings
- 13BluePearl616 postings
- 14Medical Management International587 postings
- 15PetVet Care Centers584 postings
- 16National Veterinary Associates564 postings
- 17Alliance Animal Health490 postings
- 18Global Veterinary Careers338 postings
- 19Merck & Co.326 postings
- 20Atlas Consultancy Group.297 postings
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