Veterinarians

Median salary

$130,100

Average salary

$142,680

Employment

83,900

Projected growth

9.6% growth

Annual openings

3,000

Typical entry education

Doctoral or professional degree

What Veterinarians Do

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.

See full salary breakdown & percentiles →

Career Outlook

National employment outlook, 2024–2034.

Related work experience: None
On-the-job training: None
Self-employed: 6.1%

Source: BLS Employment Projections — 2024-2034.

How Much Preparation Does This Take?

Job Zone 5 of 5

Job Zone Five: Extensive Preparation Needed

Experience: Extensive skill, knowledge, and experience are needed for these occupations. Many require more than five years of experience.
Education: Most of these occupations require graduate school. For example, they may require a master's degree, and some require a Ph.D., M.D., or J.D. (law degree).
Job training: Employees may need some on-the-job training, but most of these occupations assume that the person will already have the required skills, knowledge, work-related experience, and/or training.

Source: O*NET Job Zones.

Key Knowledge Areas

Subject-matter areas this occupation draws on most, per O*NET.

Biologyimportance 4.7/5
Medicine and Dentistryimportance 4.7/5
Customer and Personal Serviceimportance 4.5/5
English Languageimportance 4.3/5
Mathematicsimportance 3.7/5
Education and Trainingimportance 3.5/5
Chemistryimportance 3.4/5
Personnel and Human Resourcesimportance 3.3/5

Work Environment

What the day-to-day work setting is like, per O*NET.

Face-to-Face Discussions with Individuals and Within Teams5.0/5
Telephone Conversations5.0/5
Indoors, Environmentally Controlled4.9/5
Contact With Others4.9/5
Work With or Contribute to a Work Group or Team4.8/5
Frequency of Decision Making4.8/5

Careers With Similar Skills

Occupations whose Transferable Skills profile most closely matches this one — a mathematical comparison, not observed data about people actually moving between these careers.

Nurse Practitioners97% skill match
Pharmacists97% skill match
Occupational Therapists97% skill match
Chiropractors97% skill match
Orthodontists97% skill match
Nurse Midwives97% skill match
Neurologists97% skill match
Medical Dosimetrists97% skill match

Transferable Skills

Cross-functional skills this occupation draws on most, per O*NET — the kind that carry over to other careers.

Complex Problem Solvingimportance 3.9/5
Judgment and Decision Makingimportance 3.9/5
Service Orientationimportance 3.4/5
Social Perceptivenessimportance 3.3/5
Time Managementimportance 3.3/5
Coordinationimportance 3.1/5
Instructingimportance 3.0/5
Systems Evaluationimportance 3.0/5

Software & Technologies

Tools and software used in this occupation, per O*NET.

Hot Technologies

Other Software Used

American Data Systems PAWS Veterinary Practice Management
Complete Clinic
Eklin Information Systems VIA
Henry Schein ImproMed
IDEXX Laboratories IDEXX Cornerstone
IDEXX Laboratories IDEXX VPM
ImproMed Infinity
InformaVet ALIS-VET

Work Style

Personal work characteristics that matter most for this occupation, per O*NET.

Attention to Detail
Dependability
Intellectual Curiosity
Cautiousness
Integrity
Stress Tolerance
Self-Control

Career Interests

This occupation’s RIASEC interest profile, per O*NET — how strongly it fits each of the six Holland interest types.

RealisticHigh
InvestigativeHigh
ConventionalMedium
SocialMedium
EnterprisingLow
ArtisticLow

This page includes information from the O*NET 30.3 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.

Where This Career Is Most Concentrated

Metro areas where veterinarians make up the largest share of local employment, relative to the national average (BLS location quotient).

1Fort Collins-Loveland, CO3.26× national avg
2College Station-Bryan, TX3.14× national avg
3Corvallis, OR3.00× national avg
4Ames, IA2.73× national avg
5Manhattan, KS2.55× national avg

Possible Career Moves

A computed starting point, not observed job-change data — see the full list for why each one might fit.

General Internal Medicine PhysiciansLateral Move
Nurse PractitionersLateral Move
Ophthalmologists, Except PediatricLateral Move
NeurologistsLateral Move

See the full career path from Veterinarians →

Related Education Programs

Schools that offer related fields of study, based on the NCES CIP-SOC crosswalk — not a guarantee that graduates enter this specific career.