How much income does a veterinarian make yearly?

Hi Gianna,

Thank you for the question. How much veterinarians make depends on a number of things: Where the veterinarian practices (small town vs large city), their specialty area, and other factors.

You can review salary and other information on the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Outlook Handbook page at the following link:

https://www.bls.gov/ooh/healthcare/veterinarians.htm

The income of a Veterinarian depends on many factors. How many years you have been out of school, if you have a specialty, where in the United States you live, and how many hours a week you want to work. It is variable.

Gianna,

The most recent survey by the American Veterinary Medical Association placed average starting income for veterinarians between $70,000 and $75,000. However, lots of things like type of practice, location, post-graduate training, and the overall state of the economy come into consideration as well.

That's such a broad question. The mid-range is around $70,000 but you can be looking at anywhere from $50,000 to $125,000+. It just depends on what kind of vet you are, what type of practice you're in; and where you're located. Think of all the different types of vet jobs there are:

• Working at a Chain Vet Clinic (like Banfield)
• Having your own practice
• size of practice
• type of animals (domestic, large animal, exotics)
• location
• Vet for animals raised for food
• Vet for exotics
• Vet for domestics
• Vet at a horse track
• Vet for the animals at Disneyland
• In-House Vet at a Zoo

When I was considering going to vet school to work with exotics, I looked at the cost of school and compared it to the salaries. To get my Bachelor's Degree from Texas A&M is about $120,000 plus another $190,000 to get my DVM. Without any grants or scholarships I considered that I might graduate owing $310,000+ in student loans which means I'd spend 8 years in school and then have to spend the rest of my life living at home so that I could pay off my student loans. So instead of becoming an exotic vet, I became a zookeeper.

If you think you want to be a vet, find an internship or volunteer position at a vet clinic so you can make sure it's really what you want to do BEFORE you spend all that money on vet school. I did an internship at a vet clinic and was bored because we saw cats and dogs all day and it was always the same every day...vaccinations; euthanasia; dental cleanings; injuries; spay/neuters, etc.