Vet turnover report, October 2026
13.7% of vets leave their practice each year
Range 12.3% to 15.3%. In a year, 29.8% of practices lose at least one vet.
By practice size
- Solo vet647 practices4.4%2.9 to 6%
- 2 to 3 vets1,267 practices11.8%10.6 to 13.2%
- 4 to 9 vets1,047 practices13.3%12.2 to 14.4%
- 10 or more120 practices20.3%14.2 to 27.3%
Practice size is the number of vets on the team page a year earlier.
By kind of practice
- Chain or group159 practices21.1%11.9 to 31.2%
- Independent2,922 practices12.7%11.8 to 13.5%
- Emergency or specialty427 practices17.7%14 to 22.7%
- General practice2,654 practices12.8%11.4 to 14.3%
A wide range means fewer practices of that kind could be measured.
By state
- Florida599 practices14.4%12.4 to 16.7%
- Arkansas64 practices14.0%8.6 to 19.5%
- Texas554 practices13.4%11.6 to 15.3%
- Oregon173 practices13.3%10.3 to 16.4%
- Colorado232 practices13.1%10.6 to 15.7%
- Alabama116 practices12.4%8.2 to 16.8%
- Washington251 practices11.9%9.7 to 14.2%
- New Jersey183 practices11.2%7.4 to 16.4%
- Montana44 practices11.1%4.6 to 18.9%
- Iowa97 practices11.0%7.6 to 14.5%
- Wisconsin211 practices10.3%8.1 to 12.8%
- Illinois274 practices10.1%8 to 12.4%
- Kansas101 practices10.1%6.2 to 13.9%
- Delaware20 practices10.1%4.1 to 17.5%
- Rhode Island23 practices8.4%3 to 14.3%
- West Virginia44 practices8.3%2 to 16.2%
States with 20 or more practices measured, highest first. Connecticut is left out as skewed: 224 of 594 vets left across its 95 counted practices, an annual rate of 35.6% (95% range 17.5% to 50.4%), far outside every other state and with a range too wide to show as a state figure until it is checked. Its practices are counted in the national and group figures.
How this was measured
For every practice whose website lists its veterinarians, we compared the vets named on its team page today with the vets named on an Internet Archive copy of the same page from 9 to 18 months earlier, and annualised by the gap. 3,081 of 4,234 practices had a usable archived copy.
Not counted: interns, residents, relief and visiting vets, and uncertain name matches such as a changed married name. Websites can be slow to remove someone who has left, so the true rate may be higher.
Figures are for groups of practices only. PawsRx never publishes a single practice's turnover.
Updated November 9, 2026.
Questions
What is the turnover rate for veterinarians?
13.7% of vets leave their practice each year: 1,575 of 11,320 vets named on 3,081 practices' team pages had left about a year later, an annual rate of 13.7% (95% range 12.3% to 15.3%), measured October 2026.
How does vet turnover differ by practice size?
Solo vet: 4.4% a year (647 practices); 2 to 3 vets: 11.8% a year (1,267 practices); 4 to 9 vets: 13.3% a year (1,047 practices); 10 or more: 20.3% a year (120 practices). Measured October 2026.
Do vets leave chains more than independent practices?
At chain or group practices 21.1% of vets leave each year (159 practices, range 11.9% to 31.2%), against 12.7% at independents (2,922 practices, range 11.8% to 13.5%). Measured October 2026.