Career
Veterinarians
Care for the health of animals.
$130,100
Median pay
+9.4%
Job growth, 2025–35
3,100
Openings a year
Doctoral or professional degree
Typical education
7–8 years
Typical time after high school
Here's what you actually need to know.
The work
What people in this job do
- 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.
The outlook
How the forecast changed this year
The deeper question
What kind of person does this path ask you to become?
What this work centers on
O*NET interest profile, scored 1–7.
The work
Do you want most of your days spent on objects & tools, then ideas & analysis?
Responsibility
Are you willing to be the one responsible for this?
“Treat sick or injured animals by prescribing medication, setting bones, dressing wounds, or performing surgery.”
Development
What would you need to build over the next 5–10 years?
Reading Comprehension, Active Listening, Active Learning, Complex Problem Solving.
Trade-offs
What does it ask of you in exchange?
7–8 years of education after high school (doctoral or professional degree), for a median of $130,100 a year and 3,100 openings nationally each year.
Paths in
Degrees that lead here
- Veterinary MedicineCIP 01.8001
- Veterinary Sciences/Veterinary Clinical Sciences, GeneralCIP 01.8101
- Comparative and Laboratory Animal MedicineCIP 01.8102
- Large Animal/Food Animal and Equine Surgery and MedicineCIP 01.8103
- Small/Companion Animal Surgery and MedicineCIP 01.8104
- Veterinary AnatomyCIP 01.8105
Paths across
Careers that use similar skills
- Veterinary Technologists and Technicians$47,380 · +9.4%
- Veterinary Assistants and Laboratory Animal Caretakers$38,150 · +9.1%
- Allergists and Immunologists
- Physicians, Pathologists$312,400 · +4.8%
- Emergency Medicine Physicians$335,550 · +3.2%
Ask anything about this career.
“Would this make sense if I don't want to sit at a desk all day?” Answers will come from the sources on this page, with citations. Coming soon.
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Sources
- BLS Employment Projections, 2025–35, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Retrieved 2026-10-01.
- BLS Employment Projections, 2024–34 (archived), U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Retrieved 2026-10-01.
- O*NET 31.0 Database (August 2026), National Center for O*NET Development / U.S. Department of Labor. Retrieved 2026-10-01.
- CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 Crosswalk, NCES and BLS. Retrieved 2026-10-01.