These Are The 10 Best Cities For Veterinarians

By Chris Kolmar - Dec. 11, 2016

Find a Job You Really Want In

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Whether you’re just starting out your career, or looking to make a move, it can be important to know what part of the country offers the best chance for your long term career prospects. And for a very common profession like Veterinarians, the regional differences can have a big impact on your salary and career options.

To help you make the best decision possible, we at Zippia wanted to look at the cities that offer veterinarians the most for their career. These are the cities across the US where veterinarians get paid well, relative to the cost of living, and jobs are plentiful.

So we did what we do best and dove into the numbers from the BLS to figure out which cities have the best opportunities for veterinarians.The result is this list of the best cities veterinarians:

  1. Brunswick, GA
  2. Reading, PA
  3. Killeen, TX
  4. Haverhill, MA
  5. Santa Rosa, CA
  6. Kingston, NY
  7. Montgomery County, PA
  8. Durham, NC
  9. Prescott, AZ
  10. Boise City, ID

So there you have it — Brunswick is the best city when it comes to being a veterinarian.

And where should you consider avoiding if you’re a veterinarian? That would be Baton Rouge.

Read on to see how we completed our research on the best cities for veterinarians and for more on the top ten cities.

How we determined the best cities to be a veterinarians?




Here at Zippia, we talk to a lot of people of all different backgrounds looking for jobs. Our research has concluded that there are two common things people want in a job:

  • Availability of jobs
  • Pay

So in order to find out the best cities for veterinarians in America we needed to figure out where the jobs are and how well veterinarians get paid. This led to the following criteria taken from the Bureau of Labor Statistics’s Occupational Employment Statistics for 2015:

  • Location quotient. A measure of how common a job is a given city.
  • Average annual salary.
  • Average annual salary for entry level work.

To make all the salary numbers more apples to apples across cities, we compared the salary data relative to the state’s cost of living.

This left us with enough data for 266 metro areas across the country. We then took the primary area of the metro and labeled that the ‘city’ for this analysis. So, for example, “Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA NECTA Division” became simply Boston.

In order to develop an overall ranking, we ranked each city for each criteria from 1 to 266 where 1 was the best.

We then averaged all the rankings for a city into a Job Score with the city having the lowest overall Job Score earning the distinction of being the best city for veterinarians in America.

So without further ado, let’s get into just what made each city so great for veterinarians.

1. Brunswick, GA

Total Jobs: 30
Average Annual Salary: $116,420
Average Entry Level Salary: $83,390
Location Quotient: 1.72

2. Reading, PA

Total Jobs: 110
Average Annual Salary: $130,690
Average Entry Level Salary: $83,760
Location Quotient: 1.37

3. Killeen, TX

Total Jobs: 80
Average Annual Salary: $132,230
Average Entry Level Salary: $84,360
Location Quotient: 1.3

4. Haverhill, MA

Total Jobs: 50
Average Annual Salary: $139,200
Average Entry Level Salary: $83,790
Location Quotient: 1.67

5. Santa Rosa, CA

Total Jobs: 170
Average Annual Salary: $123,380
Average Entry Level Salary: $82,400
Location Quotient: 1.93

6. Kingston, NY

Total Jobs: 50
Average Annual Salary: $125,590
Average Entry Level Salary: $84,330
Location Quotient: 1.86

7. Montgomery County, PA

Total Jobs: 740
Average Annual Salary: $128,630
Average Entry Level Salary: $67,550
Location Quotient: 1.54

8. Durham, NC

Total Jobs: 200
Average Annual Salary: $117,110
Average Entry Level Salary: $67,510
Location Quotient: 1.43

9. Prescott, AZ

Total Jobs: 70
Average Annual Salary: $107,800
Average Entry Level Salary: $68,500
Location Quotient: 2.56

10. Boise City, ID

Total Jobs: 210
Average Annual Salary: $98,020
Average Entry Level Salary: $66,280
Location Quotient: 1.53

And that’s our list of the best cities for veterinarians

If you’re looking to start out your career as a veterinarian these are the cities that should be at the top of your list. You’ll find high pay, available jobs, and chances for career advancement.

If you’re curious, here are the worst cities to be a veterinarian in America:

  1. Baton Rouge, LA
  2. Grand Rapids, MI
  3. Cleveland, OH

Detailed List Of The Best Cities For Veterinarians

Rank State Average Salary Entry Level Salary # Of People
1 Brunswick, GA $116,420 $83,390 30
2 Reading, PA $130,690 $83,760 110
3 Killeen, TX $132,230 $84,360 80
4 Haverhill, MA $139,200 $83,790 50
5 Santa Rosa, CA $123,380 $82,400 170
6 Kingston, NY $125,590 $84,330 50
7 Montgomery County, PA $128,630 $67,550 740
8 Durham, NC $117,110 $67,510 200
9 Prescott, AZ $107,800 $68,500 70
10 Boise City, ID $98,020 $66,280 210
11 Grand Island, NE $115,790 $58,520 40
12 Modesto, CA $116,560 $80,470 140
13 Columbia, SC $88,820 $69,080 350
14 Columbus, OH $105,650 $67,440 590
15 Ames, IA $95,520 $66,190 90
16 Auburn, AL $98,410 $64,350 30
17 Sebastian, FL $119,790 $66,100 30
18 Albuquerque, NM $112,360 $65,170 220
19 Barnstable Town, MA $123,660 $79,660 80
20 Lebanon, PA $99,620 $64,390 40
21 Silver Spring, MD $136,480 $78,720 330
22 Corpus Christi, TX $101,660 $70,240 110
23 Sacramento, CA $136,160 $85,250 430
24 Roanoke, VA $112,510 $76,460 100
25 Des Moines, IA $93,380 $66,370 290
26 Salem, OR $100,320 $79,050 100
27 Jackson, MI $104,420 $66,630 40
28 Austin, TX $100,480 $70,050 520
29 Toledo, OH $106,840 $61,790 160
30 Providence, RI $121,530 $90,570 270
31 Fayetteville, NC $102,000 $68,340 70
32 St. Joseph, MO $81,560 $68,070 40
33 Charlottesville, VA $120,280 $62,390 80
34 Asheville, NC $107,780 $55,330 160
35 Oklahoma City, OK $105,860 $65,430 300
36 York, PA $132,230 $101,620 70
37 Harrisonburg, VA $102,710 $68,490 50
38 Burlington, VT $98,930 $69,130 90
39 State College, PA $116,980 $56,090 50
40 Spokane, WA $105,820 $69,020 130
41 Gainesville, FL $102,060 $63,870 100
42 Burlington, NC $104,230 $60,790 40
43 Springfield, MO $95,360 $65,530 100
44 Clarksville, TN $88,290 $59,520 60
45 Raleigh, NC $116,610 $45,770 640
46 Warren, MI $105,000 $63,660 640
47 Fort Worth, TX $117,550 $64,180 450
48 Lansing, MI $101,420 $83,250 90
49 Canton, OH $96,150 $75,640 80
50 Leominster, MA $127,100 $67,740 30
51 New Haven, CT $150,910 $73,270 140
52 Port St. Lucie, FL $94,420 $65,330 110
53 Medford, OR $118,650 $53,700 60
54 Milwaukee, WI $113,050 $67,030 410
55 Hattiesburg, MS $78,150 $59,050 50
56 Charleston, SC $108,350 $73,400 110
57 Erie, PA $113,610 $68,730 50
58 Gulfport, MS $107,000 $66,380 50
59 Lakeland, FL $117,040 $68,460 100
60 Nassau County, NY $138,370 $67,890 690
61 Lexington, KY $99,340 $32,040 280
62 Mankato, MN $97,850 $63,010 40
63 Janesville, WI $100,310 $63,860 40
64 Ogden, UT $106,920 $69,360 90
65 Spartanburg, SC $109,100 $81,880 30
66 Newark, NJ $139,040 $73,050 430
67 Pittsburgh, PA $105,890 $66,910 490
68 Mount Vernon, WA $84,360 $63,910 40
69 Wilmington, DE $126,490 $66,990 130
70 Wilmington, NC $88,380 $57,950 100
71 Redding, CA $95,710 $67,950 60
72 Daphne, AL $80,650 $56,820 50
73 Miami, FL $109,850 $81,270 350
74 Tyler, TX $95,000 $65,410 40
75 Columbus, GA $106,380 $65,350 40
76 Greenville, NC $93,240 $66,430 40
77 Bangor, ME $119,630 $55,020 30
78 Sheboygan, WI $100,790 $60,220 30
79 Portland, ME $98,160 $61,230 110
80 Dayton, OH $109,980 $48,730 180
81 Elkhart, IN $102,460 $63,040 40
82 San Antonio, TX $118,440 $52,030 460
83 Las Vegas, NV $101,900 $73,680 370
84 Lake County, IL $107,380 $60,800 210
85 Waterloo, IA $120,210 $58,390 30
86 Rochester, MN $88,160 $64,860 70
87 Lawrence, MA $116,240 $65,530 50
88 Charleston, WV $91,580 $63,750 40
89 Greenville, SC $88,380 $69,250 150
90 Camden, NJ $103,570 $71,340 260
91 Seattle, WA $99,230 $69,240 650
92 South Bend, IN $92,430 $58,820 60
93 Portsmouth, NH $109,610 $52,500 60
94 Atlanta, GA $93,970 $60,980 1,120
95 Fort Wayne, IN $89,370 $67,410 80
96 Jacksonville, NC $83,300 $55,840 40
97 Santa Cruz, CA $104,440 $57,660 80
98 Nashville, TN $86,120 $64,610 390
99 Cape Coral, FL $88,400 $66,020 140
100 Louisville/Jefferson County, KY $80,620 $57,060 290

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Author

Chris Kolmar

Chris Kolmar is a co-founder of Zippia and the editor-in-chief of the Zippia career advice blog. He has hired over 50 people in his career, been hired five times, and wants to help you land your next job. His research has been featured on the New York Times, Thrillist, VOX, The Atlantic, and a host of local news. More recently, he's been quoted on USA Today, BusinessInsider, and CNBC.

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