Salaries Of Large Animal Veterinarians Declined Due To Crisis
Findings reported in the 2011 American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) Report on Veterinary Compensation reflect a reduction in the salaries of many large animal veterinarians due to the recession. The salaries and trends from 2007 to 2009 among other various segments of veterinarians are also examined in this report.
In general, the salaries of veterinarians have been on the decline from 2007 to 2009, as the result of the worsening economy. Apparent among them, large animal veterinarians, though many other types of veterinarians saw a decrease in salary as well. For example, veterinarians with mixed animal practices saw a reduction in salary from 2007 to 2009; these salaries declined from an average of $117,201 to $107,064. More specifically, within this category, average salaries of mixed animal practice vets with companion animal predominance declined from $120,462 in 2007 to $117,524 in 2009, while the salaries of equine specialty mixed animal practice vets dropped from an average of $131,195 in 2007 to $126,641 in 2009.
The average salaries of food exclusive veterinarians also declined from $139,612 in 2007 to $131,479 in 2009. This specialty remains the highest paid of all private practice veterinarians. On average, the salaries of public and corporate veterinarians rose from 2007 to an average of $167,415 in 2009 Increases, however, were noted in certain segments. For example, the average salary for private practice veterinarians rose from $115,447 in 2007 to $121,303 in 2009, this increase largely driven by hikes in the salaries of companion animal exclusive veterinarians. This segment saw their average pay increase from $113,373 to $124,768 over this time period. In addition, the average pay of public and corporate veterinarians also increased from 2007 to an average of $167,415 in 2009.