Veterinary Industry Summary: October 4 – 10, 2026
Stats from the Veterinary Industry Tracker powered by Vetsource and AVMA
October 4 – 10, 2026
According to new preliminary data(opens in new tab) from the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA), veterinary school debt reached a record high in 2026 as inflation-adjusted starting salaries dropped. The income gap between new graduates and established veterinarians widened to 28% this year, up from 19% in 2025.
Full-time new hires started at an average salary of $131,784, however the average amount of student debt for borrowers was $227,588, creating a 1.5:1 debt-to-income ratio, higher than previous years. 7.4% of graduates had not received an employment offer. This is 2.1% higher than in 2022. AVMA’s census asked veterinarians what their most desired benefit is that they don’t have, and the top response was educational loan repayment.
| 0.0% Revenue YoY (Last Week) |
-3.2% Visits YoY (Last Week) |
Industry revenue and visits took a slight dip last week compared to the prior week, with revenue decreasing from 0.5% to 0.0%, and visits dipping from -3.8% to -3.2%.
 -8.7%Heartworm YoY |
-8.6% Flea/Tick YoY |
 0.9%Services YoY |
-3.5% Products YoY |
Parasiticides and products saw a slight increase last week compared to the week prior, with heartworm rising from -12.9% to -8.7%, and flea/tick increasing from -13.2% to -8.6%. Products went up to -3.5% from -5.2%.
Services decreased from 2.0% to 0.9% in the same time period.
| +3.4% Revenue YoY (Last 12 Months) |
-2.0% Visits YoY (Last 12 Months) |
The 12-month trends show revenue and visits falling since mid-September.
| 6,383 Practices |
2.2M Revenue per practice (Last 12 months) |
9.6K Visits per practice (Last 12 months) |
Continuing its lead, Oregon holds 7.3% revenue growth, with Massachusetts and Nevada following at 5.8% and 5.6%, respectively.
Like last week, Oregon is the only state with positive YoY visits, at 1.8%.
*Numbers are subject to change based on data availability and PIMS adjustments.
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