State report

State of Vet Care in Illinois

As of October 2026, Illinois has 1,161 veterinary practices tracked; 28.9% are corporately owned , led by NVA with 56 in-state locations . 71.1% of practices remain independently owned , and 12.1% are actively hiring .

Key takeaways

  • 1,161 veterinary practices tracked in Illinois, of which 28.9% are corporately owned.
  • 17.6% of practices in Illinois are private-equity-backed.
  • NVA (owned by JAB Holding Company) leads all consolidators operating in the state with 56 locations.
  • General practices make up 86.1% of the state's practice mix.

Consolidation by city

At a glance

1,161
Practices tracked
71.1%
Independent
28.9%
Corporately owned
17.6%
PE-backed

12.1% of practices in Illinois are actively hiring.

Ownership breakdown in Illinois

Ownership type Practices Share
Independent 825 71.1%
PE-backed 204 17.6%
Corporate group 114 9.8%
Private group 9 0.8%
Public company 9 0.8%
National ownership-type breakdown, stacked by share Independent: 71.1% (825 practices) PE-backed: 17.6% (204 practices) Corporate group: 9.8% (114 practices) Private group: 0.8% (9 practices) Public company: 0.8% (9 practices) 71%18%10% Independent (71.1%) PE-backed (17.6%) Corporate group (9.8%) Private group (0.8%) Public company (0.8%)

Top consolidators operating in Illinois

Ranked by in-state locations. See the full national leaderboard on ownership & consolidation statistics.

# Group Ultimate owner In-state locations Share of corporate practices
1 NVA JAB Holding Company (Strategic) 56 16.7%
2 Heartland Veterinary Partners Gryphon Investors (Private Equity) 33 9.9%
3 VCA Mars (Strategic) 29 8.7%
4 Mission Pet Health Shore Capital Partners / Silver Lake (Private Equity) 28 8.4%
5 Banfield Mars (Strategic) 27 8.1%
6 VetCor Oak Hill Capital (Private Equity) 22 6.6%
7 Thrive Pet Healthcare TSG Consumer Partners (Private Equity) 21 6.3%
8 Veterinary Practice Partners Audax Private Equity (Private Equity) 15 4.5%
9 Blue River PetCare Partners Group (Private Equity) 15 4.5%
10 GoodVets General Atlantic / SkyKnight Capital (Private Equity) 11 3.3%

Practice-type mix

Type Practices Share
General 1,000 86.1%
Mobile 41 3.5%
Specialty Referral 40 3.4%
Mixed 29 2.5%
Emergency 28 2.4%
Urgent Care 23 2.0%

Species mix

Segment Practices Share
Small Animal 957 82.4%
Mixed 169 14.6%
Equine 22 1.9%
Exotic 10 0.9%
Other 2 0.2%
Food Animal 1 0.1%

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Veterinary careers in Illinois

903 open veterinary jobs

Who's hiring in Illinois right now.

See jobs →

Veterinarian salary

What veterinarians earn in Illinois.

See pay →

Vet tech salary

What veterinary technicians earn in Illinois.

See pay →

Frequently asked questions

How many veterinary practices are in Illinois?

As of October 2026, VetPulse tracks 1,161 veterinary practices in Illinois.

What percentage of veterinary practices in Illinois are corporately owned?

28.9% of veterinary practices in Illinois are corporately owned — part of a consolidator, private-equity-backed group, or public company — while 71.1% remain independent.

Who is the largest veterinary consolidator in Illinois?

NVA (owned by JAB Holding Company) is the largest veterinary consolidator operating in Illinois, with 56 in-state locations.

What share of veterinary practices in Illinois are hiring?

12.1% of veterinary practices in Illinois are actively hiring, based on live job-signal data.

Every figure above is queried live from our practice-level dataset — see the methodology for how ownership is triangulated from multiple independent sources. Compare Illinois against every other state on the ownership & consolidation statistics page, or browse the rankings.