State report

State of Vet Care in Illinois

As of July 2026, Illinois has 1,179 veterinary practices tracked; 29.6% are corporately owned , led by National Veterinary Associates with 55 in-state locations . 70.4% of practices remain independently owned , and 11.9% are actively hiring .

Key takeaways

  • 1,179 veterinary practices tracked in Illinois, of which 29.6% are corporately owned.
  • 21.5% of practices in Illinois are private-equity-backed.
  • National Veterinary Associates (owned by JAB Holding Company) leads all consolidators operating in the state with 55 locations.
  • General practices make up 86.9% of the state's practice mix.

Consolidation by city

At a glance

1,179
Practices tracked
70.4%
Independent
29.6%
Corporately owned
21.5%
PE-backed

11.9% of practices in Illinois are actively hiring.

Ownership breakdown in Illinois

Ownership type Practices Share
Independent 830 70.4%
PE-backed 254 21.5%
Corporate group 89 7.5%
National ownership-type breakdown, stacked by share Independent: 70.4% (830 practices) PE-backed: 21.5% (254 practices) Corporate group: 7.5% (89 practices) 70%22%8% Independent (70.4%) PE-backed (21.5%) Corporate group (7.5%)

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 National Veterinary Associates JAB Holding Company (Strategic) 55 15.8%
2 Heartland Veterinary Partners Gryphon Investors 32 9.2%
3 Vetco (Petco) Petco (Public) 31 8.9%
4 VetCor Harvest Partners (Strategic) 30 8.6%
5 VCA Mars (Strategic) 29 8.3%
6 Mission Pet Health Shore Capital Partners 28 8.0%
7 Banfield Mars (Strategic) 27 7.7%
8 Thrive Pet Healthcare TSG Consumer Partners (Strategic) 21 6.0%
9 Blue River PetCare Partners Group 15 4.3%
10 GoodVets General Atlantic 11 3.2%

Practice-type mix

Type Practices Share
General 1,024 86.9%
Mobile 39 3.3%
Specialty Referral 34 2.9%
Mixed 29 2.5%
Emergency 29 2.5%
Urgent Care 24 2.0%

Species mix

Segment Practices Share
Small Animal 975 82.7%
Mixed 172 14.6%
Equine 19 1.6%
Exotic 10 0.8%
Other 2 0.2%
Food Animal 1 0.1%

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Frequently asked questions

How many veterinary practices are in Illinois?

As of July 2026, VetPulse tracks 1,179 veterinary practices in Illinois.

What percentage of veterinary practices in Illinois are corporately owned?

29.6% of veterinary practices in Illinois are corporately owned — part of a consolidator, private-equity-backed group, or public company — while 70.4% remain independent.

Who is the largest veterinary consolidator in Illinois?

National Veterinary Associates (owned by JAB Holding Company) is the largest veterinary consolidator operating in Illinois, with 55 in-state locations.

What share of veterinary practices in Illinois are hiring?

11.9% 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.