State report

State of Vet Care in Massachusetts

As of July 2026, Massachusetts has 656 veterinary practices tracked; 36.6% are corporately owned , led by VCA with 33 in-state locations . 63.4% of practices remain independently owned , and 13.4% are actively hiring .

Key takeaways

  • 656 veterinary practices tracked in Massachusetts, of which 36.6% are corporately owned.
  • 23.6% of practices in Massachusetts are private-equity-backed.
  • VCA (owned by Mars) leads all consolidators operating in the state with 33 locations.
  • General practices make up 81.6% of the state's practice mix.

Consolidation by city

At a glance

656
Practices tracked
63.4%
Independent
36.6%
Corporately owned
23.6%
PE-backed

13.4% of practices in Massachusetts are actively hiring.

Ownership breakdown in Massachusetts

Ownership type Practices Share
Independent 416 63.4%
PE-backed 155 23.6%
Corporate group 84 12.8%
Public company 1 0.2%
National ownership-type breakdown, stacked by share Independent: 63.4% (416 practices) PE-backed: 23.6% (155 practices) Corporate group: 12.8% (84 practices) Public company: 0.2% (1 practices) 63%24%13% Independent (63.4%) PE-backed (23.6%) Corporate group (12.8%) Public company (0.2%)

Top consolidators operating in Massachusetts

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 VCA Mars (Strategic) 33 13.9%
2 VetCor Harvest Partners (Strategic) 31 13.0%
3 Vetco (Petco) Petco (Public) 26 10.9%
4 Rarebreed Veterinary Partners Trilantic North America 21 8.8%
5 Banfield Mars (Strategic) 21 8.8%
6 National Veterinary Associates JAB Holding Company (Strategic) 18 7.6%
7 Thrive Pet Healthcare TSG Consumer Partners (Strategic) 14 5.9%
8 Mission Pet Health Shore Capital Partners 12 5.0%
9 AmeriVet AEA Investors LP 10 4.2%
10 United Veterinary Care Nordic Capital 8 3.4%

Practice-type mix

Type Practices Share
General 535 81.6%
Mobile 50 7.6%
Specialty Referral 29 4.4%
Urgent Care 24 3.7%
Emergency 17 2.6%
Mixed 1 0.2%

Species mix

Segment Practices Share
Small Animal 602 91.8%
Mixed 34 5.2%
Equine 12 1.8%
Exotic 6 0.9%
Other 2 0.3%

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Frequently asked questions

How many veterinary practices are in Massachusetts?

As of July 2026, VetPulse tracks 656 veterinary practices in Massachusetts.

What percentage of veterinary practices in Massachusetts are corporately owned?

36.6% of veterinary practices in Massachusetts are corporately owned — part of a consolidator, private-equity-backed group, or public company — while 63.4% remain independent.

Who is the largest veterinary consolidator in Massachusetts?

VCA (owned by Mars) is the largest veterinary consolidator operating in Massachusetts, with 33 in-state locations.

What share of veterinary practices in Massachusetts are hiring?

13.4% of veterinary practices in Massachusetts 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 Massachusetts against every other state on the ownership & consolidation statistics page, or browse the rankings.