State report

State of Vet Care in North Carolina

As of September 2026, North Carolina has 1,244 veterinary practices tracked; 24.4% are corporately owned , led by Mission Pet Health with 49 in-state locations . 75.6% of practices remain independently owned , and 11.1% are actively hiring .

Key takeaways

  • 1,244 veterinary practices tracked in North Carolina, of which 24.4% are corporately owned.
  • 15.6% of practices in North Carolina are private-equity-backed.
  • Mission Pet Health (owned by The Vets Pets) leads all consolidators operating in the state with 49 locations.
  • General practices make up 79.8% of the state's practice mix.

Consolidation by city

At a glance

1,244
Practices tracked
75.6%
Independent
24.4%
Corporately owned
15.6%
PE-backed

11.1% of practices in North Carolina are actively hiring.

Ownership breakdown in North Carolina

Ownership type Practices Share
Independent 941 75.6%
PE-backed 194 15.6%
Corporate group 80 6.4%
Nonprofit 1 0.1%
National ownership-type breakdown, stacked by share Independent: 75.6% (941 practices) PE-backed: 15.6% (194 practices) Corporate group: 6.4% (80 practices) Nonprofit: 0.1% (1 practices) 76%16%6% Independent (75.6%) PE-backed (15.6%) Corporate group (6.4%) Nonprofit (0.1%)

Top consolidators operating in North Carolina

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 Mission Pet Health The Vets Pets (Private Equity) 49 13.9%
2 Banfield Mars (Strategic) 49 13.9%
3 The Vets Pets The Vets Pets 27 7.6%
4 NVA TSG Consumer Partners (Private Equity) 24 6.8%
5 American Veterinary Group Oak Hill Capital 22 6.2%
6 PetVet Care Centers KKR (Private Equity) 22 6.2%
7 Heartland Veterinary Partners Gryphon Investors 15 4.2%
8 Vetco (Petco) Petco (Public) 14 4.0%
9 VCA Mars (Strategic) 12 3.4%
10 Alliance Animal Health Latticework Capital / Bridgepoint (Private Equity) 10 2.8%

Practice-type mix

Type Practices Share
General 993 79.8%
Mobile 114 9.2%
Specialty Referral 44 3.5%
Urgent Care 42 3.4%
Emergency 37 3.0%
Mixed 14 1.1%

Species mix

Segment Practices Share
Small Animal 1,095 88.0%
Mixed 107 8.6%
Equine 35 2.8%
Exotic 6 0.5%
Other 1 0.1%

Browse by city

Frequently asked questions

How many veterinary practices are in North Carolina?

As of September 2026, VetPulse tracks 1,244 veterinary practices in North Carolina.

What percentage of veterinary practices in North Carolina are corporately owned?

24.4% of veterinary practices in North Carolina are corporately owned — part of a consolidator, private-equity-backed group, or public company — while 75.6% remain independent.

Who is the largest veterinary consolidator in North Carolina?

Mission Pet Health (owned by The Vets Pets) is the largest veterinary consolidator operating in North Carolina, with 49 in-state locations.

What share of veterinary practices in North Carolina are hiring?

11.1% of veterinary practices in North Carolina 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 North Carolina against every other state on the ownership & consolidation statistics page, or browse the rankings.