State report

State of Vet Care in North Carolina

As of July 2026, North Carolina has 1,239 veterinary practices tracked; 29.1% are corporately owned , led by Mission Pet Health with 52 in-state locations . 70.9% of practices remain independently owned , and 10.8% are actively hiring .

Key takeaways

  • 1,239 veterinary practices tracked in North Carolina, of which 29.1% are corporately owned.
  • 20.2% of practices in North Carolina are private-equity-backed.
  • Mission Pet Health (owned by Shore Capital Partners) leads all consolidators operating in the state with 52 locations.
  • General practices make up 80.1% of the state's practice mix.

Consolidation by city

At a glance

1,239
Practices tracked
70.9%
Independent
29.1%
Corporately owned
20.2%
PE-backed

10.8% of practices in North Carolina are actively hiring.

Ownership breakdown in North Carolina

Ownership type Practices Share
Independent 879 70.9%
PE-backed 250 20.2%
Corporate group 80 6.5%
Nonprofit 1 0.1%
National ownership-type breakdown, stacked by share Independent: 70.9% (879 practices) PE-backed: 20.2% (250 practices) Corporate group: 6.5% (80 practices) Nonprofit: 0.1% (1 practices) 71%20%6% Independent (70.9%) PE-backed (20.2%) Corporate group (6.5%) 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 Shore Capital Partners 52 14.6%
2 Banfield Mars (Strategic) 49 13.8%
3 The Vets Pets The Vets Pets 28 7.9%
4 VetCor Harvest Partners (Strategic) 25 7.0%
5 National Veterinary Associates JAB Holding Company (Strategic) 24 6.7%
6 PetVet Care Centers KKR (Strategic) 23 6.5%
7 American Veterinary Group Oak Hill Capital 22 6.2%
8 Heartland Veterinary Partners Gryphon Investors 16 4.5%
9 Vetco (Petco) Petco (Public) 14 3.9%
10 VCA Mars (Strategic) 12 3.4%

Practice-type mix

Type Practices Share
General 993 80.1%
Mobile 109 8.8%
Specialty Referral 44 3.6%
Urgent Care 42 3.4%
Emergency 37 3.0%
Mixed 14 1.1%

Species mix

Segment Practices Share
Small Animal 1,089 87.9%
Mixed 108 8.7%
Equine 35 2.8%
Exotic 6 0.5%
Other 1 0.1%

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Frequently asked questions

How many veterinary practices are in North Carolina?

As of July 2026, VetPulse tracks 1,239 veterinary practices in North Carolina.

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

29.1% of veterinary practices in North Carolina are corporately owned — part of a consolidator, private-equity-backed group, or public company — while 70.9% remain independent.

Who is the largest veterinary consolidator in North Carolina?

Mission Pet Health (owned by Shore Capital Partners) is the largest veterinary consolidator operating in North Carolina, with 52 in-state locations.

What share of veterinary practices in North Carolina are hiring?

10.8% 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.