State report

State of Vet Care in Tennessee

As of October 2026, Tennessee has 802 veterinary practices tracked; 23.6% are corporately owned , led by PetVet Care Centers with 31 in-state locations . 76.4% of practices remain independently owned , and 10.3% are actively hiring .

Key takeaways

  • 802 veterinary practices tracked in Tennessee, of which 23.6% are corporately owned.
  • 15.8% of practices in Tennessee are private-equity-backed.
  • PetVet Care Centers (owned by KKR) leads all consolidators operating in the state with 31 locations.
  • General practices make up 84.5% of the state's practice mix.

Consolidation by city

At a glance

802
Practices tracked
76.4%
Independent
23.6%
Corporately owned
15.8%
PE-backed

10.3% of practices in Tennessee are actively hiring.

Ownership breakdown in Tennessee

Ownership type Practices Share
Independent 613 76.4%
PE-backed 127 15.8%
Corporate group 52 6.5%
Private group 9 1.1%
Nonprofit 1 0.1%
National ownership-type breakdown, stacked by share Independent: 76.4% (613 practices) PE-backed: 15.8% (127 practices) Corporate group: 6.5% (52 practices) Private group: 1.1% (9 practices) Nonprofit: 0.1% (1 practices) 76%16%6% Independent (76.4%) PE-backed (15.8%) Corporate group (6.5%) Private group (1.1%) Nonprofit (0.1%)

Top consolidators operating in Tennessee

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 PetVet Care Centers KKR (Private Equity) 31 16.5%
2 NVA JAB Holding Company (Strategic) 23 12.2%
3 Banfield Mars (Strategic) 19 10.1%
4 Heartland Veterinary Partners Gryphon Investors (Private Equity) 19 10.1%
5 Mission Pet Health Shore Capital Partners / Silver Lake (Private Equity) 17 9.0%
6 Thrive Pet Healthcare TSG Consumer Partners (Private Equity) 11 5.9%
7 VCA Mars (Strategic) 8 4.3%
8 Innovetive Pet Care Metalmark Capital (Private Equity) 7 3.7%
9 Alliance Animal Health L Catterton (Private Equity) 7 3.7%
10 PetWellClinic PetWellClinic (franchise system) (Independent) 5 2.7%

Practice-type mix

Type Practices Share
General 678 84.5%
Mobile 43 5.4%
Specialty Referral 37 4.6%
Mixed 17 2.1%
Emergency 17 2.1%
Urgent Care 10 1.2%

Species mix

Segment Practices Share
Small Animal 642 80.0%
Mixed 126 15.7%
Equine 23 2.9%
Exotic 8 1.0%
Other 2 0.2%
Unspecified 1 0.1%

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Veterinary careers in Tennessee

843 open veterinary jobs

Who's hiring in Tennessee right now.

See jobs →

Veterinarian salary

What veterinarians earn in Tennessee.

See pay →

Vet tech salary

What veterinary technicians earn in Tennessee.

See pay →

Frequently asked questions

How many veterinary practices are in Tennessee?

As of October 2026, VetPulse tracks 802 veterinary practices in Tennessee.

What percentage of veterinary practices in Tennessee are corporately owned?

23.6% of veterinary practices in Tennessee are corporately owned — part of a consolidator, private-equity-backed group, or public company — while 76.4% remain independent.

Who is the largest veterinary consolidator in Tennessee?

PetVet Care Centers (owned by KKR) is the largest veterinary consolidator operating in Tennessee, with 31 in-state locations.

What share of veterinary practices in Tennessee are hiring?

10.3% of veterinary practices in Tennessee 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 Tennessee against every other state on the ownership & consolidation statistics page, or browse the rankings.