State report

State of Vet Care in Tennessee

As of September 2026, Tennessee has 796 veterinary practices tracked; 19.3% are corporately owned , led by PetVet Care Centers with 30 in-state locations . 80.7% of practices remain independently owned , and 10.3% are actively hiring .

Key takeaways

  • 796 veterinary practices tracked in Tennessee, of which 19.3% are corporately owned.
  • 14.7% of practices in Tennessee are private-equity-backed.
  • PetVet Care Centers (owned by KKR) leads all consolidators operating in the state with 30 locations.
  • General practices make up 85.7% of the state's practice mix.

Consolidation by city

At a glance

796
Practices tracked
80.7%
Independent
19.3%
Corporately owned
14.7%
PE-backed

10.3% of practices in Tennessee are actively hiring.

Ownership breakdown in Tennessee

Ownership type Practices Share
Independent 642 80.7%
PE-backed 117 14.7%
Corporate group 36 4.5%
Nonprofit 1 0.1%
National ownership-type breakdown, stacked by share Independent: 80.7% (642 practices) PE-backed: 14.7% (117 practices) Corporate group: 4.5% (36 practices) Nonprofit: 0.1% (1 practices) 81%15% Independent (80.7%) PE-backed (14.7%) Corporate group (4.5%) 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) 30 16.6%
2 NVA TSG Consumer Partners (Private Equity) 23 12.7%
3 Banfield Mars (Strategic) 20 11.0%
4 Heartland Veterinary Partners Gryphon Investors 19 10.5%
5 Mission Pet Health The Vets Pets (Private Equity) 15 8.3%
6 VCA Mars (Strategic) 8 4.4%
7 Innovetive Pet Care Metalmark Capital 7 3.9%
8 Vetco (Petco) Petco (Public) 5 2.8%
9 Thrive Pet Healthcare TSG Consumer Partners (Private Equity) 5 2.8%
10 Alliance Animal Health Latticework Capital / Bridgepoint (Private Equity) 5 2.8%

Practice-type mix

Type Practices Share
General 682 85.7%
Mobile 41 5.2%
Specialty Referral 31 3.9%
Emergency 17 2.1%
Mixed 16 2.0%
Urgent Care 9 1.1%

Species mix

Segment Practices Share
Small Animal 641 80.5%
Mixed 122 15.3%
Equine 22 2.8%
Exotic 8 1.0%
Other 2 0.3%
Unspecified 1 0.1%

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Frequently asked questions

How many veterinary practices are in Tennessee?

As of September 2026, VetPulse tracks 796 veterinary practices in Tennessee.

What percentage of veterinary practices in Tennessee are corporately owned?

19.3% of veterinary practices in Tennessee are corporately owned — part of a consolidator, private-equity-backed group, or public company — while 80.7% 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 30 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.