Most Independent States
US states ranked by the share of veterinary practices that remain independently owned.
Among states with at least 50 tracked practices, South Dakota is the most independent, with 95.3% of its 169 practices independently owned rather than part of a consolidator, PE-backed group, or public company. North Dakota (94.7%) and Wyoming (92.1%) follow.
Full ranking
| # | State | Practices | Independent | Corporate | PE-backed | Hiring | Top ownership group |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | South Dakota | 169 | 95.3% | 4.7% | 4.7% | 6.5% | National Veterinary Associates |
| 2 | North Dakota | 94 | 94.7% | 5.3% | 5.3% | 13.8% | National Veterinary Associates |
| 3 | Wyoming | 114 | 92.1% | 7.9% | 7.0% | 5.3% | PetVet Care Centers |
| 4 | Montana | 245 | 91.0% | 9.0% | 8.2% | 5.7% | National Veterinary Associates |
| 5 | Iowa | 493 | 87.6% | 12.4% | 10.8% | 6.9% | National Veterinary Associates |
| 6 | Nebraska | 330 | 87.6% | 12.4% | 9.1% | 10.6% | Blue River PetCare |
| 7 | Kentucky | 516 | 87.4% | 12.6% | 10.1% | 6.8% | United Veterinary Care |
| 8 | West Virginia | 174 | 87.4% | 12.6% | 10.9% | 9.2% | National Veterinary Associates |
| 9 | Mississippi | 298 | 87.2% | 12.8% | 12.1% | 4.4% | National Veterinary Associates |
| 10 | Arkansas | 345 | 85.8% | 14.2% | 13.0% | 7.2% | CareVet |
| 11 | Kansas | 472 | 85.6% | 14.4% | 10.8% | 7.4% | Mission Pet Health |
| 12 | Oklahoma | 580 | 85.5% | 14.5% | 10.0% | 7.8% | Banfield |
| 13 | Alabama | 574 | 84.7% | 15.3% | 12.2% | 6.3% | Mission Pet Health |
| 14 | Hawaii | 124 | 83.1% | 16.9% | 10.5% | 12.9% | VetCor |
| 15 | Idaho | 238 | 82.4% | 17.6% | 13.0% | 9.7% | Mission Pet Health |
Every figure on this page is queried live from our practice-level dataset. See the methodology for how ownership is triangulated from multiple independent sources. See all rankings on the rankings hub.