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 95.2% of its 166 practices independently owned rather than part of a consolidator, PE-backed group, or public company. North Dakota (94.7%) and Wyoming (91.3%) follow.
Full ranking
| # | State | Practices | Independent | Corporate | PE-backed | Hiring | Top ownership group |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | South Dakota | 166 | 95.2% | 4.8% | 1.2% | 6.6% | NVA |
| 2 | North Dakota | 94 | 94.7% | 5.3% | 3.2% | 13.8% | CareVet |
| 3 | Wyoming | 115 | 91.3% | 8.7% | 7.0% | 6.1% | PetVet Care Centers |
| 4 | Montana | 246 | 90.7% | 9.3% | 4.9% | 5.7% | NVA |
| 5 | Iowa | 489 | 87.5% | 12.5% | 8.0% | 7.4% | NVA |
| 6 | Kentucky | 527 | 87.1% | 12.9% | 9.1% | 6.8% | Banfield |
| 7 | Alabama | 571 | 86.3% | 13.7% | 8.9% | 6.3% | Banfield |
| 8 | Nebraska | 326 | 85.9% | 14.1% | 10.7% | 11.0% | Alliance Animal Health |
| 9 | Mississippi | 295 | 85.8% | 14.2% | 10.8% | 4.4% | Alliance Animal Health |
| 10 | Hawaii | 124 | 85.5% | 14.5% | 6.5% | 12.9% | VCA |
| 11 | Oklahoma | 589 | 84.2% | 15.8% | 8.8% | 8.3% | Banfield |
| 12 | West Virginia | 170 | 84.1% | 15.9% | 10.6% | 9.4% | Alliance Animal Health |
| 13 | Kansas | 481 | 83.4% | 16.6% | 10.6% | 7.7% | Mission Pet Health |
| 14 | Arkansas | 340 | 82.9% | 17.1% | 15.0% | 7.4% | Alliance Animal Health |
| 15 | Idaho | 236 | 82.2% | 17.8% | 12.3% | 9.3% | 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.