How Much Do Vets Make An Hour: Is It Financially Worthwhile To Pursue This Career?

Unquestionably, veterinarians receive the same respect as human medical doctors as they protect animal health and indirectly protect human health. Besides, the veterinarian’s duties are more than just visiting and working at pet stores. So what are the other daily chores of a veterinarian? Then how many hours does a veterinarian work? How much do vets make an hour? Here is an overview of this promising job.

Job Description

Medical Examination And Treatment For Animals

Do Preliminary Examination and Prepare Treatment Sheets Based On Ready-made Templates

The treatment sheet contains basic information such as time, diagnosis, and prescription when the veterinarian does a preliminary examination for the animal. To make a more accurate diagnosis, veterinarians tend to ask clients about the animal’s medical history.

Provide Treatment Plans And Prescriptions

Once diagnosing the pet’s disease, the veterinarian will give the treatment regimen. They also write prescriptions, specifying the quantity, dosage, and duration of treatment. As a veterinarian, you may also need to inject the pets regularly after checking the expiration date and the manufacturer’s recommendations.

Maintain Records, Treatment Slips, And Follow-up Records

After the treatment, the veterinarian is responsible for collecting the specimens, putting them in the right place. Besides, they need to keep the treatment slip and keep a logbook for the client when visiting again.

Arrange Accommodation For Pets

Firstly, consider the pet’s condition. If the pet needs more veterinarian’s care, they have to arrange accommodation for the pet for treatment. Otherwise, the vet can send it back to the owner.

Job Description

An interesting occupation that pet lovers cannot miss – Source: Getty Images

Carry Out The Mating Process

In addition to examining and treating animals, veterinarians often have to perform breeding animals in livestock facilities.

It is necessary to keep records and monitor the health status of animals before mating. The vet also needs to record the date and calculate the due date for the pet after breeding.

Implement Vaccination And Disease Prevention Procedures

Under some weather and environmental conditions, pets are very susceptible to disease. Therefore, veterinarians have to implement vaccination and disease prevention.

Usually, veterinarians will use vaccines to prevent common diseases. Concurrently, when there are signs of illness, the veterinarian will separate the sick animals from the rest and perform treatment for these pets. 

How Much Do Vets Make An Hour: Is It Financially Worthwhile To Pursue This Career?

When clicking on the article, you are definitely not only interested in money, right? – Source: www.beefmagazine.com 

Disinfect The Barn And Treat Medical Waste

Veterinarians perform work on the barn, such as general cleaning and disinfecting the barn to ensure the safety and hygiene of the animal residence.

In general, adequately disinfectant spraying as prescribed is one of the main tasks in this process. For example, the syringes, needles, and other garbage must be in the right place and handled appropriately.

Furthermore, the implementation of the anti-farm disinfection process and medical waste treatment needs to meet the proper standards. Above all, this is to best prevent epidemics by providing a clean, germ-free living environment for livestock.

Other Tasks

In general, veterinarians also conduct research projects, research measures to prevent diseases for animals, and prepare medicines to treat animals.

Job Outlook

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the employment of veterinarians is likely to grow 16% from 2019 to 2029. This speed is much faster than the average for all occupations. Overall, job opportunities will be abundant.

Job Outlook

Employment opportunities for vets are numerous in the next 8 years – Source: moviesdarpan.com

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How Much Do Vets Make An Hour: Pay Rate and Compensation

How much do veterinarians make an hour? According to ziprecruiter.com, a veterinarian in the United States generally earns around 46 USD per hour (as of July 19, 2021). To clarify, the hourly wage ranges from 19 USD to 73 USD. 

So how many hours does a veterinarian work? Most vets work full time, which means at least 40 hours weekly. However, some work nights or weekends or even have to respond to emergencies beyond the scheduled work hours as needed. Therefore, the average annual salary of a typical vet is about 96,624 USD per year.

In regard to the highest-paying states, here is a list of the top 10 cities where veterinarians earn the most:

NoCityAnnual SalaryMonthly PayWeekly PayHourly Wage
1San Mateo, CA$115,769$9,647$2,226$55.66
2Boston, MA$113,938$9,495$2,191$54.78
3Santa Monica, CA$112,455$9,371$2,163$54.07
4Renton, WA$112,089$9,341$2,156$53.89
5Berkeley, CA$111,605$9,300$2,146$53.66
6Daly City, CA$111,292$9,274$2,140$53.51
7Lowell, MA$110,311$9,193$2,121$53.03
8Richmond, CA$108,874$9,073$2,094$52.34
9Newark, NJ$108,589$9,049$2,088$52.21
10Springfield, MA$107,859$8,988$2,074$51.86

How much do veterinarians make an hour: Top 10 highest-paying cities for vets in the United States – Source: ziprecruiter.com 

In addition, let’s go deeper into the detailed breakdown of veterinarians’ earnings based on some criteria:

How Much Do Vets Make An Hour: salary distribution

Veterinarian salary distribution in the United States – Source: www.salaryexplorer.com  

comparison by years of experience

Salary comparison by years of experience – Source: www.salaryexplorer.com  

Salary based on education levels

Veterinarian salary comparison by education levels – Source: www.salaryexplorer.com  

Veterinarian Salary comparison by gender - How Much Do Vets Make An Hour

Salary comparison by gender – Source: www.salaryexplorer.com 

The average annual salary increment percentage

Veterinarian average annual salary increment percentage – Source: www.salaryexplorer.com

The bonus and incentive rates - How Much Do Vets Make An Hour

The bonus and incentive rates of a Veterinarian – Source: www.salaryexplorer.com

How To Get Started?

If you want to be a veterinarian, this tutorial will help you understand the educational path and the steps you can do right now to pursue this career path:

Step to become a Veterinarian

How Much Do Vets Make An Hour: Conclusion

To sum up, you got the answer for “How much do vets make an hour?” Now come back to the main question, is it financially worthwhile to pursue a veterinarian career?

Unfortunately for those who become vets just for money, the answer is no. Certainly not worth it financially if you are just an ordinary vet. But if you want to swim in cash, go to med school to specialize or run your own veterinary clinic.

In the end, I believe that when clicking on the article, you are not only interested in money, right? If you are interested in animals, science, medicine, and surgery, then go for it.

You are a pet lover and want to pursue a career with animals? Then these jobs are for you:

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Explore more job descriptions, salaries, and other related information in our Job overview – What The Job Entails – Plan Your Way to Success section.

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Emma Anderson

Emma Anderson is a career consultant and freelance writer for JobandEdu by night. Layla assists students, and new hires in determining a suitable career path and walk them through the application process. She decides to pursue writing since she thinks everyone should have access to information about potential careers, such as the application process and the company's culture. She's into writing, driving her with stuff that interests her in all her good reads.