Benchmarking data plus elevating efficiency equals practice productivity

U.S. veterinary practices averaged about $1.5 million in gross revenue in 2024, but adjustment for inflation shows only modest growth in this metric since 2016.

Another sobering trend: The average number of active clients per practice has been declining since 2019 by about 95 clients per year, to a total of 3,351 clients in 2024. Over the same period, the average number active clients per full-time equivalent (FTE) veterinarian has declined by 15 clients per year, to a total of 1,499 in 2024.

In 2023, there were 34,296 veterinary practices, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. On average, approximately 362 new veterinary practices have been added each year since 2010, for an annual growth rate of 1.3%.

To help create stronger and profitable practices, Frederic B. Ouedraogo, PhD, senior economist and associate director in the AVMA Veterinary Economics Division, encouraged practice owners to create their own data assets to evaluate the health of their own practice and engage in benchmarking analyses.

"This allows us to gain insights into our practice performance, monitor our performance over time and against our peers, enabling us to identify our strengths and weaknesses. More importantly, it allows us to learn things that others are doing," he said.

Dr. Ouedraogo presented data from the 2025 AVMA Veterinary Practice Owners Survey during his talk "Unlocking Practice Health: Examining the Latest Practice Health Data" at the 2025 AVMA Veterinary Business and Economic Forum, held October 8-9 in Denver.

One of the key metrics for assessing operational efficiency in veterinary practice is gross revenue per square foot, which in 2024 was $538 per square foot on average.

"This is how much revenue each practice generates per square foot and is a good indicator of practice health," he said, adding that this figure is especially helpful for comparison because it can be done with any other kind of practice, regardless of size. "Removing bottlenecks will result in greater efficiency and increase gross revenue per square foot."

Optimizing practice resources, including space and workforce, and removing inefficiencies in systems and processes, such as adopting new technologies, can help veterinary practices boost productivity and revenue, says Frederic B. Ouedraogo, PhD, senior economist and associate director in the AVMA Veterinary Economics Division.

Other productivity metrics from the survey are as follows:

• Gross revenue per exam room: This is total revenue divided by the number of exam rooms in the practice. In 2024, U.S. veterinary practices generated $444,668, on average, per exam room per year. Inflation-adjusted (real) revenue per exam room has been trending down since 2020.
• Gross revenue per FTE veterinarian: In 2024, the average veterinary practice generated $554,982 per veterinarian, down in inflation-adjusted terms from nearly $600,000 in 2019. Revenue per veterinarian per hour averaged $288 in 2024. "According to our data, veterinarians spend about 30 minutes per patient and complete about 15 scheduled appointments per day, on average, under normal circumstances," Dr. Ouedraogo said.
• Patients per veterinarian per day: The average veterinary practice saw 15 patients per day in 2024, compared with 16.6 in 2021, which he noted may have been unusually high during the pandemic. "If demand for veterinary services slows down, no matter how efficient you are, you will see fewer patients. So it can be a market-related issue, but let's make sure that our systems and processes are as efficient as they can be, and again, ways to increase efficiency include but are not limited to optimizing your space, empowering your staff through training, and adopting cutting-edge technology that could boost productivity," he said.
• Veterinary practice space utilization: The average veterinary practice measured 3,845 square feet and had 3.5 exam rooms in 2024. The number of FTE veterinarians per exam room was 0.92. "It should be 0.5 or so, allowing one veterinarian to go from one room to another without waiting for the exam room to be ready for next patient," Dr. Ouedraogo said.
• Veterinary practice staffing numbers: The average veterinary practice reported 2.76 FTE veterinarians, which has varied between 2.5 and 2.8 since 2019. In addition, practices averaged 3.7 nonmedical staff members plus 5.74 veterinary technicians and veterinary assistants. But these numbers depend on the species, he noted. Companion animal predominant and exclusive practices averaged a little more than 2.6 FTE veterinarians, 6.35 FTE veterinary technicians and veterinary assistants, and around 4.1 nonmedical staff. Food animal and equine practices had between 3.34 and 2.56 FTE veterinarians, 1.55 and 2.6 veterinary technicians and veterinary assistants, and 1.25 and 1.45 nonmedical staff. Overall, the medical staff-to-veterinarian ratio was 2.21:1 in 2024.

Dr. Ouedraogo encouraged attendees to use the statistics derived from that survey as benchmarks to identify areas for improvement and drive better performance.
He added, "Keep in mind that your PIMS system may have capabilities to generate [these metrics] for you. Take the time to understand your management software, understand what it can do."