State report

State of Vet Care in Alabama

As of September 2026, Alabama has 575 veterinary practices tracked; 13.7% are corporately owned , led by Banfield with 10 in-state locations . 86.3% of practices remain independently owned , and 6.3% are actively hiring .

Key takeaways

  • 575 veterinary practices tracked in Alabama, of which 13.7% are corporately owned.
  • 9.4% of practices in Alabama are private-equity-backed.
  • Banfield (owned by Mars) leads all consolidators operating in the state with 10 locations.
  • General practices make up 90.6% of the state's practice mix.

Consolidation by city

At a glance

575
Practices tracked
86.3%
Independent
13.7%
Corporately owned
9.4%
PE-backed

6.3% of practices in Alabama are actively hiring.

Ownership breakdown in Alabama

Ownership type Practices Share
Independent 496 86.3%
PE-backed 54 9.4%
Corporate group 22 3.8%
Private group 1 0.2%
Public company 2 0.3%
National ownership-type breakdown, stacked by share Independent: 86.3% (496 practices) PE-backed: 9.4% (54 practices) Corporate group: 3.8% (22 practices) Private group: 0.2% (1 practices) Public company: 0.3% (2 practices) 86%9% Independent (86.3%) PE-backed (9.4%) Corporate group (3.8%) Private group (0.2%) Public company (0.3%)

Top consolidators operating in Alabama

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 Banfield Mars (Strategic) 10 12.7%
2 Mission Pet Health Shore Capital Partners / Silver Lake (Private Equity) 9 11.4%
3 PetVet Care Centers KKR (Private Equity) 7 8.9%
4 VetCor Oak Hill Capital (Private Equity) 7 8.9%
5 American Veterinary Group Oak Hill Capital (Private Equity) 6 7.6%
6 Alliance Animal Health L Catterton (Private Equity) 6 7.6%
7 NVA JAB Holding Company (Strategic) 6 7.6%
8 Heartland Veterinary Partners Gryphon Investors (Private Equity) 5 6.3%
9 CareVet Compass Group Equity Partners (Private Equity) 5 6.3%
10 VCA Mars (Strategic) 4 5.1%

Practice-type mix

Type Practices Share
General 521 90.6%
Specialty Referral 16 2.8%
Mobile 14 2.4%
Mixed 10 1.7%
Emergency 10 1.7%
Urgent Care 4 0.7%

Species mix

Segment Practices Share
Small Animal 475 82.6%
Mixed 90 15.7%
Equine 8 1.4%
Other 1 0.2%
Exotic 1 0.2%

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Veterinary careers in Alabama

957 open veterinary jobs

Who's hiring in Alabama right now.

See jobs →

Veterinarian salary

What veterinarians earn in Alabama.

See pay →

Vet tech salary

What veterinary technicians earn in Alabama.

See pay →

Frequently asked questions

How many veterinary practices are in Alabama?

As of September 2026, VetPulse tracks 575 veterinary practices in Alabama.

What percentage of veterinary practices in Alabama are corporately owned?

13.7% of veterinary practices in Alabama are corporately owned — part of a consolidator, private-equity-backed group, or public company — while 86.3% remain independent.

Who is the largest veterinary consolidator in Alabama?

Banfield (owned by Mars) is the largest veterinary consolidator operating in Alabama, with 10 in-state locations.

What share of veterinary practices in Alabama are hiring?

6.3% of veterinary practices in Alabama 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 Alabama against every other state on the ownership & consolidation statistics page, or browse the rankings.