State report

State of Vet Care in Colorado

As of September 2026, Colorado has 916 veterinary practices tracked; 30.3% are corporately owned , led by NVA with 35 in-state locations . 69.7% of practices remain independently owned , and 11.8% are actively hiring .

Key takeaways

  • 916 veterinary practices tracked in Colorado, of which 30.3% are corporately owned.
  • 17.4% of practices in Colorado are private-equity-backed.
  • NVA (owned by JAB Holding Company) leads all consolidators operating in the state with 35 locations.
  • General practices make up 74.9% of the state's practice mix.

Consolidation by city

At a glance

916
Practices tracked
69.7%
Independent
30.3%
Corporately owned
17.4%
PE-backed

11.8% of practices in Colorado are actively hiring.

Ownership breakdown in Colorado

Ownership type Practices Share
Independent 638 69.7%
PE-backed 159 17.4%
Corporate group 94 10.3%
Private group 5 0.5%
Nonprofit 2 0.2%
Public company 18 2.0%
National ownership-type breakdown, stacked by share Independent: 69.7% (638 practices) PE-backed: 17.4% (159 practices) Corporate group: 10.3% (94 practices) Private group: 0.5% (5 practices) Nonprofit: 0.2% (2 practices) Public company: 2.0% (18 practices) 70%17%10% Independent (69.7%) PE-backed (17.4%) Corporate group (10.3%) Private group (0.5%) Nonprofit (0.2%) Public company (2.0%)

Top consolidators operating in Colorado

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 NVA JAB Holding Company (Strategic) 35 12.8%
2 Mission Pet Health Shore Capital Partners / Silver Lake (Private Equity) 33 12.0%
3 VCA Mars (Strategic) 27 9.9%
4 Banfield Mars (Strategic) 26 9.5%
5 PetVet Care Centers KKR (Private Equity) 20 7.3%
6 Vetco (Petco) Petco (Public) 17 6.2%
7 Western Veterinary Partners Tyree & D'Angelo Partners (Private Equity) 14 5.1%
8 Blue River PetCare Partners Group (Private Equity) 12 4.4%
9 Thrive Pet Healthcare TSG Consumer Partners (Private Equity) 9 3.3%
10 VetCor Oak Hill Capital (Private Equity) 8 2.9%

Practice-type mix

Type Practices Share
General 686 74.9%
Mobile 84 9.2%
Specialty Referral 58 6.3%
Mixed 33 3.6%
Emergency 33 3.6%
Urgent Care 22 2.4%

Species mix

Segment Practices Share
Small Animal 718 78.4%
Mixed 145 15.8%
Equine 37 4.0%
Exotic 13 1.4%
Other 2 0.2%
Food Animal 1 0.1%

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Veterinary careers in Colorado

1,465 open veterinary jobs

Who's hiring in Colorado right now.

See jobs →

Veterinarian salary

What veterinarians earn in Colorado.

See pay →

Vet tech salary

What veterinary technicians earn in Colorado.

See pay →

Frequently asked questions

How many veterinary practices are in Colorado?

As of September 2026, VetPulse tracks 916 veterinary practices in Colorado.

What percentage of veterinary practices in Colorado are corporately owned?

30.3% of veterinary practices in Colorado are corporately owned — part of a consolidator, private-equity-backed group, or public company — while 69.7% remain independent.

Who is the largest veterinary consolidator in Colorado?

NVA (owned by JAB Holding Company) is the largest veterinary consolidator operating in Colorado, with 35 in-state locations.

What share of veterinary practices in Colorado are hiring?

11.8% of veterinary practices in Colorado 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 Colorado against every other state on the ownership & consolidation statistics page, or browse the rankings.