Updated
PERM occupation, SOC 29-1131, #861 of 1,410 by filings
Veterinarians
- Biggest sponsor
- Ocean Avenue Veterinary Hospital Inc. · 22% of its filings
- Busiest state
- TX · 44% of its filings
- Major group
- Healthcare practitioners · SOC 29
Weighing an offer for this job?
Where it falls among certified offers, and the four wage levels DOL sets for it by area.
Too few cases for a rate
8 decided filings: too few for an approval rate.
Why
Across every PERM case DOL decided in this window, 3.20% were denied. At that rate a file this size comes back clean most of the time whatever the occupation did, so a percentage would be a fact about how few cases there are. Telling a clean record apart from the field takes about 117 decided cases.
Median wage
$94,806
all PERM $103,272
Filings
9
#861 of 1,410
Approval
Not shown
withheld: 8 decided
Median days
391
middle of 8 decided
What it pays
Where its median offer sits among every occupation, then the whole ladder of certified offers by year and by state.
Median offered wage
$94,806median of 9 filings, too few decided to rank
Approval rate
not shownunder 30 decided
Median days to decision
391 daysmiddle of 8 decided, too few to rank
Each bar counts occupations at that value. More
Who files it
The sponsors and firms with the most PERM filings under this code, the places the work sits, and who the workers were.
Sponsors filing it
- Ocean Avenue Veterinary Hospital Inc. 2 filings
- Suveto Veterinary TX PLLC 2 filings
- ERUnion LLC 1 filings
- IDEXX LABORATORIES, INC. 1 filings
- Reddys Pet Clinic LLC DBA Affordable Pet Clinic 1 filings
- United Veterinary Care TX PLLC 1 filings
How this is counted
The employers with the most applications under this code. 8 of 9 filings, 89% of the total.
Firms filing it
- Judy Chang Law Firm 3 filings
- National Immigration Law Corporation 2 filings
- Frenkel, Hershkowitz Shafran, LLP 1 filings
- Pierce Atwood LLP 1 filings
- Reddy Neumann, P.C. 1 filings
- Sumner Immigration Law 1 filings
How this is counted
The law firms named on the most applications under this code. 9 of 9 filings, 100% of the total.
Where the jobs are
- Texas 4
- California 3
- North Carolina 1
- Washington 1
How this is counted
The worksite state on the application, which is where the job is and not where the company is headquartered. Volume by state across everyone is on the state map. These 4 states cover 9 of 9 filings.
Where the work is
- Houston, TX 3
- San Francisco, CA 2
- Austin, TX 1
- Cary, NC 1
- Olympia, WA 1
- West Sacramento, CA 1
How this is counted
The worksite city on the application, which is where the job is. These 6 cities cover 9 of 9 filings.
- Every sponsor that files it, by state, approval rate, offered wage and time to a decision
- Every filing for it, PERM, wage requests and H-1B, case by case
Who filled these jobs, FY2016 to FY2023
From DOL's old form; the form in use since mid-2023 doesn't carry them. Top six of each.
Country of citizenship
- Canada 108
- India 84
- South Korea 61
- Taiwan 23
- United Kingdom 17
- Mexico 16
Worker's education
- Other 347
- Doctorate 66
- Master's 18
- Bachelor's 15
- None 1
Visa held when filed
- H-1B 268
- TN 64
- F-1 57
- NOT IN USA 10
- E-2 6
- E-3 5
Schools
- PUNJAB AGRICULTURAL UNIVERSITY 29
- ACHARYA N.G. RANGA AGRICULTURAL UNIVERSITY 25
- KONKUK UNIVERSITY 12
- UNIVERSITY OF GUELPH 12
- SEOUL NATIONAL UNIVERSITY 10
- SRI VENKATESWARA VETERINARY UNIVERSITY 8
Fields of study
- VETERINARY MEDICINE 330
- VETERINARY SCIENCE 22
- DOCTOR OF VETERINARY MEDICINE 18
- VETERINARY SCIENCE AND ANIMAL HUSBANDRY 5
- VETERINARY MEDICINE (US EVALUATION) 4
- VETERINARY MEDICINE SCIENCE 4
The job itself
What O*NET says the work is, what the market pays it by BLS's survey, its outlook, and DOL's wage levels year by year.
- United States83,900 jobs
- Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TXHouston
- San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CASan Francisco
- Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, TXAustin
- Raleigh-Cary, NCCary
- Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater, WAOlympia
- middle half of pay (BLS)
- median
- 10th to 90th percentile
- DOL's Levels I to IV, left to right
- median PERM offer
| Area | BLS median | Level I | Level II | Level III | Level IV |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| United States | $130,100 | ||||
| Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX | $132,280 | $94,245 | $118,373 | $142,501 | $166,629 |
| San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA | $208,080 | $113,110 | $153,941 | $194,750 | $235,581 |
| Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, TX | $133,250 | $97,822 | $121,098 | $144,352 | $167,627 |
| Raleigh-Cary, NC | $130,350 | $84,635 | $112,486 | $140,338 | $168,189 |
| Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater, WA | $158,880 | $102,086 | $129,480 | $156,894 | $184,288 |
How these figures fit together
BLS surveys employers on what they pay everyone in a job; DOL builds its four levels from the same survey a year later (the July 2026 wage year uses BLS's May 2025 estimates). DOL publishes levels by area, not nationally, so the United States line has none. Levels are hourly in DOL's tables; here they're shown a year at 2,080 hours, as DOL computes them. The metros are the ones holding the most of this job's PERM filings, placed by Census's county files.
The block is the middle half of what employers report paying everyone in this job, citizen or not; the ticks under it are DOL's four prevailing wage levels for that metro, the floors a PERM or H-1B offer is held to. More
DOL's levels for this job in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX, year by year
Each July DOL resets the four levels from BLS's newest survey. A determination keeps the figures of the year it was issued in.
| Wage year | Level I | Level II | Level III | Level IV |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-27 | $94,245 | $118,373 | $142,501 | $166,629 |
| 2025-26 | $82,160 | $109,678 | $137,197 | $164,715 |
| 2024-25 | $84,739 | $108,368 | $132,018 | $155,646 |
| 2023-24 | $75,130 | $97,906 | $120,661 | $143,437 |
| 2022-23 | $70,762 | $94,286 | $117,811 | $141,336 |
| 2021-22 | $94,806 | $132,018 | $169,229 | $206,440 |
What the job is
Diagnose, treat, or research diseases and injuries of animals. Includes veterinarians who conduct research and development, inspect livestock, or care for pets and companion animals.
- Preparation
- Extensive Preparation Needed
- O*NET Job Zone 5
- DOL's education basis
- Doctoral or professional degree
- Wage year 2026-27, on DOL's Appendix A list
- Jobs, 2025 to 2035
- +9.4%
- About 3,100 openings a year (BLS)
- Typical entry
- Doctoral or professional degree
- BLS
Bright Outlook O*NET OnLine lists this job for rapid growth.
The work, most important first
- Treat sick or injured animals by prescribing medication, setting bones, dressing wounds, or performing surgery.
- Inoculate animals against various diseases, such as rabies or distemper.
- Examine animals to detect and determine the nature of diseases or injuries.
- Collect body tissue, feces, blood, urine, or other body fluids for examination and analysis.
- Operate diagnostic equipment, such as radiographic or ultrasound equipment, and interpret the resulting images.
- Educate the public about diseases that can be spread from animals to humans.
The education workers in it report
- 9%
First Professional Degree - awarded for completion of a program that: requires at least 2 years of college work before entrance into the program, includes a total of at least 6 academic years of work to complete, and provides all remaining academic requirements to begin practice in a profession.
- 79%
Doctoral Degree
- 12%
Post-Doctoral Training
Titles people use for it
Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (DVM), Emergency Veterinarian (Emergency Vet), Small Animal Veterinarian (Small Animal Vet), Veterinary Medicine Doctor (DVM), Companion Animal Practitioner, Large Animal Veterinarian (Large Animal Vet), Mixed Animal Veterinarian (Mixed Animal Vet), Veterinary Surgeon (Vet Surgeon).
Related jobs: Veterinary Technologists and Technicians, Veterinary Assistants and Laboratory Animal Caretakers, Allergists and Immunologists, Physicians, Pathologists, Emergency Medicine Physicians, Dermatologists.
This section includes information from the O*NET 31.0 Database and O*NET OnLine by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. PERM Tracker has modified some of this information (the shares are rounded and only the top tasks are shown); what changed. USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications.
Against other jobs
Where this sits in the ranking
Ranked 861 of 1,410 by volume: 860 filed at least as many filings, and 549 filed no more.
- Just above
- Production, Planning and Expediting Clerks 9 filings
- Just below
- Business Operations Specialists, All Other 9 filings
Other healthcare practitioners roles
Occupations sharing this one's SOC major group, which is carried in the first two digits of the code. More
Occupations sharing this one's SOC major group, which is carried in the first two digits of the code. Wages inside a group still swing hard, because the group holds every seniority level and every metro.
- #858 Occupational Therapists 9 filings · 4 denied
- #854 Respiratory Therapists 9 filings · none denied
- #868 Orthotists and Prosthetists 8 filings · none denied
- #849 Audiologists 9 filings · none denied
- #847 Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons 9 filings · none denied
- #876 Ophthalmologists, Except Pediatric 8 filings · none denied
The same job on H-1B
2,315 certified H-1B labor condition applications for this occupation since FY2020, offering a median of $129,672 a year; the middle half ran $92,000 to $167,845. By state and year in the salary explorer.
Notes on these numbers
Reading the wage
A floor, not a salary survey: every level and metro mixed. DOL's four wage levels for this job, by area.
What the median is
The median wage employers committed to in federal filings for this occupation. It mixes every experience level and every metro, and it's a floor: the employer must offer at least the prevailing wage DOL determines for the occupation, level and county. Across all PERM filings the middle half of offered wages runs $45,178 to $141,357, so a figure inside that band is unremarkable whichever occupation it belongs to. The levels page reads DOL's OFLC wage search live.
What these numbers don't say
4 notes
- The code is the identity
- This one is SOC 29-1131. Two SOC codes can carry the same job title, so a title that looks duplicated on the ranking is two different occupations. Match on the code when you're checking a specific filing.
- A median isn’t an offer
- It's the middle of all 9 wages committed to for this occupation across the country, entry level and principal alike. The same role's medians swing hard by worksite, which the state map shows directly.
- Approval isn’t about the occupation
- The denial rate moves with what happened in the filing rather than with the job title, so nothing here is a property of Veterinarians. The measured factors are on the denial risk page, published as separate rates.
- Nothing here is pending
- All 9 counted here carry a decision date, because every case in DOL's disclosure files does, so a case still waiting is in none of them. The largest filer of this occupation is Ocean Avenue Veterinary Hospital Inc.. Where the queue stands today is on the processing times page.
The window these figures cover: DOL's PERM disclosure files for fiscal years 2024 to 2026, through the third quarter of 2026, 373,939 decided cases. Nothing pending is counted here. How each figure is built
Weighing an offer?
Compare it against this median, then check the state map, where the same occupation's medians swing hard by worksite.
Setting one?
All 1,410 occupations sort together on the wages page, and denial rates show how outcome moves with the offered wage.
Filings newer than DOL's last published file can't be attributed to this occupation until DOL publishes them. The live list on the case search page carries them by employer.
Case data: DOL quarterly disclosure files (flag.dol.gov) · data through Jun 30, 2026 · quarterly
Employers and firms: Derived from DOL's disclosure files · data through Jun 30, 2026 · rebuilt with each quarterly load
O*NET occupation data: O*NET Database, USDOL/ETA (onetcenter.org) · data through Aug 16, 2026 · twice a year
BLS market pay: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (bls.gov) · data through May 31, 2025 · yearly, each spring
BLS employment projections: BLS Employment Projections (bls.gov) · data through Dec 31, 2025 · yearly, each autumn
DOL wage tables: DOL OFLC wage data downloads (flag.dol.gov) · data through Jul 1, 2026 · yearly, each july
What each source includes
Case data: Decided PERM cases only. A case still waiting isn't in here, so counts and durations describe finished cases.
Employers and firms: Employers, law firms and occupations ranked from decided cases only.
O*NET occupation data: What O*NET says each occupation is and takes: its description, tasks, Job Zone and the education workers report. A description of the job everywhere, not of any one employer's opening.
BLS market pay: What employers report paying everyone in each job, nationally, by state and by metro, from BLS's yearly survey (May of the year named). Citizens and immigrants alike; not PERM offers.
BLS employment projections: BLS's ten-year projection of each job's employment and yearly openings, and the entry education it calls typical. A projection, not a count.
DOL wage tables: The four prevailing wage levels DOL publishes for every job in every area, each wage year from 2021-22, as DOL's own tables print them. The floors an offer is held to, not what anyone was paid.
Cite this page
Waiting on a PERM case?
- When it'll likely be decided
- An email when DOL moves it