A public benchmark for independent veterinary practices

The Independent Vet Fee Index

Help build a clear regional view of what independent practices charge—before another pricing cycle is decided on instinct alone. A public fee index built for indie vets.

Join the founding cohort See what’s inside

No membership required
Anonymous and aggregated
Quarterly regional view

A fee schedule can look stable while the economics around it move. Every underpriced service repeats the gap until the schedule changes.

The cost of veterinary talentU.S. veterinarian median annual wage

PUBLIC BASELINE

2016–2023

$88,770 → $119,100

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics. Annual series: 2016 $88,770; 2017 $90,420; 2018 $93,830; 2019 $95,460; 2020 $99,250; 2021 $100,370; 2022 $103,260; 2023 $119,100.

−3.1% Practice visits Vetsource, 6,451-practice study, 2025 (press-reconstructed)

+4.3% Practice revenue VHMA Insider’s Insights, Jan 2025 (12-month average for member practices; press-reconstructed)

Separate 2025 datasets report visits down 3.1% and revenue up 4.3%; they do not isolate fee changes. Together, they make current regional fee visibility more valuable—not less.

The benchmark gap

A national average can hide a local pricing problem every time the invoice goes out.

Underpricing is not one decision. It repeats until the fee schedule changes. “Am I charging enough for where I am?” should not require a membership, a software subscription or a consult call.

AAHA Benchmarking+

Its fee-reference dashboard is free to AAHA members, with activation routed through a consult rather than open self-service. Source

VHMA drill-downs

Regional, practice-size and species filters exist, but interactive dashboard access is for members; non-members receive static reports. Source

AVMA economic report

Free to members; its PDF is listed at $375–$475 for non-members and reports national averages with a regional-difference caveat. Source

VetFeeIndex takes the opposite approach.

Fee-level specificity in the open. Region as the product, not a buried filter. Existing practice tools are not an open, independent regional fee benchmark, and no $475 PDF is required to participate.

What’s inside

Make the next fee review with evidence, not a hunch.

Each free quarterly edition moves from a broad U.S. view to a useful peer comparison—so practices can spot a pricing gap before it becomes another quarter of routine undercharging, without exposing an individual practice.

Actual procedure fees

Wellness exam, dental cleaning, canine spay and two-view X-ray fee ranges.

Shown by region where samples support it

Practice-size peers

Compare one-doctor, two-to-three-doctor and larger independent practices rather than mixing every operating model together.

Independent practices only

Fee-increase trends

How recently peers changed fees and the size band of their last across-the-board adjustment.

Margin pressure

Staff wages, inventory costs, corporate pricing and client resistance—reported alongside fee movement.

Regional context

Urban, suburban and rural setting plus state and broader region, subject to privacy thresholds.

Methodology & privacy

Clear rules before the first response.

The index is designed for useful comparison, not surveillance. Respondents can see how answers will be handled before deciding whether to participate.

Minimum responses per published cell

We never publish a figure built from fewer than 10 responses. Thin segments are combined into a broader group or withheld.

Individual practices are never named or attributed
Contact details are kept out of the reported dataset
Outliers are reviewed before aggregation
Sample sizes and fielding dates appear with results

The focused survey scope

No PIMS export is required. The survey asks for information an owner or practice manager can answer from normal practice knowledge.

Practice profileRole, DVM count, setting and state
Optional contextAnnual gross-revenue band
Core fee snapshotExam, dental, spay and X-ray
Pricing behaviorLast fee change and annual increase
Operating pressureLargest margin constraint
Client behaviorEstimate requests before consent
Historical contextRecalled 2023–2024 fee position
Report deliveryEmail for the finished index

ILLUSTRATIVE SAMPLE — NOT REAL DATA

See the answer, not a dashboard promise.

This mock page shows the intended reading experience. The displayed values below are invented solely to demonstrate structure; they will be replaced only after enough verified survey responses exist.

Review the methodology

Regional peer comparisonIllustrative sample

Procedure	Your practice	Regional median	Peer range
Wellness exam	$72	$78	$68–$91
Dental cleaning	$640	$710	$580–$860
Canine spay	$430	$465	$380–$590
Two-view X-ray	$215	$225	$180–$285

Illustrative wellness-exam position

Lower peer rangeRegional medianUpper peer range

Quarterly cadence

A static benchmark starts aging the moment the market moves.

The transparent cycle repeats every quarter, so fee decisions can follow a comparable history instead of waiting on an increasingly stale one-off PDF.

Month 01

Collect

Open the fielding window and gather one current fee snapshot per participating practice location.

Month 02

Analyze

Review anomalies, group valid peer cells and withhold any segment below the privacy threshold.

Month 03

Report

Publish the index with methodology, sample sizes and plain-language notes for every regional cut.

Founding cohort now enrolling

Help set the benchmark before the first regional baseline is locked.

The first 500 respondents receive the quarterly index free—every quarter, forever. Founding participants help define the first regional cuts and establish the historical baseline, so independent practices are represented from the beginning rather than compared against someone else’s market.

No dues. No subscription. One honest fee snapshot per practice location—and a clearer reference for every fee review that follows.

Request founding survey access

FAQ

Before you participate.

Is the survey really anonymous?

The report is anonymous and aggregate. A practice’s exact answers are never published or attributed. An email is collected separately so the finished index can be delivered.

Who sees the underlying responses?

The VetFeeIndex research process uses responses for aggregation and quality review. Contact details stay outside the reported dataset, and no published cell contains fewer than 10 responses.

How often is the index updated?

Quarterly. Each cycle collects a current snapshot, analyzes valid peer groups and publishes a methodology-labeled index.

Who runs VetFeeIndex?

VetFeeIndex is an independent benchmarking initiative for independent U.S. veterinary practices. It is not affiliated with AAHA, VHMA, AVMA or the commercial analytics products referenced on this page.

What does it cost?

There is no cost to join the founding survey. The first 500 respondents receive the quarterly index free every quarter, forever.

Why participate now instead of waiting for the finished index?

The first regional baseline can only reflect the independent practices that contribute to it. Joining now helps shape the peer groups, establishes your place in the historical series, and secures the founding-cohort offer before the first 500 spots are taken.

When does the first index ship?

The founding survey is open now. The first index will be released after enough responses exist to support useful peer groups without breaking the minimum-cell-size rule. The release date will be announced to the founding list rather than guessed in advance.

Index launch updates

Not ready to take the survey today?

Leave your email and we’ll notify you when the first index is approaching release.

Get index launch updates