Chewy Health releases first veterinary do-not-crush medication listZIP code practice density varies five-fold inside single metro areas, Terminal data showsA vet student four weeks from boards says practices are asking the wrong hiring questionAAHA data shows 17% of lab tests go unbilled, and server-based PIMS are part of the reasonMount Pearl animal hospital closes after 39 years citing veterinarian shortageFront-desk checkout averages seven to 10 minutes, in-room checkout takes two to fiveAAHA splits diabetes management guidelines into separate canine and feline editionsPetMetrix releases free report tracking 22 months of new competition in pet prescriptionsChewy Health releases first veterinary do-not-crush medication listZIP code practice density varies five-fold inside single metro areas, Terminal data showsA vet student four weeks from boards says practices are asking the wrong hiring questionAAHA data shows 17% of lab tests go unbilled, and server-based PIMS are part of the reasonMount Pearl animal hospital closes after 39 years citing veterinarian shortageFront-desk checkout averages seven to 10 minutes, in-room checkout takes two to fiveAAHA splits diabetes management guidelines into separate canine and feline editionsPetMetrix releases free report tracking 22 months of new competition in pet prescriptions
The Exam RoomBy The VeterinaryPracticeNow Desk4 min readNovember 6, 2026
ZIP code practice density varies five-fold inside single metro areas, Terminal data shows
South LA's 90011 has 106,000 residents and the same problem, while Fort Worth's 76179 has two practices for 74,000 people with $106K median income.
Corona, Queens sits inside one of the country's largest pet markets. The neighborhood has 112,750 people, more than the entire population of Boulder, Colorado, and zero veterinary practices.
South Los Angeles' 90011 has 106,000 residents and the same problem. Fort Worth's 76179, on the northwest side around Saginaw, has "74,000 people with a median household income of $106,000" and two practices, according to Ryan Leech, a growth consultant who built The Bird Bath Terminal market intelligence platform. That is well under half the national rate.
The national count and the ZIP code spread
Leech tracked every practice in the U.S. and counted "33,745 active brick-and-mortar veterinary practices, excluding mobile-only practices, clinics inside retail stores, and confirmed closures," he reported. The national average is about 10.1 practices per 100,000 people.
Among "the 55 U.S. metro areas with more than 1 million people," Austin, Texas is the best-served at 13.9 practices per 100,000 people, Leech reported. Fresno, California is the least-served "at 5.5 practices," he found. "Las Vegas, New York, Chicago, and California's Riverside, Los Angeles, and San Jose round out the bottom," according to his analysis.
Leech found that "the best-served metro area has two and a half times as many practices per 100,000 people as the worst-served." When you break each area down by ZIP code, the range widens.
"Dallas-Fort Worth sits at 10.4 practices per 100,000 people" overall, Leech found. "The best-served 10% of its ZIP codes have 24.3 practices per 100,000" and the least-served 10% have 4.4, "a five-and-a-half-times gap inside a single metro area," he reported.
Fort Myers and Cape Coral are "neighbors across the Caloosahatchee River in Southwest Florida" with nearly identical household incomes around $72,000 in both, Leech reported. "Fort Myers has 19.1 practices per 100,000 people" while "Cape Coral, a city of 200,000, has 6.9," according to his data.
Income matters less than density
"Nationally, ZIP codes with a median household income under $75,000 have 8.6 practices per 100,000 people," according to Leech's data. "ZIPs between $75,000 and $125,000 have 11.3" and ZIPs above $125,000 have 12.1. That 1.4 times gap is smaller than the swings inside metro areas.
Density drives a bigger wedge. Leech found that "ZIP codes with more than 10,000 people per square mile have 4.8 practices per 100,000 people, half the national rate." Corporate development teams tell him "they go where the real estate is easy, and de novo practices keep landing next to existing practices," he reported. That pattern leaves South LA and Corona with over 100,000 residents and no practices.
Leech's data shows that "43% of U.S. practices sit within 5 miles of one of Banfield's more than 1,100 hospitals, and the median practice has 10 others within 5 miles."
The load shows up in review counts and star ratings
Underserved ZIP codes don't compensate by adding more veterinarians per practice. Leech found that "the median practice has two veterinarians whether its ZIP has fewer than five practices per 100,000 people or more than 15. About 31% are solo-doctor practices in both" groups.
The workload shows up in other metrics. "Practices in the thinnest ZIPs carry a median of 277 Google reviews, compared to 173 in the most crowded," according to Leech's analysis. Per doctor, that is 123 reviews versus 78, roughly 60% more. "Those practices also rate a touch lower, 4.38 stars versus 4.50," he found.
For the owner-DVM considering a second location or a relocation, Leech notes that "the metro-area number may say the market is saturated" while the ZIP code number shows "100,000 people 10 minutes away with nowhere to go." He advises consolidators to get more granular rather than deciding to take on an entire metro like Phoenix when a specific area like Gilbert offers "270,000 people and half of Scottsdale's practices per capita."
For the associate thinking about ownership, Leech writes that "you can take over or open a practice in an area" that is "looking for care. You won't have the same competition, but" you will have the households. The barrier is real estate and parking, not clinical demand.
For the practice manager, Leech recommends analyzing where your clients live. "If you're pulling from other ZIP codes, you are the oasis for their desert," he argues.
Our read: Leech calls out the most common mistake he sees owners make as following the same playbook as their competitors. The access to care conversation runs on national staffing and school shortages, but Leech argues "that the biggest access problem is hiding in the details." It is a ZIP code problem, and the data to solve it now exists.
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