How much does a newly qualified vet earn in France?

Between €2,730 gross per month (collective-agreement minimum for a junior cadre) and around €3,500 gross according to real market offers.

Why such a gap in income between vets?

It depends on status (employed or self-employed), type of practice (small animal, farm, equine), region and seniority.

How much does a vet earn in France in 2026?

Q: What is the average income of a self-employed vet?

The Ordre measures an average annual income of €64,477 for women and €93,174 for men, with wide disparities.

This article covers the French veterinary market; figures, prices and regulations are those of France.

In 2026, a newly qualified employed vet earns between €2,730 gross per month (the collective-agreement minimum for the junior cadre grade) and around €3,500 gross in real market offers. In self-employed practice, the spread is enormous: the Ordre des vétérinaires (the French veterinary regulator) measures an average annual income of €64,477 for women and €93,174 for men, with individual situations ranging from €30,000 to over €150,000 a year.

That is the short answer. The long answer deserves the detail, because behind the average lie considerable gaps depending on status, type of practice, region and gender. I have been through employment, locum work and starting a business. I give you the figures, with sources.

What is the minimum salary of an employed vet in 2026?

Employed practising vets come under a dedicated collective agreement (IDCC 2564, currently being merged with the one for veterinary surgeries and practices, IDCC 1875). The minimum salary is calculated by multiplying a coefficient by the point value. That value was set at €17.96 on 1 January 2026 by amendment no. 91 of 6 January 2026, a rise of 1.2% on the €17.75 of 2025.

Here is the scale for a 35-hour contract (151.67 hours a month):

Grade	Role	Coefficient	Minimum gross monthly (35 h)	Hourly rate
1	Student, non-cadre	132	€2,370.72	€15.63
2	Junior cadre	152	€2,729.92	€18.00
3	Experienced cadre A	182	€3,268.72	€21.55
4	Experienced cadre B	210	€3,771.60	€24.87
5	Specialist cadre	240	€4,310.40	€28.42

Grade 1 concerns veterinary school students working as assistants before their thesis. Moving from one grade to the next depends on experience and degree of autonomy, not just length of service.

What does the scale provide for annual-days contracts?

Many employed vets are autonomous cadres on an annual contract of 216 working days (forfait jours). The 2026 minima range from €39,224.64 gross a year at grade 2 (i.e. €3,268.72 smoothed per month) to €62,069.76 at grade 5 (€5,172.48 a month). An autonomous cadre on an annual-days contract therefore mechanically earns more than a cadre on hourly terms at the same grade, in exchange for uncounted hours.

How much do on-call shifts, nights and weekends pay?

The collective agreement sets precise uplifts. An hour worked at night, on a Sunday or on a public holiday is paid with a 20% uplift: a junior cadre goes from €18.00 to €21.60 an hour. An hour on standby at home is compensated at 20% of the hourly rate (€3.60 for that same junior cadre), and each call-out during standby is paid on top as working time. On a contract with two night shifts a week and one weekend a month, these lines easily add €300 to €600 gross to the payslip.

What does a real young vet’s payslip look like?

My first payslip as a vet, I dissected line by line one Sunday evening, calculator in hand, to understand why the net was barely 75% of the gross announced at hiring. Seven years of study, one of the most selective entrance exams in France, and a bank transfer of the same order as classmates from preparatory school who had gone to business school three years earlier. Nobody had taught me to read a collective-agreement coefficient at the ENVA. I checked: I was paid at the minimum for my grade, no more, no less.

Good news for you: the market has changed. The shortage of practitioners is pulling real salaries above the scale. Offers for a newly qualified vet in small animal practice today run between €2,700 and €3,500 gross a month, often on an annual-days contract, sometimes with accommodation or a relocation bonus in rural areas. An experienced employee negotiates between €3,800 and €5,500 gross. The Ordre’s income observatory measures an average of €41,500 gross a year for all employed vets in 2024. The scale remains your legal floor: check your coefficient on your payslip, errors happen.

How much does a self-employed vet earn in 2026?

A self-employed vet does not receive a salary but an income: what remains after costs, contributions and investments. The Ordre’s averages (demographic atlas, 2023 tax data) give €93,174 a year for men and €64,477 for women. These averages flatten a very spread-out reality.

What makes income vary, in the order of impact I observe on the ground:

Status. A newly qualified self-employed associate (collaborateur libéral), paid by fee-sharing, often clears €2,500 to €3,500 net a month. A partner in a well-structured small animal practice routinely exceeds €6,000 to €8,000 net a month.
Type of practice. Small animal practice offers the most predictable income. Farm and mixed practice pay well for the volume of on-call work, with net annual incomes reaching €60,000 to €70,000 for an established practitioner. Equine is the most dispersed: some competition or high-end clientele vets exceed €10,000 net a month, others struggle to make their mileage pay.
The structure. Owning the premises and the technical platform changes everything in the long run, including when selling your shares.

Remember a simple rule: in self-employed practice, the gap between the first and last decile runs from 1 to 5, whereas employment keeps everything between €2,400 and €5,500 gross.

Seven to eleven years of study for what income?

The typical path is seven years after secondary school: two years of preparatory classes then five years of veterinary school, with an average age at graduation around 26. Add an internship (1 year) then a residency (3 years or more) to become a specialist, and you reach ten to eleven years of higher education.

The comparison with other medical professions stings. A self-employed GP declares an average net profit of €89,238 (CARMF, 2023 income), a specialist around €153,300 (DREES), a dental surgeon €122,279 (CARCDSF). For comparable selectivity and length of study, the self-employed vet earns 20% to 50% less, and the employed vet half as much. The difference has a structural explanation: no social security for animals, clients who pay out of pocket, prices constrained by what households are willing to spend.

Why do female vets earn less?

The profession is 61% female among those registered with the Ordre, and the income gap is documented every year by the demographic atlas. In self-employed practice, 2023 data: €64,477 for women against €93,174 for men, i.e. 31% less. In employment, 2024 data: €40,553 against €44,846, i.e. 10% less. The explanations put forward mix more frequent part-time work, later access to partnership, types of practice and salary negotiation. None is enough to justify the size of the gap, present in every age bracket.

What does a vet earn in Switzerland or Canada?

French graduates are courted abroad, and the figures explain why. In Switzerland, the average annual salary of a vet sits around CHF 96,000, in a range of CHF 70,000 to 120,000 depending on experience, roughly double the French gross for a comparable position (cost of living to be factored in). In Canada, income runs around CA$100,000 a year, with hourly rates of CA$34 to 84 depending on the province. The French degree opens the door to practice there after joining the provincial regulator, such as the OMVQ in Quebec. Every graduating class from the four national schools sees graduates leave for these markets, while French rural areas look for practitioners without finding them.

Should you choose this profession for the money?

No, and you already know that if you are aiming for the entrance exam. You become a vet for the medicine, for the animals, for the relationship with the people who bring them in. But entering the profession without looking at the figures would be a mistake. Pay weighs directly on the issues eroding the profession: veterinary deserts in rural areas, a massive shift towards employment (9,328 employees in 2024 against 7,612 in 2020, i.e. 42% of registrants), burnout measured by the SNVEL’s Vigie Véto surveys, departures abroad. A practitioner who knows their scale, their coefficient and the value of their work negotiates better, sets up better and lasts longer. It is also a public health matter: without well-paid vets, there is no animal health coverage of the country.

FAQ

What is the salary of a newly qualified vet in 2026?

The collective-agreement minimum for a junior cadre is €2,729.92 gross a month (coefficient 152, point at €17.96). On the real market, offers sit rather between €2,700 and €3,500 gross, excluding on-call and standby.

What is the veterinary point value in 2026?

€17.96 at 1 January 2026, against €17.75 in 2025, a 1.2% increase negotiated by the joint committee on 6 January 2026.

Does a vet earn more than a doctor?

No. A self-employed GP declares an average annual profit of €89,238, against €64,477 to €93,174 for a self-employed vet depending on gender, and around €41,500 for an employed vet.

Which vets earn the best living?

Partners in profitable practices, specialists (surgery, imaging, emergency) and some equine practitioners, with incomes that can exceed €10,000 net a month. Partner status weighs more than the type of animal treated.

Why do French vets leave for Switzerland or Canada?

For pay roughly twice as high: around CHF 96,000 a year in Switzerland and CA$100,000 in Canada, with recognition of the French degree after registration with the local regulator.

Sources

Maxime Lachérade, veterinary surgeon (ENVA), co-founder of Treats.

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