Vet Medicine Has $1.5 Billion Economic Impact

The report from the University of Minnesota Extension and Department of Applied Sciences attributes that figure to the economic activity generated by an estimated $680 million in annual combined wages and salaries of 14,500 people employed in the state's veterinary medicine industry.

The study found 10 of Minnesota's 87 counties do not have a private veterinary practice. Those practices account for the bulk of the veterinary workforce, employing 7,700 people in Minnesota with $550 million in salaries and wages. The state Board of Animal Health, the Minnesota Zoo, and the Minnesota Departments of Health, Agriculture, and Natural Resources employ 97 veterinarians and generate $24 million in economic activity.