A recent study of equine veterinarian businesses shows payroll and employee benefits account for than average of 41% of a clinic’s yearly income.

As reported in the fall 2026 issue of EquiManagement magazine, businesses participating in this 2025 survey earned an average of 17.8% in terms of EBITDA. This commonly used accounting term is defined as the earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization.

Authored by Marsha Heinke, DVM & CPA and John Chalk, CPA, this benchmark study shows where equine veterinary practices spend their revenue. The survey data came from equine veterinarians operating both an ambulatory and hospital service.

After all expenses are accounted for, the authors reported that for every $100,000 in yearly income produced by a veterinarian there is about $25,000 available for salary and employee benefits. This means that if a veterinarian wanted to earn $150,000 in salary and benefits, then he or she would have to bring in $600,000 of income to the practice.

Data from the authors previous 2020 benchmark compared practices with just ambulatory services with practices that offered both ambulatory and hospital services. The data showed that equine vets who only worked out of their trucks had 1% more EBIDA returns than practices with a hospital operation.

What does this mean for farriers?

Let’s say you follow the same equine vet methodology for farriers with 41% going for salary and employee benefits. The American Farriers Journal 2026 Farrier Business Practices Benchmark Study shows annual gross income of $136,000 for full-time farriers. If you use the same 41% figure that was used for the vets, there would be $55,760 in salary and benefits for a one-person farrier business.

Of course, equine veterinarians have much more invested in a hospital and staff than a farrier who should have more dollars available for salary and benefits.

But it’s still an interesting comparison.