Dog Spay and Neuter Cost: Clinic, Nonprofit and Low-Cost Prices

On the price lists we read on 12 November 2026, spaying a dog is posted at $150 to $499 at eight nonprofit and city clinics and at $375 to $700 at two private clinics, depending on the dog’s weight. Neutering is posted at $120 to $445 at the same nonprofit and city clinics and at $200 to $490 at the two private ones. This page, part of our routine vet costs guides, sets every source side by side with its date, shows the price by weight band, and lists what is often billed apart. One of the two private clinics adds a large-dog fee of $1 per lb on top of its posted fee for a dog of 90 lb or more, and posts its neuter fee at that weight as “$455+”. One nonprofit list says “$500+” for either surgery on a dog over 100 lb. One university teaching clinic posts an estimate of $590 to $690 for a spay and $440 to $540 for a neuter, not split by weight. A survey commissioned by a lender puts the national averages at $455 for a spay of a small or medium dog and $487 for a neuter, and one insurer’s page says $250 to $2,000 for either. Those figures don’t measure the same thing: some include pain medicine, a cone and a rabies shot, and others bill bloodwork, an IV line or an in-heat surcharge on top.

General information about costs, insurance and the rules, not veterinary, legal, insurance, tax or financial advice. Your vet decides what care is right for your pet; your policy’s wording and your insurer decide what a claim pays; your card or loan agreement decides what credit costs.

This page is about money only. Whether and when to spay or neuter a dog is a question for your vet, who decides what is right for your pet.

Published figures, side by side

No government agency publishes a national price for a spay or neuter, and we found one veterinary school that posts one: the University of Minnesota’s teaching clinic, as an estimate range. What exists otherwise is clinics’ own posted fee lists, a lender’s survey and an insurer’s estimate. Each row below is what one publisher posted, read on its own page on 12 November 2026. A posted fee is one clinic in one place, not a national figure, and we don’t average the rows into one number.

Source (who publishes it)	Spay, by weight	Neuter, by weight	What the figure includes, and why it may lean
Homeward Bound Pets Humane Society, McMinnville, Oregon. A nonprofit clinic’s posted fee, “Price List for 2026”	$150 (2-20 lb), $160 (21-40 lb), $210 (41-60 lb), $250 (61-100 lb), $275 (over 100 lb)	$120, $130, $170, $200, $230 for the same bands	Includes pain medication. $20 more for owners outside Yamhill County. A subsidized nonprofit clinic.
Humane Society of Tampa Bay, Tampa, Florida. A nonprofit’s posted fee, published 15 September 2026	$178 (under 50 lb), $203 (over 50 lb)	$153 (under 50 lb), $178 (over 50 lb)	A package: surgery, pain medication ($10), rabies vaccination ($20), e-collar ($8) and a biohazard fee ($5). A $25 non-refundable deposit is part of the price. A nonprofit; its page says pricing varies with the animal’s age and needs.
Humane Society of South Carolina, with clinics in Columbia and Florence, South Carolina. A nonprofit’s posted fee, undated (© 2026)	$160 (under 39.9 lb), $210 (over 40 lb)	$130 (under 39.9 lb), $180 (the list labels this second line “<40lbs”; we read it as over 40 lb)	Pre-anesthetic test $50, listed apart. $50 deposit, credited to the bill and refunded if you cancel or reschedule at least 48 hours before the appointment. The clinic says it cannot accept female dogs over 59 lb, male dogs over 100 lb or pets older than 7 years.
Lehigh Valley Humane Society, Allentown, Pennsylvania. A nonprofit’s posted fee, undated	$230 (up to 30 lb), $280 (31-60 lb), $320 (over 60 lb)	$220 (under 10 lb), $250 (11-30 lb), $280 (31-60 lb), $310 (over 60 lb)	Pre-operative bloodwork $86, required for patients over 10 years old. A $50 non-refundable deposit is credited to the final invoice. “Complicated” surgery is priced by the complication.
Idaho Humane Society veterinary hospital, Idaho. A nonprofit hospital’s posted fee, undated	$215 (up to 30 lb), $275 (31-75 lb), $330 (76-94 lb), $375 (95 lb or more)	$185, $220, $235, $275 for the same bands	Includes pain medication after surgery. In heat adds $80, pregnant $95, an undescended testicle $65 or $95. Pets 8 years and older need a $70 exam, bloodwork and an IV catheter. The hospital says it serves owners with limited finances.
Butte Humane Society, Butte County, California. A nonprofit’s posted fee, list updated 11 June 2025	$275 (under 25 lb), $303 (26-50 lb), $388 (51-80 lb), $454 (81-100 lb), $499 (over 100 lb)	$241, $254, $330, $401, $445 for the same bands	The list does not say what is included. A 50% deposit is due at scheduling. The oldest list here.
Southampton Animal Shelter Foundation clinic, Hampton Bays, New York. A nonprofit’s “low cost” price list, revised December 2025	$300 (0-25 lb), $350 (26-50 lb), $395 (51-75 lb), $450 (76-100 lb), “$500+” (over 100 lb)	$275, $300, $350, $400, “$500+” for the same bands	Pre-surgical bloodwork is required and billed apart. IV catheter and fluids ($120) are required for animals over 5 and for short-nosed breeds. Additional medicines and the e-collar are not included.
Seattle Animal Shelter, City of Seattle, Washington. A city clinic’s posted fee, undated	$160 (under 50 lb), $190 (50-80 lb), $210 (over 80 lb)	$160, $170, $190 for the same bands; $130 for a male under 4 months	Only for households under the city’s income limit (80% of area median income). In heat adds $50, obese $50, pregnant $250, an undescended testicle $100 to $150. Seattle residents must also buy a city pet license at the time of surgery; the list gives its price as “varies”, and the page says that cost is eligible for the shelter’s License Grant. Subsidized by the city.
University of Minnesota Companion Animal Teaching Clinic, St. Paul, Minnesota. A veterinary school’s teaching clinic; its posted “Estimate for Spay / Neuter Surgeries”, undated	$590 to $690, one range for all weights	$440 to $540, one range for all weights	An estimate range, not a fixed fee. Includes surgery, anesthesia and medications. A $65 exam fee is listed apart, and the page does not say whether it is added to a surgery. One teaching clinic: final-year veterinary students do the work under faculty vets, and the page says a visit may take longer than at a standard practice.
Helping Hands Veterinary Surgery & Dentistry of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia. A private surgery-and-dentistry clinic’s posted flat fees (© 2026)	$375 (35 lb or less), $450 (36-55 lb), $555 (56-89 lb), $700 (90 lb or more)	$200 (50 lb or less), $355 (51-89 lb), “$455+” (90 lb or more)	Includes anesthesia and the take-home medicines its vets consider necessary. Bloodwork ($105) and an e-collar ($19) are extra, and dogs of 90 lb or more pay a large-dog fee of $1 per lb. For a dog in heat, the clinic’s higher pyometra price applies ($630 to $995 by weight). One private clinic built around flat surgery fees.
Abel Veterinary Hospital, Milpitas, California. A private clinic’s posted prices, undated (its scheduling note refers to June 2025)	$490 (under 50 lb), $590 (50-100 lb), $690 (over 100 lb)	$400 (under 50 lb), $450 (over 50 lb), $490 (over 100 lb)	Includes the IV, anesthesia, antibiotic and pain injections and a nail trim. Not included: bloodwork ($218 for the basic panel), the cone ($15), medicines to go home and a microchip ($35). One private clinic, which describes its own prices as affordable.
CareCredit, a medical credit card issuer. A national survey it commissioned (ASQ360°, 2025-2026)	$455 average (dog over 6 months, small or medium)	$487 average (dog over 6 months)	A lender’s figure: the company finances vet bills. The sample and what an “average” bill includes are not published, and the page says an office-visit fee may come on top. Its spay average covers small and medium dogs only. Its neuter average is higher than its spay average, the reverse of most posted lists above; the page does not say why.
Lemonade, an insurer. Its own article, last updated 26 October 2026	$250 to $2,000	$250 to $2,000	An insurer’s figure: the company sells a preventive-care package. The page gives no source or method for the range and uses the same range for both surgeries.

The sources conflict, and we leave them that way. The two figures that are not posted fees come from companies with something to sell, and neither says how it was built. The posted lists are narrower and say more about what you get, but each is one clinic. The two private clinics above both describe themselves as surgery-focused, and no private full-service practice that posts a spay or neuter fee was found. The Idaho Humane Society calls its hospital a general-practice, full-service one, but it is a nonprofit that says it serves owners with limited finances. The University of Minnesota’s teaching clinic also calls itself a full-service general practice; its spay estimate starts above the highest fixed spay fee on the nonprofit and city lists ($499), and it is one student-run clinic.

The same lists by your dog’s weight

Every posted list but one prices by weight, and each cuts its bands in a different place. To make them comparable, here is what each list posts for four example dogs, in the same order as the table above. These are the base surgery fees from the table above, before anything billed apart.

Spay (female dog)

Posted list	20 lb	45 lb	70 lb	95 lb
Homeward Bound Pets (OR), nonprofit	$150	$210	$250	$250
Humane Society of Tampa Bay (FL), nonprofit, package	$178	$178	$203	$203
Humane Society of South Carolina, nonprofit	$160	$210	not accepted (over 59 lb)	not accepted
Lehigh Valley Humane Society (PA), nonprofit	$230	$280	$320	$320
Idaho Humane Society, nonprofit hospital	$215	$275	$275	$375
Butte Humane Society (CA), nonprofit	$275	$303	$388	$454
Southampton Animal Shelter Foundation (NY), nonprofit	$300	$350	$395	$450
Seattle Animal Shelter (WA), city, income limit	$160	$160	$190	$210
University of Minnesota teaching clinic (MN), estimate	$590 to $690	$590 to $690	$590 to $690	$590 to $690
Helping Hands (VA), private	$375	$450	$555	$700 plus $1 per lb
Abel Veterinary Hospital (CA), private	$490	$490	$590	$590

Neuter (male dog)

Posted list	20 lb	45 lb	70 lb	95 lb
Homeward Bound Pets (OR), nonprofit	$120	$170	$200	$200
Humane Society of Tampa Bay (FL), nonprofit, package	$153	$153	$178	$178
Humane Society of South Carolina, nonprofit	$130	$180	$180	$180
Lehigh Valley Humane Society (PA), nonprofit	$250	$280	$310	$310
Idaho Humane Society, nonprofit hospital	$185	$220	$220	$275
Butte Humane Society (CA), nonprofit	$241	$254	$330	$401
Southampton Animal Shelter Foundation (NY), nonprofit	$275	$300	$350	$400
Seattle Animal Shelter (WA), city, income limit	$160	$160	$170	$190
University of Minnesota teaching clinic (MN), estimate	$440 to $540	$440 to $540	$440 to $540	$440 to $540
Helping Hands (VA), private	$200	$200	$355	“$455+” plus $1 per lb
Abel Veterinary Hospital (CA), private	$400	$400	$450	$450

Two things show up here that a single range hides. On most lists a spay costs more than a neuter at the same weight, by as much as $250 for a 45 lb dog at the private Virginia clinic, but not on all: Seattle posts the same $160 for either under 50 lb, and Lehigh Valley posts $250 to neuter a 20 lb dog and $230 to spay one. And “nonprofit” does not always mean the lowest posted fee: for a 45 lb male, that private clinic’s $200 is below four of the nonprofit lists.

What a spay or neuter is

The University of Illinois College of Veterinary Medicine explains that “spay” refers to the removal of the ovaries and uterus from a female patient, and castration to the removal of the testicles from a male; “neuter” can apply to either (University of Illinois, 24 March 2025, read 12 November 2026). Both are surgeries done under anesthesia (the two private lists and the teaching clinic’s estimate above name anesthesia inside their price), which is why an estimate has lines for more than the surgery itself. The same page says the decision about whether and when should involve a consultation with the pet’s veterinarian.

What the bill is made of

An estimate is the clinic’s written forecast of the bill before the work; the invoice is the bill after it. On a spay or neuter estimate, the lines below are the ones that are sometimes inside the posted price and sometimes on top of it. Every figure is a posted fee from a list in the first table, read 12 November 2026, unless marked.

Line	Published figures	Included, or billed apart?
The surgery, by weight	Spay $150 to $700; neuter $120 to $540 (the posted lists and the teaching clinic’s estimate above), before Helping Hands’ large-dog fee of $1 per lb at 90 lb or more and the “$500+” and “$455+” lines	Always the base line. Anesthesia is inside it on the two private lists and the teaching clinic’s estimate; the nonprofit and city lists don’t break it out.
Exam before surgery (if needed)	$70 (Idaho Humane Society), $65 (University of Minnesota teaching clinic)	Billed apart in Idaho, and required for pets 8 years and older. The Minnesota page lists its exam fee apart and does not say whether it is added to a surgery.
Pre-anesthetic bloodwork (often billed apart): blood tests run before anesthesia	$50 (Humane Society of South Carolina), $86 (Lehigh Valley), $105 (Helping Hands), $105 to $160 (Southampton’s three panels), $218 basic or $395 comprehensive (Abel)	Billed apart on every list that prices it. Required at Southampton, over 10 years at Lehigh Valley, and at 8 years and older in Idaho.
IV catheter and fluids (if needed)	$120 (Southampton); $130 for a catheter and one bag of fluid (CareCredit’s survey average, a lender’s figure)	Inside Abel’s dog prices. Billed apart at Southampton for animals over 5 and short-nosed breeds. Only two published figures were found.
Pain medication	$10 (Tampa Bay, inside its package)	Included at Homeward Bound, Tampa Bay, Idaho and Helping Hands. Abel includes a pain injection but not medicines to go home. Southampton says additional medicines are not included.
E-collar (cone)	$8 (Tampa Bay, inside its package), $15 (Abel), $19 (Helping Hands)	Often billed apart. Abel’s page says you may bring your own.
Rabies vaccination, if given at the same visit	$15 (Homeward Bound, South Carolina, Seattle), $20 (Tampa Bay, inside its package; Idaho), $25 (Abel), $30 (Butte, Southampton one-year), $33 (Lehigh Valley), $47 (University of Minnesota teaching clinic)	Inside Tampa Bay’s package; a separate line elsewhere. Lehigh Valley says animals treated at its clinic must be up to date on rabies and distemper vaccines.
Microchip, if offered	$20 (Lehigh Valley), $25 (South Carolina), $30 (Seattle), $35 (Butte, Abel, Idaho), $40 (Homeward Bound, Southampton), $48 (CareCredit’s survey average, a lender’s figure)	Optional and billed apart on every list read.
In heat or pregnant (if it applies)	In heat: $50 (Seattle), $80 (Idaho). Pregnant: $95 (Idaho), $250 (Seattle). Helping Hands charges its pyometra price for a dog in heat: $630 to $995 by weight.	Billed apart. Southampton says its prices change in these cases without giving a figure.
Undescended testicle (if it applies)	Add $65 or $95 (Idaho), add $100 to $150 (Seattle). Helping Hands posts a separate price: $555 per testicle at 50 lb or less, $825 at 51-89 lb.	Billed apart, or a different price altogether.
Other surcharges (if they apply)	Short-nosed breed: an extra $100 may apply (Idaho). Obese: $50 (Seattle). Large dog, 90 lb or more: $1 per lb (Helping Hands). Out of county: $20 (Homeward Bound). Extra handling for an aggressive animal: $50 to $100 (Lehigh Valley). Same-day appointment: $175 (Helping Hands). Biohazard fee: $5 (Tampa Bay, inside its package).	Billed apart.
Deposit	$25 non-refundable (Tampa Bay), $50 (South Carolina, refunded with 48 hours’ notice), $50 non-refundable (Lehigh Valley), 50% at scheduling (Butte)	Not an extra at Tampa Bay, South Carolina or Lehigh Valley: each list counts it toward the bill. Butte’s list calls it a deposit and says no more.

Five posted lists, added up

These sums use only figures posted by the clinic named. They show how the gap between a low posted fee and a high one narrows once the lines billed apart are added. They are our arithmetic, not a quote; your vet’s written estimate decides.

• Tampa Bay, spay under 50 lb: the $178 package already holds pain medication $10, rabies vaccination $20, e-collar $8 and biohazard fee $5. That leaves $135 for the surgery itself ($178 − $10 − $20 − $8 − $5).
• Idaho, spay at 31-75 lb: $275 for a young dog with nothing added. For a dog 8 or older that is in heat: exam $70 + surgery $275 + in heat $80 = $425, plus the required bloodwork and IV catheter, which the list does not price.
• Southampton, spay at 26-50 lb, dog over 5: surgery $350 + its lowest-priced blood panel $105 + IV catheter and fluids $120 = $575, before the e-collar and any additional medicines. The list does not say which of its three panels is required.
• Helping Hands, spay at 36-55 lb: surgery $450 + bloodwork $105 + e-collar $19 = $574, if the clinic asks for both.
• Abel, spay under 50 lb: surgery $490 + basic bloodwork $218 + cone $15 = $723, before medicines to go home, which the list does not price.

To build a range for your own dog line by line, with the source and date beside each figure, use the vet estimate builder. It reads the same lists at three example weights and leaves out the Seattle clinic, which takes only households under an income limit.

Why the figures differ

• Who is paying part of it. Nonprofit and city clinics are subsidized. The Humane Society of Tampa Bay says its clinic costs less than a private vet because it is run as part of a nonprofit and exists to reduce the number of animals arriving at the shelter. Seattle’s clinic is open only to households under an income limit.
• What is inside the price. A $178 package with the cone and a rabies shot in it and a $350 fee with bloodwork, an IV line, the cone and extra medicines on top are not two prices for the same thing. Hold your estimate against the lines above, one by one.
• Weight, and where the bands are cut. A 45 lb female falls in a $160 band in Seattle and a $210 band in South Carolina. If your dog is near a band edge, ask which weight the clinic uses: the one you give when booking or the one on its scale that morning.
• Who the clinic will take. Some low-fee clinics set limits. The Humane Society of South Carolina lists no surgery for female dogs over 59 lb, males over 100 lb or pets older than 7. Others require an exam, bloodwork and an IV line for older dogs, which changes the total.
• The kind of clinic. The posted fees here come from nonprofit and city clinics, one university teaching clinic and two surgery-focused private clinics. A private full-service practice may bill its own exam, bloodwork, anesthesia monitoring and medicines; none we found posts its fee, which is why a written estimate matters.
• Region and date. The lists run from Oregon to New York, and the dated ones from June 2025 to September 2026; the rest carry no date. For how vet prices have moved over time, why vet care costs what it does has the Bureau of Labor Statistics index figures.

A labor line, on our assumption. The Bureau of Labor Statistics puts the national mean wage at $68.60 an hour for veterinarians and $23.61 an hour for veterinary technologists and technicians (Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025, occupations 29-1131 and 29-2056, as read on data.bls.gov on 12 November 2026). If one surgery takes one hour of a vet’s time and two hours of a technician’s across preparation, anesthesia and recovery, wages alone come to $68.60 + 2 × $23.61 = $115.82. The hours are our assumption, not a measured time; change them and the sum changes with them. Benefits, drugs, supplies, equipment, rent and the clinic’s margin all come on top. On those assumed hours, wages alone come close to the lowest posted neuter fee above ($120).

Income-based and low-cost programs

Several of the lists above have a second, lower price that depends on who you are or where you live. Each is that provider’s own program, described from its own page; we don’t rank them, and none is a recommendation.

• Homeward Bound Pets’ “PAW” prices for qualifying Yamhill County residents on government assistance: dog spay $75 (2-40 lb) or $120 (over 40 lb); dog neuter $70 or $100. The page limits the discount to two pets a year (2026 price list).
• Seattle’s city clinic is itself income-based: its page (undated, read 12 November 2026) lists a limit of $84,850 for a one-person household and $121,150 for four. It adds that if you cannot afford the fee, its Pet Population Control Fund can help cover the cost if you ask when booking.
• Residency. Homeward Bound adds $20 for owners outside its county. City and county programs often serve only their own residents, so check the clinic’s own page before comparing prices across a county line.

If the posted fee is still out of reach, where help with vet bills comes from covers charities, vouchers and what each asks for. For cats, the lists and prices are different: see cat spay and neuter cost.

With pet insurance

In the sample policies we read, a routine spay or neuter is not an accident and illness item. We read three public sample policies on 12 November 2026, and none of the three lists a routine spay or neuter as covered under its accident and illness terms: two exclude it by name and the third excludes elective surgeries. They are examples of the term, not a survey of the market:

• One insurer’s Maine sample policy booklet excludes “spaying or neutering at any time or for any reason” unless a vet recommends it after a condition that damages the reproductive organs (Pets Best, American Pet Insurance Company, form APIC-PBI0001-ILL, file dated 10 September 2026).
• Another lists spaying or neutering under preventive care that is not covered “unless You purchase the optional Wellness Rider” (Physicians Mutual, form P970 (0821)).
• A third says that, unless covered elsewhere in the policy, it does not cover services that are not related to an illness or injury, “such as cosmetic or aesthetic procedures, elective surgeries” and others. It does not use the words spay or neuter, and its preventive care section does not list what it pays for (MetLife Pet, Metropolitan General Insurance Company, sample form PET21-01-V, an older Ohio sample).

Here is what that means in numbers, on a plainly hypothetical example: a $450 spay bill, a policy with a $250 annual deductible (the amount you pay each year before the policy pays) and 80% reimbursement (the share of a covered bill the policy pays back), and the whole $450 excluded. The excluded amount comes off first, so the covered amount is $0. Insurers apply the deductible and the percentage in one of two orders, and both give the same answer here:

• Deductible first: ($0 − $250, which cannot go below $0) × 80% = $0 paid.
• Percentage first: $0 × 80% − $250, which cannot go below $0 = $0 paid.

You pay the full $450 either way. The order matters on bills the policy does cover; the pet insurance payout calculator works both orders on your own numbers. Your policy’s wording and your insurer’s claim decision decide what is paid.

Where a policy does pay toward a spay or neuter, it is through a wellness or preventive-care option like the rider in the second document, under that option’s own terms. How pet wellness plans work explains what to check before counting on one, and what pet insurance covers and excludes goes through the other routine items.

Paying the bill

Payment terms are on the lists too, and they differ. Seattle’s clinic takes payment at pickup. Lehigh Valley wants full payment at the first appointment. Butte asks for half at booking and says it does not accept checks or one medical credit card; Idaho’s page says exam fees are paid in advance and names outside financing and, for those who do not qualify, possible in-house financing. Ask before the day. How vet payment plans work covers what clinics offer and what to get in writing.

If a clinic offers a medical credit card with “no interest if paid in full” in 6 or 12 months, that is deferred interest, not 0%. Federal advertising rules require such an offer to say that interest will be charged from the date of purchase if the balance is not paid in full within the period (12 CFR 1026.16(h)(4), eCFR up to date as of 9 November 2026, read 12 November 2026). The deferred-interest calculator shows the monthly payment that clears a balance before the promotion ends, using the APR in your own agreement.

What to ask before you book

• Ask for a written, itemized estimate for your dog’s sex, weight and age, with the date and the clinic’s name on it.
• Ask what is inside the price and what is billed apart: the exam, pre-anesthetic bloodwork, the IV catheter and fluids, pain medicine to go home, the cone, and any recheck or suture removal.
• Ask which surcharges could apply and how much each is: in heat, pregnant, an undescended testicle, a short-nosed breed, weight over a limit, age over a limit.
• Ask about limits: the heaviest and oldest dog the clinic accepts, and whether you must live in its city or county or be under an income limit.
• Ask about money: the deposit, whether it is refunded if you cancel, when the balance is due and which payment methods the clinic takes.
• If you have a policy or wellness plan, read its preventive-care section for a spay or neuter line and the amount beside it before you count on it.
• Before signing any credit agreement, write down the promotion end date, the APR after it, and whether interest is deferred.

Sources checked on 12 November 2026. Prices are posted fees and published estimates from the named publishers on the dates shown; each can change without notice, so confirm with the clinic. Policy terms are from the sample documents linked at each claim.