Report: America’s Pet-Friendliest States Ranked

If wagging tails or comforting purrs are parts of your daily life, you’re not alone. According to the American Pet Products Association, about 66% of U.S. households now include a pet — up from 56% when they first conducted the survey in 1988.

It’s not difficult to see why. Multiple studies show evidence that keeping a pet brings a range of benefits for overall well-being and find a link between pet ownership and health. Owning a pet may reduce stress, provide emotional support, and lower feelings of isolation. Taking a dog out for a daily walk contributes to exercising, and the American Heart Association estimates that dog owners have a 24% reduced risk of all-cause mortality; apparently, cats may have a similar effect, too!

Dogs and cats are the most popular types of pets by far and can be found in nearly 50% and about 35% of U.S. households, respectively.

However, there are obstacles to keeping an animal at home — costs are higher than ever. Pets also require supervision and care, which may not be readily available. In addition, many rental properties refuse pets despite an estimated 60% of renters having one.

So, which states in the U.S. can be considered the best to keep a pet? Healthnews has created an index to figure it out.

Our findings

Owning a pet comes to an average cost of over $1,700/year (representing 3% of income). There are important differences between states — it costs twice as much in Delaware to keep a pet than in Rhode Island.

About 30% of rental listings across the country have a ‘no pets’ requirement. There is again a big variation between states (from 13.4% to 67%).

Each U.S. state typically sees rates of 7.5 pet care service listings, 5.6 pet stores, and 31 veterinarians per 100,000 inhabitants.

New England stands out as the best geographic division to keep a pet in the U.S. This area has four states (New Hampshire, Maine, Vermont, and Rhode Island) in the top 10 best-performing states in the index. The North West corner of the U.S. also scores highly — despite not being part of the same official census regions and spreading across a larger territory.

Meanwhile, most states at the bottom of the index tend to be either lower income and/or have a lower population density.

The U.S. map below presents the pet-friendliness levels, highlighting each state's rank, index score, and original data values across all analyzed variables.

The top 10 U.S. states for keeping a pet

So, are you eager to learn which states are the pet-friendliest? The image below illustrates the top 10 list.

#1 Colorado

With the lowest rate of ‘no pets’ rentals in the country and the highest rate of veterinarians, Colorado stands out as the best U.S. state in which to have a pet. Also, the average cost of owning a pet is just 2.3% of the average income — the second lowest number in the U.S. An index score of 0.92 shows it is far ahead of other states.

#2 New Hampshire

In second position with an index score of 0.77, New Hampshire shines in the number of pet care services (the highest in the country) as well as in the rates of pet stores (second best) and veterinarians (third best).

#3 Oregon

Coming third with an index score of 0.76, Oregon scores good results for all metrics with rates of pet stores and veterinarians being particularly high (fifth and sixth in the country, respectively). The West region of the U.S. comes out as an excellent area where to keep a pet.

#4 Maine

With an index score of 0.73, Maine comes fourth in our index thanks to excellent rates of veterinarians and pet care services (second best nationwide for both indicators). Owning a pet in Maine is also slightly cheaper than average.

#5 South Dakota

Ranking fifth with an index score of 0.67, and despite having few pet stores in comparison to the national average, South Dakota is a good all-rounder and has a particularly high rate of veterinarians (fourth highest in the U.S.).

#6 Montana

Neighboring Montana follows very similar trends to South Dakota. It is the fifth best state nationwide in terms of pet care services and veterinarians but shows an average performance for other indicators. The state shares an index score of 0.67.

#7 Minnesota

Thanks to the second lowest percentage of ‘no pets’ rentals in the U.S. and cheap overall costs, Minnesota makes it to the top of the index with a score of 0.66. This is despite a lower-than-average number of pet stores.

#8 Vermont

Vermont impresses with its high rate of pet care services — the third largest in the country. Another New England state, it stands out for having few pet-friendly rentals, but decent scores in other metrics still make it appear at the top of the index with a score of 0.66.

#9 Rhode Island

Despite having the fourth largest proportion of ‘no pets’ rentals, Rhode Island has a good rate of pet care services and the third highest rate of pet stores. Most importantly, it is the cheapest state in the U.S. where to keep a pet. The index score for the state is 0.66.

#10 Washington

Washington is again a good all-rounder with decent scores in all metrics, especially in terms of pet-friendly rentals. Keeping a pet is, however, rather expensive and the rate of veterinarians is just slightly above average. Washington has an index score of 0.65.

The worst 10 U.S. states for keeping a pet

Below is a visual summary revealing the list of the worst 10 U.S. states for keeping a pet.

#1 West Virginia

With an index score of 0.24, the worst state where to keep a pet in our index is West Virginia. Over half of all rentals refuse pets and it may take 3.5% of your income. There are also hardly any pet stores (the lowest rate in the U.S.) with few veterinarians and pet care services (fifth and fourth worst rates in the U.S., respectively).

#2 Louisiana

Similarly to West Virginia, Louisiana shows disappointing results with an index score of 0.26. It is the third worst state in the U.S. where to keep a pet for all indicators except the number of ‘no pets’ rentals, where it performs slightly better.

#3 Mississippi

Mississippi has the lowest rate of pet care services in the U.S., the second lowest rate of pet stores, and the fifth highest percentage of ‘no pets’ rentals. Those figures drag down the state, which has otherwise a decent number of veterinarians. The state has an index score of 0.30.

#4 Hawaii

Fourth from the bottom with an index score of 0.30, Hawaii sees a whopping 67% of rentals that don’t accept pets, and the state lists a small number of pet services and stores. It isn’t possible to explain such low results by its geographic location since Alaska, another remote state, performs much better.

#5 Delaware

It is more expensive to keep a pet in Delaware than in any other U.S. state and it’s also more difficult to find a veterinarian (fourth worst rate). Surprisingly, Delaware has the highest rate of pet stores in the country. The index score for this state is 0.36.

#6 Alabama

Alabama has decent numbers of veterinarians and pet-friendly rentals, but it is the second most expensive state for keeping a pet. It doesn’t score particularly highly in other metrics, making it one of the worst-performing states with an index score of 0.38.

#7 Arkansas

Arkansas is another poorly performing state with an index score of 0.39. It has the second lowest rate of veterinarians in the U.S. On the plus side, keeping pets in that state isn’t particularly expensive as it matches the national average of 3% of income.

#8 Texas

Another southern state, Texas is the fourth most expensive area where to keep a pet and doesn’t have many veterinarians. It is a mixed picture though as most rental listings accept pets. Out of our 10 bottom states, seven are located in the south of the U.S. Texas has an index score of 0.43.

#9 Wyoming

In ninth position with an index score of 0.44, Wyoming has good rates of pet care services and stores. However, its overall score is brought down by having the worst rate of veterinarians in the U.S. and few pet-friendly rentals.

#10 New York

The state of New York completes our bottom 10 with an index score of 0.44. That region doesn’t have a particularly poor score in any metric apart from a higher-than-average percentage of ‘no pets’ rentals. It is, however, the second richest state in the U.S., so such a ranking may come as a surprise.

What about animal welfare?

This report focuses on the perspective of the owner, but the well-being of the pet is also important. We cross-checked our results with the Animal Legal Defense Fund Ranking, which gives a grade to all U.S. states based on their animal protection laws.

Several of the poorest performing states in our index fall in the lowest category. The reverse is also true as several of the best states are part of the highest category. That suggests there is a link between the indicators we explored and commitment to animal welfare.

Complete rankings

Below is a summary of the complete data, offering insights into U.S. regional patterns for pet owners.

Methodology

Our index looks at all 50 U.S. states by exploring the following variables:

• Average cost of owning a cat/dog as a percentage of income (weighed 25%). Expenses include food, veterinary visits, toys, grooming, insurance, as well as daycare and training. (Source: Pettable, 2023)
• Rate of veterinarians per 100,000 people (weighed 25%). Access to veterinarians is an essential part of keeping a pet as they require vaccinations and regular check-ups as they age. (Source: datausa.io, 2022)
• Percentage of ‘no pets’ rentals (weighed 20%). (Source: Zillow; the search was conducted on Oct 25, 2024)
• Rate of pet care service establishments per 100,000 people (weighed 20%). Those services include boarding, grooming, sitting, walking, and training. (Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2021)
• Rate of pet stores per 100,000 people (weighed 10%). The number of pet stores is the least important variable as many stores can now be found online. (Source: Statista, 2022)

We collected the data from the sources highlighted in each category. For pet stores, veterinarians, and pet care service establishments, the rates were calculated by dividing the relevant numbers by the population of each state. We then normalized each data point (x) using a min-max formula to get a number between 0 and 1.

The results were then adjusted by weight to better reflect the importance of each metric and averaged out to two decimals. 1 is the best possible score and 0 is the worst possible score.

Please note that minutely different index values may be indicated as the same due to averaging.