Pets can take a bite out of your budget, but location plays a key role in determining just how expensive it is to take in a four-footed friend.
Pets can take a bite out of your budget, but your location plays a key role in determining just how expensive — or inexpensive — it is to take in a four-footed friend.
That’s among the findings of a recent WalletHub analysis of the pet-friendliness of America’s 100 largest cities.
For example, Stockton, California, has the lowest veterinary care costs of those cities at $32.92 per visit — which is 2.6 times lower than in New York City, which has the highest vet costs.
Similarly, St. Paul, Minnesota, has the lowest dog health insurance premium of the 100 cities at $21.63 per month — 2.5 times times lower than in New York, which also has the highest health insurance premiums for dogs.
For its analysis, WalletHub evaluated each city based on 19 factors and then ranked the cities. Those factors range from various pet-care costs to the number of pet-friendly restaurants and businesses that cater to pets.
Orlando, Florida, ranked best overall. The city better known for amusement parks than dog parks earned the top spot in part thanks to its having the most:
- Veterinarians per capita (65.5 vets per 100,000 residents)
- Pet businesses per capita (196.22 per 100,000 residents)
- Animal shelters per capita (5.2 per 100,000 residents)
The top 25 cities are:
- Orlando, Florida
- Birmingham, Alabama
- Tampa, Florida
- Lexington-Fayette, Kentucky
- Scottsdale, Arizona
- Reno, Nevada
- Colorado Springs, Colorado
- Cincinnati
- Las Vegas
- St. Louis
- Baton Rouge, Louisiana
- Boise, Idaho
- Henderson, Nevada
- Atlanta
- Plano, Texas
- Oklahoma City
- St. Petersburg, Florida
- Portland, Oregon
- Gilbert, Arizona
- Albuquerque, New Mexico
- Pittsburgh
- Madison, Wisconsin
- Lincoln, Nebraska
- Sacramento, California
- Glendale, Arizona
Source: The Top 25 Pet-Friendly Cities in America
