There are cat people; there are dog people. Well, guess what? States divide along those same furry lines. The majority of Americans love their pets — 68 percent of U.S. households have one. So do you live in a dog state or a cat state?
Which beloved domestic animal reigns supreme by state? To find out, we took a deep dive into pet population data from the American Veterinary Medical Association.
Check out our map to find out if your pet preference falls on the right side of your state lines. (Note: Data for Alaska and Hawaii were not available. Sorry!) And for those who really want to know where Fluffy stands, check out the detailed cat and dog population data at the bottom of this article.
OK, let the house-trained beast battle begin!
Crossing the Mason-Dixon Pet Line
Our findings revealed plenty of interesting, cuddly animal trends. Example: Roughly speaking, Southern states are more Fido-friendly than Northern states, which tend to be the cat’s meow.
Massachusetts is the biggest feline state with nearly 2 times more cats than dogs. Arkansas ranks No. 1 in ratio of dogs to cats.
Nationwide, though, cats outrank dogs 74 million to 70 million. Though dog owners are a larger number than cat owners — due to multiple cat ownership by household.
Bottom line: It’s no surprise Americans lavished $30.4 billion on all those furry family members in 2014, up from $17.8 billion in 2000, according to “The Wall Street Journal.” According to the American Pet Products Association (APPA), total pet industry expenditures reached $60.59 billion in 2015. That’s up from $58.04 billion in 2014. Luxury buildings are offering upscale amenities such as rooftop dog runs and spa “pawdicures” in order to lure those free-spending pet lovers.
“More people are shopping for homes and cars with the needs of their pets in mind,” said Arden Moore, pet health and safety coach. Especially millennials!
Doggy Amenities Win
But we wanted to dig deeper. So our data team scratched its way into our 2.6 million active and recently sold home listings to tease out the most popular dog- and cat-friendly home features. We found plenty of fascinating revelations for Rover:
Despite a prevalence of cat owners, we didn’t find a significant pattern of cat-friendly features in our home listings. That’s probably because the most common cat features, such as cat trees, scratching posts, or self-cleaning litter boxes, are portable rather than built-in. And none of these features are things people want to brag about, anyway.
We did, however, discover some awesome cat-friendly homes, like this one:
Photo courtesy of realtor.com
The owner of this Prescott, Ariz., log cabin transformed the backyard into a full-on cat paradise, with an aerial walkway and a fun-filled play area. Hey, is that a trampoline? Live large, kitty.
By: Yuqing Pan
This article appeared first on “Real Estate News and Insights” from realtor.com.
Want more information on living with pets in your home? Get tips here.
