Dogs are adorable, loving companions. But taking care of one can also be really expensive, and where you live can affect how costly it is to be a dog owner. Here are the most and least expensive cities to have a dog in the United States.
Redfin, Trupanion, and Rover.com crunched some data to find out just how expensive it is to own a dog in 116 major U.S. cities. Overall, they looked at the cost of dog sitting and care, healthcare costs, and the cost of dog-friendly rentals. Considering details within each of these factors, here’s what they came up with:
The most expensive cities to have a dog:
San Francisco, California
Fort Lauderdale, Florida
Aurora, Colorado
Portland, Oregon
Chula Vista, California
The least expensive cities to have a dog:
Phoenix, Arizona
The Woodlands, Texas
Nashville, Tennessee
Detroit, Michigan
Fayetteville, North Carolina
Obviously, your mileage will vary. If you’re not a renter, for example, the housing metric won’t even apply to you. Healthcare costs seem to be the most important factor here, and Redfin reported:
And though the cost of living is a large factor in the general cost of veterinary care for a city, we found that cities that have high housing costs don’t equate to high veterinary costs. The cost of medical coverage in the most expensive cities to own a dog ranges from $38.81 in Fresno, Calif. to $46.74 in San Francisco. For those cities that are considered less expensive, medical coverage ranges from $52.11 in Scottsdale, Ariz. to $36.84 in Philadelphia.
Perhaps more useful is seeing just how each factor stacks up in these cities, and you can check that out in the infographic below. To read more about their methodology, head to the link below.
The Top 5 Most (& Least) Expensive Cities to Have a Dog | Redfin