Here's Where DC, VA Towns Rank In Pet Friendliness

Many Americans take every measure possible to ensure their pets are living a long, healthy, and happy life. It’s why pet owners fixate over finding the best doggy day care, local veterinarian, or food product for that special bird or cat. While those practices aren’t done for every pet, it’s not unheard of for people to spring for a home with a yard or an apartment near a fenced-in dog area.

If that sounds like you, we have some potentially good news — a new report by WalletHub ranked D.C. and a couple of Virginia towns among the 100 most pet-friendly cities in the United States.

In order to determine the most pet-friendly cities in America, WalletHub compared the urban areas across three dimensions: pet budget, pet health and wellness and outdoor pet-friendliness. Virginia Beach, Va. ranked 44th, D.C. came in 48th, and Norfolk landed at No. 85

They were on the list for different reasons. D.C. scored terribly in terms of pet budget, but very highly in the pet health and outdoor pet-friendliness rankings. Norfolk and Virginia, meanwhile, were most penalized in the pet health category and did better in pet budget than D.C.

WalletHub evaluated these three dimensions using 24 relevant metrics, which includes statistics such as the number of pet businesses and dog-friendly restaurants per capita, average home square footage, and strength of animal protection laws.

It’s no small feat caring for a pet. A long list of expenses comes with caring for the furry member of the family, such as grooming and medical care, which can run anywhere from $227 to more than $2,000 annually, depending on the animal, according to the study’s authors.

Scottsdale, Arizona, ranked as the most pet-friendly city for the second year in a row, while Fresno, California, ranked as the least pet-friendly city, according to the report.

These are the cities that made the top ten in WalletHub’s rankings:

1. Scottsdale, AZ
2. Orlando, FL
3. Tampa, FL
4. Austin, TX
5. Phoenix, AZ
6. Las Vegas, NV
7. Atlanta, GA
8. St.Louis, MO
9. Seattle, WA
10. Portland, OR

Here are the cities that placed in the bottom five of the rankings:

96. Chula Vista, CA
97. Milwaukee, WI
98. Buffalo, NY
99. Laredo, TX
100. Fresno, CA

The 2019 pet-friendliness report from WalletHub came out on August 6.