Pet ownership statistics (2026)
Data reviewed October 1, 2026
Quick answer
The key numbers
95M
U.S. households own at least one pet
APPA counted 95 million pet-owning households in 2025, with dogs in 53% of U.S. homes.
Source: APPA 2026 State of the Industry Report (2025)
71M
U.S. households own a dog
Dog ownership reached 53% of U.S. households in 2025, up about 4% year over year.
Source: APPA 2026 Dog Report (2025)
56% → 71%
growth in the household pet ownership rate since 1988
The Insurance Information Institute puts the rate at 71% of households, about 94 million families, citing APPA's 2024-2025 National Pet Owners Survey.
Source: APPA, via Insurance Information Institute (1988-2025)
Dogs vs. cats: households and overlap
Dog households outnumber cat households by roughly 18 million in the latest APPA survey period. The two groups overlap heavily: multi-pet households are common, so the 71 million dog households and 53 million cat households sum to more than the 95 million total pet-owning households.
| Measure | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| U.S. households owning any pet | ~95 million | APPA 2026 State of the Industry |
| Households owning a dog | 71 million (53% of households) | APPA 2026 Dog Report |
| Households owning a cat | 53 million | APPA 2026 State of the Industry |
| Household ownership rate, 1988 | 56% | APPA, via III |
Why ownership keeps climbing
Three durable drivers show up across industry surveys: households formed by millennials and Gen Z treat pets as family members, remote and hybrid work made pet care logistically easier, and the pandemic adoption wave of 2020 to 2021 created millions of first-time owners who largely kept their pets. The result is a 15 percentage point rise in the household ownership rate across three and a half decades.
Frequently asked questions
What percentage of American households own a pet in 2026?
About 95 million U.S. households own at least one pet, per APPA's 2026 State of the Industry Report covering the 2025 survey year.
Are dogs or cats more popular in the United States?
Dogs. 71 million U.S. households own a dog, 53% of all households, versus 53 million that own a cat, per APPA's 2026 reports.
How has pet ownership changed over time?
The household pet ownership rate rose from 56% in 1988, the first year of the APPA survey, to 71% in APPA's 2024-2025 National Pet Owners Survey, as reported by the Insurance Information Institute, a gain of roughly 15 percentage points.
Sources
- Insurance Information Institute: Facts + Statistics, Pet Ownership and Insurance · aggregates APPA and NAPHIA data
- American Pet Products Association (APPA) industry trends
- APPA 2026 State of the Industry Report · 2025 survey year: 95 million pet-owning households, 53 million cat households
- APPA 2026 Dog Report · 71 million dog-owning households, 53% of U.S. households
We only publish numbers we can attribute. How we build estimates: methodology.