Pet Population & Ownership Trends in the US, 7th Edition

Report Overview

The US economy, negative consumer confidence, and changes in discretionary spending resulting from recent pandemic, macroeconomic, and political history are likely to frame pet population growth for years.

Focusing primarily on dogs and cats, this report provides a comprehensive and up-to-date analysis of pet ownership rates, pet population characteristics, and pet owner demographics. This report also provides topline coverage of ownership rates for other types of pets (fish, small mammals, herptiles, and birds).

Read the Blog: Cats Gain Representation in the US Pet Market

The COVID-19 epidemic muddied the waters on pet population trends. There is no debate over a pandemic-era spike in pet care spending, and a spate of pet adoption did occur in relation to the stay-at-home/work-from-home dynamics in the wake of the pandemic. But with the dust largely settled, it’s become clear that other factors led to pet ownership attrition, which offset the pet adoption dynamic.

Historical data show that a gradual ramp up in dog population has been in play for decades, but this trend peaked before the advent of COVID. In contrast to dog ownership rates, cat ownership has fluctuated relatively moderately over the last decades, and has edged upward post COVID-19, correspondingly emerging as an important driver to pet market growth.

This report features proprietary Packaged Facts consumer survey data from February 2023 through December 2023, along with Fall 2023 and historically trended syndicated pet ownership data from MRI-Simmons. Also incorporated are information and data from the pet industry trade press and from government, business, and institutional sources such as the American Pet Products Association (APPA), the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the Census Bureau, Federal Reserve Banks, the Harvard University Joint Center for Housing Studies, and the National Association of Realtors.

The analysis in this report covers demographic shifts across the key pet owner variables of gender(s) in household, generational cohort, race/ethnicity, household income, household composition by marital status and presence/ absence of children, and type of residence. In addition, based on macroeconomic and internal pet market factors, topline projections for the household population of dog owners and cat owners are provided for 2023 vs. 2030.

Consumer Survey Sources

This discussion of pet population trends primarily draws on two consumer survey sources: Packaged Facts’ proprietary surveys and MRI-Simmons licensed database.

Packaged Facts Data
The Packaged Facts consumer data cited in this report reflect online surveys with a sample of approximately 1,000-2,000 pet owners who are census representative on the primary demographic measures of age, gender, geographic region, race/ethnicity, presence or absence of children in the household, and household income up through the $100K+ income bracket. This discussion features data from our 2023 pet owner surveys in February and December.

MRI-Simmons Data
MRI-Simmons surveys are booklet-based and fielded on an ongoing basis. The study releases cited in this discussion represent roughly 12-month data roll-ups, with the survey releases named based on the season in which the fielding ended, rather than calendar years or standard seasonal periods. Field dates for the most current Fall 2023 survey were September 2022 through October 2023.

For the MRI-Simmons-based demographic tables in this discussion, geographical divisions are defined per Census Bureau.

Historical Dog vs. Cat Ownership Rates
Dog ownership rates are what primarily move the needle with pet population trends, and historical MRI-Simmons National Consumer Study data show that a gradual ramp up in dog population has been in play for decades. This trend peaked during the 2013-2018 period, before the advent of COVID. In fact, longer-term data suggest that there is no simple or enduring relationship between macroeconomic downturns and pet population trends – understandably so, given that the average lifespan of pet dogs and cats reaches about 10-15 years.

In contrast to dog ownership rates, cat ownership has fluctuated only moderately over the last decades, and have risen slightly since COVID.