Pet Population & Ownership Trends in the US, 9th Edition Report

Report Overview

Over the last few years, pet population trends have spurred the pet industry to recalibrate its relative emphasis on dogs vs. cats. Most notably, the number of kitten households reached 99% of the number of puppy households in 2025, compared with 66% in 2019. This parity is central to current and near-term growth opportunities in the pet industry.

1. Is the pet population declining? Overall, pet ownership rates have notched slightly downward due to declining rates of dog ownership, tying into macroeconomic conditions generally and to the housing affordability crisis specifically.
    
2. What was the effect of COVID-19 pandemic on the pet population? The COVID-19 epidemic muddied the waters on pet population trends. Many manufacturing and retail-based sources took an increased pet population for granted given the spike in pet care spending, including for durable pet products generally associated with adoption. But veterinary sector sources were skeptical about any overall increase in pet population, factoring in veterinary supply distribution volumes and pet health appointment traffic. While there is no debate over a pandemic-era spike in pet care spending and pet adoption in relation to stay-at-home/work-from-home dynamics, other factors simultaneously led to pet ownership attrition.
3. What is the projected growth in the pet population? Packaged Facts projects the number of pet-owning households in the US to increase from 68.2 million in 2025 to 73.0 million in 2029, for a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 1.7% over this period.
    
4. What are the current puppy and kitten adoption trends? The ratio of puppy households to overall dog households – like the ratio of kitten households to overall cat households – has fallen since 2010, when the ratio for both was 13%. As of 2025, only 7% of dog parents had puppies and 11% of cat parents had kittens.
    
5. What macroeconomic factors are affecting pet population growth? National population growth is at historic lows, and remains unlikely to provide much fuel for pet population growth within the near future, unless boosted by changes in economic conditions or immigration policies and patterns. Because domestic fertility rates below the population sustenance rate, international immigration is the main lever for population maintenance or growth, and recent immigration data are lowering household growth expectations.

Key Themes Covered in this Report:

• Current consumer confidence trends point to more positive prospects for cat population than for dog population growth. The University of Michigan’s Index of Consumer Sentiment was reported at 56 in January 2026, down by nearly half from its historical benchmark. This reverts to the ultra-low consumer confidence levels back in the territory of pandemic-era lows (which saw attrition in the pet population, despite mixed signals at the time),  and far below indexes in the 90s for the years 2015 through 2019. From this consumer confidence perspective, puppy adoption patterns show a rough relationship to consumer sentiment trends, a relationship that does not hold for kitten adoption.

Understanding pet population trends in the macroeconomic context: a deep dive into dog vs. cat population patterns

Historically speaking, pet product manufacturers, retailers, and marketers have been canine-centric, since pet care spending is typically higher for dogs than for cats. Over the last few years, however, pet population trends have spurred the pet industry to recalibrate its relative emphasis on dogs vs. cats.

Housing affordability is a complex issue driven by housing prices, mortgage interest and homeowners’ insurance rates, the amount of housing stock for sale in relation to demand, and building material costs for new home construction. Much simpler is the relationship between homeownership and pet ownership, especially in the case of dogs: 45% of single-family homeowners vs. 17% of multi-family home renters have dogs.

Current consumer confidence trends point to more positive prospects for cat population than for dog population growth. The University of Michigan’s Index of Consumer Sentiment was reported at 56 in January 2026, down by nearly half from its historical benchmark. This reverts to the ultra-low consumer confidence levels back in  the territory of pandemic-era lows (which saw attrition in the pet population, despite mixed signals at the time), and far below indexes in the 90s for the years 2015 through 2019. From this consumer confidence perspective, puppy adoption patterns show a rough relationship to consumer sentiment trends, a relationship that does not hold for kitten adoption.

The Case-Shiller National Home Price Index is currently well over 300 – over three times the historical baseline index. The median existing single-family home now costs about five times the median household income, compared with the 3:1 price-to-income ratio for a home purchase to traditionally be considered affordable. The single-family home affordability crisis directly affects puppy vs. kitten adoption rates, and suggests that trends will continue to favor cats.

Pet Population & Ownership Trends in the US, 9^th edition: analysis and outlook

Pet Population & Ownership Trends in the US, 9^th edition, provides a detailed and data-rich analysis of pet population trends in the US, with a focus on dogs and cats. Report coverage includes the national population and macroeconomic context, pet ownership rates, pet population characteristics, pet owner demographics, and pet population projections for 2025 vs. 2029. It includes tables showing historically trended household ownership rates and pet owner demographics across several metrics:

• ownership of dogs and/or cats
• number and age dogs or cats owned, including puppy/kitten adoption and senior pet trends
• demographic patterns for key pet owner variables.

This report also provides topline ownership rates for other types of pets (fish, birds, herptiles, and small mammals).

Backed by extensive data from Packaged Facts’ National Surveys of Pet Owners (conducted between January 2025 and January 2026) and trended MRI-Simmons National Consumer Survey data, this report is the authoritative resource on pet population trends in the US.

Pet Population in the US, 9^th Edition Report Details

Generational Trends in Pet Ownership

Age bracket patterns in pet ownership can be tracked as generational trends, which have been crimping dog – but not cat – ownership in the wake of COVID-19.

Dog Ownership

Dog ownership rates have held at least 30% across the 18-24 to 65-74 age span since 2012, by which year Millennials (born 1977-1996) began entering the prime age bracket (35 to 44) for pet ownership, and Baby Boomers (born 1946-1964) had begun entering the 65+ age group.

However, the number of Boomer dog-owning households began dropping by 2016, and the same started happening among Gen Xers by 2018. By 2021, the Boomer population bulge began entering the 75+ age range.

Overall, the number of dog-owning households rose from 2010 to 2017, but then dropped by 2025. Even though adult Gen Zers are pouring into the dog owner pool and Millennials now account for the plurality of dog owners, Boomers and pre-Boomers aging out of the prime dog ownership years have been chipping away at the dog population. A slight pandemic-related bump in 2021 has been the only exception to the downward trend.

Cat Ownership

Generational aging out of pet ownership also applies to cats, but the trends are altered such that the number of cat-owning households edged up from 2015 to 2025. Over the 2015-2025 period, these figures translate to a 5% increase in cat-owning households, relative to a 5% increase in the number of total households, and a 2% increase in dog-owning households.

The difference arises because increases in cat ownership among Gen Z and Millennial households have been greater than the corresponding increases in dog ownership, while the decreases in cat ownership have been smaller than the decreases in dog ownership among the Gen Xers:

• Between 2017 (when the oldest Gen Zers became adults) and 2025, Gen Z cat ownership growth kept pace with growth in the overall Gen Z household population, but dog ownership growth did not.
• Between 2015 and 2025, the increase in the number of Millennial cat households outpaced the increase in the overall Millennial household population but the number of dog households did not.
• Between 2015 and 2025, the Gen X cohort of cat households dipped only slightly compared with declines in the overall Gen X household population, but declines in the number of Gen X dog-owning households outpaced household population declines.