Top 10 States with Highest, Lowest Percentage of Pet Owners

Jan. 18, 2013 — -- intro:

Among residents of the 50 states, Vermonters are more likely to have pets, according to a new survey by the American Veterinary Medical Association.

The AVMA released its U.S. Pet Ownership & Demographics Sourcebook, revealing which states have the largest number of pet owners and which have the fewest, and spending trends among pet owners.

Thomas McPheron, spokesman for the AVMA, said the survey didn't collect information that might indicate why certain states had higher rates of pet ownership. However, one of the factors may be related to the type of dwellings, such as rural or suburban.

"One clue might be that Washington D.C., which is completely urban, has the absolute lowest pet ownership numbers," McPheron said.

Total veterinary expenditures for all households with pets were estimated to be about $28 billion in 2011. Dogs represented 68.1 percent of total veterinary expenditures; cats, 26.3 percent; birds, 0.5 percent; horses, 2.9 percent; and specialty and exotic pets, 2.1 percent.

The mean veterinary expenditure per household for all pets was $375 in 2011.

Households that considered their dogs or cats to be family members spent more on veterinary expenditures than those that considered their pets to be pets/companions or property.

Among households that considered their pets to be family members, the mean veterinary expenditure for a cat-only household was $114 more than veterinary expenditures for households that considered their cats to be pets/companions. It was $214 more than those that considered their cats to be property.

The AVMA retained Irwin Broh Research to conduct the research for the study. A questionnaire was distributed by email to 222,244 U.S. households.

Across all pet owners that considered their pets to be family members, veterinary expenditures per household were highest among dog-only households ($468), followed by dogs in two-species households ($370) and cats in cat-only households ($284).

Veterinary spending on dogs was higher than that of even horses.

Dog owners spent an average of $378 at the veterinarian in 2011, mostly for physical exams, drugs or medications and 6 percent of dog owners have pet insurance. Some dog owners reported spending money on alternative treatments, like acupuncture, but that was only 1 percent of spending.

The average veterinary expenditure for horses was $373, up close to 4 percent from 2006, mostly for exams, vaccinations and dental cleaning/care, the report said. Cat owners spent $191 for veterinary care in 2011.

Bird owners didn't seem to spend as much on their winged creatures. Almost half of the bird owners surveyed said they never take their bird to the veterinarian for check-ups or preventative care. Those that considered birds to be part of the family visited the veterinarian more often, spending an average of $33, mostly for physical exams, grooming and lab tests.

Here is a list of the 10 states with the highest percentage of pet owners, followed by a list of the states with the lowest percentage:

quicklist:category: 1. title: Vermonttext: 70.8 percent pet owners

quicklist:category: 2. title: New Mexicotext: 67.6 percent pet owners

quicklist:category: 3.title: South Dakotatext: 65.6 pet owners

quicklist:category: 4. title: Oregontext: 63.6 percent pet owners

quicklist:category: 5. title: Maine text: 62.9 percent pet owners

quicklist:category: 6. title: Washington text: 62.7 percent pet owners

quicklist:category: 7. title: Arkansastext: 62.4 percent pet owners

quicklist:category: 8. title: West Virginiatext: 62.1 percent pet owners

quicklist:category: 9. title: Idahotext: 62 percent pet owners

quicklist:category: 10. title: Wyomingtext: 61.8 percent pet owners

STATES WITH THE LOWEST PET OWNERSHIP

quicklist:category: 1. title: District of Columbia text: 21.9 percent pet owners

quicklist:category: 2. title: Massachusettstext: 50.4 percent pet owners

quicklist:category: 3. title: New York text: 50.6 percent pet owners

quicklist:category: 4. title: New Jersey text: 50.7 percent pet owners

quicklist:category: 5. title: Utahtext: 51.2 percent pet owners

quicklist:category: 6. title: Nebraskatext: 51.3 percent pet owners

quicklist:category: 7. title: Illinoistext: 51.8 percent pet owners

quicklist:category: 8. title: Marylandtext: 52.3 percent pet owners

quicklist:category: 9. title: Californiatext: 52.9 percent pet owners

quicklist:category: 10. title: Minnesota text: 53 percent pet owners

quicklist:category: 10. title: Rhode Islandtext: 53 percent pet owners