A List Of The Most Dog Friendly Cities In The U.S. For Your Dog Travel Bucket List!

Depending on who you ask (or who does the polling), you’re likely to get a different answer to the most dog friendly cities in America every time.

The reason that different cities appear on different lists is that each organization explores a different set of factors in order to determine whether a city is pet-friendly or not.

In my opinion, if a particular city shows up on any list of pet-friendly cities, then you can bet it’s a great place for dogs to live — and visit!

I’m going to summarize the findings for you — to help you decide if you might want to move to one of these cities or travel there with your dog!

Here are the absolute best cities for dogs to live and visit, according to a number of different sources…

My Takeaway

I’ll skip right to my summary of the findings first.

Then, you can read each report’s findings to see why each city qualified to be on the list of Top Pet Friendly Cities — one by one.

12 Most Dog Friendly States

In terms of dog friendly states, California outranks any other state in terms of pet-friendliness — by far. There are 9 California mentions on the following 5 lists! (Colorado is the next closest with 3 mentions.)

Specifically, the states that appear on more than one of the following lists and are, therefore, considered to be the most dog friendly states are (in this order):

1. California
2. Colorado
3. Florida
4. Texas
5. Arizona
6. Oregon
7. Washington
8. Arizona
9. Illinois
10. Massachusetts
11. Missouri
12. Nevada

Honorable Mentions: States

The states appearing only once on the following 5 lists are (in alphabetical order):

• Alabama
• Georgia
• Louisiana
• Minnesota
• New York
• North Carolina
• Utah
• Wisconsin

Remember, there are very valid reasons that these 8 states appear on these pet-friendly lists. In comparison, for example… just think of all the other states that didn’t even make the list!

Clearly, states in the Western U.S. tend to be more pet-friendly than those in the Eastern, Northern, or Southern United States.

13 Most Dog Friendly Cities

In terms of dog friendly cities, San Diego is the #1 ranking U.S. city — it’s the only city mentioned on all 5 of the following lists!

Specifically, the cities that appear on more than one of the following lists and are, therefore, considered to be the most pet-friendly cities are (in this order):

1. San Diego, CA
2. Austin, TX
3. Portland, OR
4. Seattle, WA
5. San Francisco, CA
6. Tampa, FL
7. Albuquerque, NM
8. Boston, MA
9. Chicago, IL
10. Colorado Springs, CO
11. Las Vegas, NV
12. St. Louis, MO
13. Tucson, AZ

Honorable Mentions: Cities

The cities appearing only once on the following 5 lists of pet-friendly cities are (in alphabetical order):

• Asheville, NC
• Atlanta, GA
• Birmingham, AL
• Dallas, TX
• Denver, CO
• Madison, WI
• Minneapolis, MN
• New Orleans, LA
• New York City, NY
• Oakland, CA
• Orlando, FL
• Phoenix, AZ
• Salt Lake City, UT
• St. Petersburg, FL

Okay, so now let’s see which organizations picked which cities as the most dog friendly and why…

Ranking Of All Dog Friendly Cities

(Click the link for each website below to see the details explaining why these cities are considered to be the most dog friendly ones.)

According to BringFido.com:

These cities appear at the top of the list because of a variety of factors — ranging from the number of restaurants with unique dog menus to the number of off-leash play areas.

1. Portland, Oregon
2. Asheville, North Carolina
3. San Diego, California
4. Colorado Springs, Colorado
5. Boston, Massachusetts
6. Austin, Texas
7. Tampa, Florida
8. Salt Lake City, Utah
9. Phoenix, Arizona
10. Seattle, Washington

According to WalletHub.com:

These are the top dog friendly cities due to the fact that they have the lowest costs for pet care, the most pet businesses per capita, the highest walkability scores, and the most places where you can take your dog along with you.

1. Tampa, Florida 
2. Austin, Texas
3. Las Vegas, Nevada
4. Orlando, Florida
5. Seattle, Washington 
6. St. Louis, Missouri 
7. Atlanta, Georgia 
8. New Orleans, Louisiana 
9. Birmingham, Alabama 
10. San Diego, California

According to Rentberry.com

To determine the most pet-friendly cities, there were lots of different factors considered here — including the percentage of landlords allowing pets, the number of pet stores, and the cost of the pet deposit for apartment rentals.

1. San Diego, California
2. Dallas, Texas
3. New York City, New York
4. St Louis, Missouri
5. Chicago, Illinois
6. Portland, Oregon
7. Oakland, California
8. Denver, Colorado
9. Seattle, Washington
10. San Francisco, California

According to DogTime.com:

These cities all have lots of ways for people and pets to play together outdoors — like dog parks, walking trails, dog-friendly events, and dog beaches. 

1. Portland, Oregon
2. Seattle, Washington
3. San Francisco, California
4. Austin, Texas
5. Chicago, Illinois
6. Colorado Springs, Colorado
7. Boston, Massachusetts
8. San Diego, California
9. Tucson, Arizona
10. Albuquerque, New Mexico

According to SmartAsset.com:

These cities are considered the most dog friendly — due to the number of dog parks per 100,000 residents, number of dog-friendly restaurants, median home value, average annual days of precipitation, number of dog-friendly shopping centers, citywide walk score, and number of pet stores & veterinary offices.

1. Tucson, Arizona
2. Las Vegas, Nevada
3. Madison, Wisconsin
4. Albuquerque, New Mexico
5. Portland, Oregon
6. Tampa, Florida
7. San Diego, California
8. St. Petersburg, Florida
9. San Francisco, California
10. Austin, Texas
11. Minneapolis, Minnesota

Dig Deeper

Mars Petcare, a company that creates products and services for people and their pets, strives to make the world a better place for pets.

To that end, they have created a Playbook For Pet Friendly Cities — with the goal of seeing more cities meeting very specific goals to become pet friendly.

Here’s a summary of the 12 traits that make a city pet-friendly.

The Bottom Line

So, do you live in a dog friendly city that doesn’t appear on these lists? If so, let us know in the comments below!

Are you planning on visiting any of these dog friendly cities — now that you know they go the extra mile in terms of providing dog-friendly services and facilities?

I definitely see a couple for my dog’s bucket list! These are the pet-friendly cities I would like to visit next with my dog:

• Austin, Texas
• Colorado Springs, Colorado
• Tucson, Arizona

Some Fun Dog Travel Ideas For You…

Before you go, check out all of our best dog travel tips.

See all of the fun places you can go with your dog.

Here are some fun outdoor activities to do with your dog.

Don’t miss this list of all the best dog parks in America and the top dog-friendly beaches.

And be sure to do these things ahead of time, in case your dog ever gets separated from you while traveling!

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