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Scottsdale & Phoenix ranked in Top 5 for being some of the most pet-friendliest cities in the US

Posted at 7:30 AM, Aug 07, 2019
and last updated 2019-08-06 13:52:51-04

PHOENIX- To most pet owners, your pets are like your children. Only slightly better.

WalletHub understands that so they went one step ahead to compare the pet-friendliness of 100 cities in the United States.

Topping off as No. 1 overall ranked is… drum roll, please. Scottsdale, Arizona! REPRESENT. Find your way down the list a few spots and you’ll find Phoenix ranked as No. 5. REPRESENT TIMES TWO!

The top ten cities ranked in order were:

  1. Scottsdale, AZ
  2. Orlando, FL
  3. Tampa, FL
  4. Austin, TX
  5. Phoenix, AZ
  6. Las Vegas, NV
  7. Atlanta, GA
  8. St. Louis, MO
  9. Seattle, WA
  10. Portland, OR

WalletHub used 24 key metrics to find their data and ranked the cities based on three dimensions: pet budget, pet health and wellness and outdoor pet-friendliness scores.

Pet budget was broken down to:

  • Veterinary care costs
  • Minimum pet-care provider rate per visit
  • Dog insurance premium

Pet health and wellness was broken down into:

  • Veterinarians per capita
  • Pet caretakers per capita
  • Animal trainers per capita
  • Pet businesses per capita
  • Dog- friendly restaurants per capita
  • Share of pet-friendly hotels
  • Dog-friendly shops per capita
  • Pet meetup groups per capita
  • Doggie daycare and boarding establishments per capita
  • Pet-friendliness of rental market
  • Average home square footage
  • Share of single-family detached homes
  • Share of homes with one or fewer occupants per room
  • Animal shelters per capita
  • Strength of animal protection laws

Lastly, outdoor pet-friendliness was broken down into:

  • Weather
  • Dog parks per capita
  • Parkland as share of city area
  • Walk score
  • Dog-friendly trails per capita
  • Dog shows per capita

Find out more about the study on WalletHub’s website.