SEATTLE — It’s no secret that Seattle is a dog-loving city. It’s hard to walk anywhere without seeing pups happily traipsing alongside their owners or running around a park. Plus, with pet adoptions surging thanks to the pandemic, you’ve likely seen even more four-legged friends than usual around. But where exactly does Seattle rank among other dog-friendly cities?
According to a study by SmartAsset, Seattle ties with Pittsburgh as the 19th-most dog-friendly city in the U.S., with 1.9 dog parks per 100,000 residents, 351 dog-friendly restaurants and four dog-friendly shopping centers.
The four other metrics surveyed were average annual days of precipitation median home value, walk score and concentration of pet stores and veterinary offices. The study was conducted by analyzing data for 100 of the largest cities in the U.S..
Six of the top 11 most dog-friendly cities are on the West Coast, with Tucson, Ariz., being crowned the most dog-friendly city in the country this year.
The rest of the top 10: No. 2 Las Vegas, Nevada and Madison, Wis. (tie); No. 4 Albuquerque, N.M.; No. 5 Portland; No. 6 Tampa, Fla.; No. 7 San Diego, Calif.; No. 8 St. Petersburg, Fla.; No. 9 San Francisco, Calif.; No. 10 Austin, Texas and Minneapolis, Minn. (tie).
The city with the most pet-friendly restaurants is Chicago (No. 16) with 558, while Boise, Idaho (No. 17) has the most dog parks per 100,000 residents with 6. Those who want to take their dog shopping with them will have the most luck in Austin, Texas which has 28 dog-friendly shopping centers. Meanwhile, the best place for dog owners to get the most dry days with their pup is Las Vegas, as the city only has an average of about 14 days of precipitation annually. However, Portland ranked No. 5 despite having an annual average of about 115 days of rain. (In case you’re wondering, that category is also where Seattle took the biggest hit with its 107.8 average annual rainy days.)
The study also found that vets and pet stores are plentiful throughout the U.S. In Seattle, one can find about 64 pet stores and vet offices per 10,000 establishments. The most can be found in Madison with about 110.
Last year, Seattle ranked as the 16th-most dog-friendly city in the U.S., a spot now held by Chicago.
