Animal companions
| Dogs | Cats | Birds | Horses | |
| percentage of homes with ownership | 38.4 | 36.4 | 2.8 | 0.7 |
| number of homes with ownership | 48,255,414 | 31,896,078 | 3,509,033 | 893,153 |
| The typical number per household | 1.7 | 1.6 | 2.2 | 2.1 |
| overall in the United States | 76,811,306 | 58,385,726 | 7,538,001 | 1,914,395 |
| Each household has one veterinary visit each year | 2.4 | 1.4 | 0.4 | 1.6 |
| Each household has one veterinary visit each year (mean) | $411 | $183 | $42 | $615 |
Exotic and specialty animals in USA
| Population | Households | |
| Pet Chicken | 1398 | 15367 |
| Pet animals | 495 | 1788 |
| Reptiles | 3670 | 6,033 |
| Rabbits | 1,535 | 2,225 |
| Ferrets | 327 | 502 |
| Fish | 10,476 | 76,324 |
| Various Mammals | 1,979 | 3,521 |
| Others | 323 | 962 |
| In(1,000) | In(1,000) |
formulas for calculating the percentage of pet-owning households and the number of pets in your neighborhood
The majority of localities lack information on the number of households with dogs, cats, birds, or horses, as well as information on the total number of these animals in their areas. To calculate the number of pet-owning households and pet populations in your neighborhood, use the formulas below.
These equations will provide you with an approximation of the number of households with pets and the total number of pets. These calculations presuppose that the demographics and rates of pet ownership in your community are comparable to those in the country, state, and region. But as these calculations are based on hypothetical survey data, they shouldn’t be taken as having perfect accuracy.
You need to know the total number of households in the community you are projecting in order to utilize the formulas below. If you simply know the community’s population, you can calculate the approximate number of households by dividing the population by the typical number of people living in each household. According to the Current Population Survey conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau in 2011, there were 2.6 people living in each household.
Calculate the Percentage of Households with Pets
Multiply the total number of households in your neighborhood by the proportion of pet-owning households to get an estimate of the number of pet-owning households there. You can substitute the state-specific percentage for dogs and cats in place of the national percentage. For animals like birds and horses, you can use the regional proportion instead of the national percentage.
The demographics of the state or area may be closer to those of your neighborhood, but as was already mentioned, there is a higher level of statistical uncertainty with state and regional estimates than with national figures. Therefore, it is unclear whether utilizing national, regional, or state figures will result in a more accurate estimate of the number of pet-owning households in your neighborhood without more investigation.
Formulas for calculating the proportion of families with pets based on national percentages:
| All Pets | Households with pets =.568 times the total number of households |
| Dogs | Households with dogs =.384 times the total number of households |
| Cats | Number of households with cats =.254 times the total number of households |
| Birds | Number of households with birds =.028 times the total number of households |
| Horses | Families with horses =.007 times the total number of households |
Calculate the Number of Animals in USA
There are two additional approaches for calculating the number of pets in your neighborhood. The total number of households in your neighborhood can be multiplied by a value that is calculated by dividing the proportion of pet-owning households by the average number of pets per household. As an alternative, you can multiply the total number of households with pets by the average number of pets per family.
If desired, state or regional values may be used in place of the national numbers, just like with the number of households. (You may calculate the average number of dogs, cats, birds, or horses per family in a state or region by dividing the population by the total number of pet-owning households in that state or region.) However, it’s important to remember the same warning as earlier. Without additional research, it is impossible to say if the estimate’s error due to variations in community and national demographic and pet-ownership traits is greater or less than the estimate’s error due to the bigger error present in the smaller state or regional samples.
Formulas for calculating the number of pets based on pet ownership and national percentages:
| Dogs | Dogs = 0.614 times the total number of households in your neighborhood |
| Dogs = 1.6 times the number of dog-owning households | |
| Cats | Cats = 0.457 times the total number of households in your neighborhood. |
| Cats = 1.8 times the number of cat-owning households | |
| Birds | Birds = 0.058 times the total number of households in your neighborhood |
| Number of houses with birds divided by the number of birds = 2.1 | |
| Horses | Equine number = 0.015 times the total number of households in your neighborhood |
| Equine population = 2.1 times the number of households that own horses |
EXAMPLE:
Let’s say you are aware that a community has 50,000 residents.
To gauge the proportion of homes in this neighborhood that have dogs:
Subtract the average number of individuals per household from the Census from the overall population:
19,231 households from 50,000 divided by 2.
19,231 times.384 equals 7,385 families with dogs
To determine how many dogs live in this neighborhood:
19,231 x 0.614 = 11,808 dogs
Alternatively, 1.6 times 7,385 equals 11,816 dogs.
Read More: Pet-ownership-statistics-in-2022
