Curious how rising living costs are reshaping pet budgets in 2025? Dive into our latest industry report to see what the average $1,700-$2,500‑a‑year price tag means for pet parents — and how you can plan ahead.
Over the last five years, cost of living expenses in the United States have increased substantially. Most of the focus is on the price of everyday items like groceries and gas. However, the cost of owning a pet in 2025 has also increased dramatically.
In 2024, Americans were projected to spend over $150 billion on pets, which breaks down to about $1,733 per household. The amount you can expect to spend can vary dramatically. This depends on your location, type of pet, and the age of the pet.
If you’re considering bringing a furry (or scaly) friend into your home, how much should you budget? Obviously there are initial costs involved with owning a pet. But it’s important to understand the weekly, monthly and annual costs associated with pet ownership. Anticipating these costs and properly budgeting helps you avoid a situation in which you must make a difficult decision about keeping your pet.
Our family recently adopted a Schnoodle (Schnauzer/Poodle hybrid) named Grover from a rescue agency. We live in Southern California, one of the most expensive regions of the United States. I’ll use my personal experiences of adoption fees, medical bills, grooming, food and more to add an individual perspective to the report.
Trends in Pet Ownership
Before we discuss the cost of pet ownership, it’s important to recognize that trends in pet ownership have shifted over the last five years. In 2020 when the Coronavirus pandemic was forcing the world into quarantine, pet adoption rates soared.
Breeders met the pandemic-era demand for puppies by increasing the supply. By 2024, this trend reversed, leading to market saturation. Unfortunately, as the pandemic wound down and people returned to work, there was an increase in surrendered pets — filling up shelters — and breeders found it increasingly difficult to place their puppies in homes.
Social media platforms and breeder forums documented widespread difficulties in placing puppies, particularly large breeds and designer hybrids, as supply outstripped demand.
Is anyone else having a hard time placing puppies?
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Explaining the Increase in Surrendered Pets
Unfortunately, a large part of the increase in surrendered pets is due to rising costs of ownership. According to a recent Lending Tree survey of over 1300 consumers, nearly a quarter of pet owners considered surrendering their pet due to financial constraints and almost 40% say they won’t own a pet again.
While about two in three Americans own a pet, a quarter of those that don’t say it’s because they can’t afford one. They’re right — in the same study, 64% of pet owners say they’ve made financial sacrifices in order to afford their pet.
Young people in particular are feeling the financial burden the worst. Almost half of Gen Z pet owners considered relinquishing their pets due to financial reasons, and a quarter actually surrendered their pets.
Source: LendingTree survey of nearly 2000 pet owners.
Visit our infographic page with interactive charts about all findings of the survey.
What’s the reason for this trend? The vast majority (86%) of those surveyed by LendingTree stated that inflation makes pet ownership more expensive; 41% are struggling to keep up with the cost of owning a pet.
What Pet Expenses are Most Affected by Inflation?
In the LendingTree survey, respondents found that certain pet products were more affected by inflation than others. Pet food led the way, with three out of four pet owners saying that inflation has led to higher costs for kibble.
Other expenses that have risen in cost over the last few years include veterinary services (56% of respondents), necessary supplies like leashes and litter (40%), medication (31%) and grooming services (27%).
Higher Ownership Levels Despite the Rapidly Increasing Cost to Own a Pet
The American Pet Product Association (APPA) found that since 2018 total pet industry expenditures have increased by 66% — from $90.5 billion to $150.6 billion. Increasing costs haven’t dampened Americans’ enthusiasm for pet ownership, as overall pet ownership has trended upward in the last several decades.
The APPA reports that in 2024 nearly two-thirds (66%) of households owned a pet; in 1988 that figure was just over half of households (56%). [Raw numbers: 86.9 million homes in 2024 (no data for 1988)].
Almost half of households own a dog, while over one third of households own a cat. Other common pets include freshwater fish, small animals like hamsters and rats, birds, reptiles and horses — though less than 10% of households own one of these pets.
Fish, birds and reptiles are less expensive to own than cats or dogs; owning a horse is much more expensive and would warrant a “cost to own” report of its own. Therefore, much of this report will focus on dog and cat ownership.
As a testament to the affinity Americans feel for their pets, most agree that they put their pet before their own needs. A significant majority of pet owners — 65% — said that “treating my pet comes before my own needs.” Meanwhile, 64% of pet owners say they have made financial sacrifices for their pets.
- 29% have cut their personal spending
- 19% have skipped vacations
- 19% have taken on additional debt
Before Taking a Vacation, Consider the Cost of a Pet Sitter
When it comes to vacations, there is the added expense of a pet sitter. The most popular dog-sitting marketplace in the United States is Rover, which offers a variety of services.
Depending on the needs of your pet, you can choose to have the sitter stay at your home, your pet stay at the sitter’s home, or have the sitter come for drop-in visits (not recommended for dogs). According to Rover, there are some factors that affect the cost of pet sitting:
- Time of year: Holidays are often the busiest times for travel, so rates are higher
- Location: Like with everything covered in this report, high cost of living areas tend to have higher pet-sitting rates
- Experience: More experienced pet sitters with higher reviews often charge a premium for their services
The average Rover pet sitter charges between $40 and $100 a night. Drop-in, overnight and extended care each have different rates. A drop-in visit can be as little as $20-$30 per visit, while overnight care ranges from $80-$100 a night.
We typically board our dog when we go out of town and use Rover. We have a great local pet sitter that we try to use any time we go out of town and it’s not convenient or possible to bring the dog. Our sitter charges $80 a night for boarding in an upscale apartment in a nice part of town. While she isn’t the cheapest option available, we are more than willing to pay a little extra to ensure our dog is in good hands.
For our cat, we’re a little less picky and use drop-in service. Cats are more independent and leaving them alone overnight isn’t as big of an ask as it is for a dog. When we’ve hired a cat sitter for drop-in visits, the rate was $23 a night.
Initial Cost of Adopting a Pet
Unless you know someone with a larger-than-expected litter that’s giving away puppies or kittens, you can always expect to pay some sort of adoption fee. This is true when purchasing through a breeder or adopting a pet through an agency. How much you’ll pay depends on a number of factors.
- In-demand breeds or exotic breeds are more expensive than common or low-demand breeds.
- A study by Market Watch found that the West and Northeast are the most expensive regions for purchasing a dog. Southern and Midwestern states are the least expensive.
- Purebreds are typically more expensive, but some designer mixes can be very pricey.
Note: Complete data was not available for North Dakota, South Dakota, Alaska, and Hawaii.
Source: Analysis by the MarketWatch Guides Team
Breeder Vs. Adoption Agency
The biggest factor is whether or not you go through a breeder. Dog breeding is a time-consuming, cost-intensive process with a lot of overhead. Breeders need to recoup expenses and turn a profit — it’s a business after all.
If you adopt through a rescue shelter or agency, you’ll pay significantly less upfront. Most rescue organizations are non-profit organizations that use the adoption fee to:
- Cover the cost of housing/feeding the animal
- Providing the animal with required medical care (vaccinations, spay/neuter surgery, microchip)
- Other operational expenses
We adopted our dog Grover through a rescue agency. So even though we live in Los Angeles, one of the most expensive cities in the country, we only paid $600 in fees. This is a relatively inexpensive adoption fee — many dogs carry a fee of $3000 or more. That cost includes:
- Neutering procedure
- Vaccinations
- Registration with the state
- Grooming while he was being fostered
- Any other health care he needed
Grover is a Schnoodle, so he’s considered a designer mix — more expensive than the run-of-the-mill mutt. However, he’s not as in-demand of a breed as a Cockapoo or Labradoodle, so $600 is pretty in line with his breed. Additionally, we adopted him at the age of three, so we were able to avoid a lot of the expenses associated with adopting a puppy. Plus, puppies are adorable and tend to cost a premium to adopt.
Meanwhile, we have also adopted a kitten (which we did adopt as a full-fledged kitten) named Zip Zip. We brought her home from a Pet Food Express-hosted adoption in conjunction with Pasadena Humane. The adoption fee was around $300, which included some of her shots (but not all), sterilization surgery (spaying) and microchipping.
Most and Least Expensive Dog Breeds
According to our internal data, the most expensive dog breeds (which purchased from a breeder, and not an adoption agency) include:
- Pomsky — a Pomeranian/Husky hybrid
- Goldendoodle — a Golden Retriever/Poodle hybrid
- American Bully
- Mastiff
- Irish Wolfhound
These puppies carry a breeder fee of at least $2,000 and can cost as much as $10,000! In general, we found that the median low price for a dog or cat is $1,000 and the median high price is $2,000.
On the flip side, many breeds are quite affordable. Our data finds that these are among the least expensive breeds in their first year:
- Border Terrier
- Chorkie
- Chihuahua
- Jack Russell Terrier
- Rat Terrier
Other Initial Cost Considerations
The adoption fee isn’t the only upfront cost you’ll have to consider when adopting a pet. Market Watch’s research shows that other costs include vaccinations, spaying/neutering, preventative medicine and general supplies, adding up to an average of $1,038:
- Vaccines: $199
- Spay or neuter operation: $298
- Preventative medicine: (heartworm, flea and tick, etc.): $184
- General supplies: (leashes, bowls, crates, pet beds, etc.): $356
Puppy Transportation Costs
Most experts recommend that you meet a puppy before adoption. However, that’s not always possible. Maybe you live in a remote area or want a specific breed that’s not available locally — in that case you may need to purchase from an out-of-state breeder and pay for pet transportation.
There are, of course, other reasons to transport your pet. Some common circumstances include moving long-distance, taking a long-term vacation, or perhaps a work arrangement that finds you in another city for months or years.
The cost of pet transportation can vary. Factors include:
- The distance of the transportation
- Whether your pet travels alone or with other animals
- Seasonality
- The size of the animal
- How remote the destination is
Our internal data finds that the average cost per mile for pet transportation is $.36 a mile. Of course, that rate can vary depending on the factors mentioned above. CitizenShipper makes it easier to get a better deal on pet transportation. This is because our marketplace allows for “trip stacking,” meaning transporters can be more efficient on their routes and therefore charge a lower rate. Additionally, when you post a listing on our pet transportation marketplace, you'll receive multiple bids. This gives you the flexibility to find a transporter that fits your budget.
Average Annual Cost of Pet Ownership
In addition to the upfront costs of pet adoption, there are costs you can expect to pay over your pet’s lifetime. Most dogs live between 10 and 13 years, while cats can live up to 20 years. The national average cost to own a dog is over $2,500 according to Market Watch.
Value Penguin conducted a similar study that found that “[T]he average annual cost of dog ownership reached $1,733 per household in 2024, with veterinary care (+7.1%), food (+76% cited as problematic), and supplies driving expenses. Cat owners face lower but still significant costs at $836 annually.”
Extrapolating that data, you can expect to pay up to
In a study posted on Rover’s The Dog People Blog, the average annual cost of dog ownership ranged from a low of $1,390 per year to a high of $5,295. The good news is that their study finds that once a puppy has matured into an adult dog, the annual costs drop about 32%. One way to lower the overall cost of a pet is to adopt a young adult dog or cat — this is what we did with Grover (he is three), but not our cat Zip Zip, who we adopted as a kitten.
- You won't have to pay for their vaccinations and sterilization surgery
- It's less likely you'll need to pay for training classes — though some adult adoption dogs come with "baggage" that will need to be worked through in training classes
- Adult dog food is less expensive than puppy food, and because the dog is no longer growing, they may eat less of it.
However, a senior dog tends to be more expensive on average than a healthy adult-age pup. They may require prescription food (more on that in detail later) or special products to aid in their quality of life. For example, as our previous dog aged, we needed to purchase foam stairs (~$50) so she could get up and down from our bed.
The Bigger the Dog, the Higher the Costs
According to a study from Apartments.com, Good Dog, Petco, Puppies.com and veterinarians, the larger the dog breed, the more you can expect to pay on an annual basis. In fact, certain large breeds can be up to 230% more expensive than smaller breeds.
- Puppy food is more expensive than adult dog food
- You’ll visit the vet less often when you have an adult dog
- Training expenses are eliminated once your dog has completed courses
According to Rover, the average annual expense for a small dog (10-15 lbs) is just $1,390 while a medium dog (22-55 lbs) is $3,343 a year. A large dog (over 60 lbs) can cost as much as $5,295.
What Affects the Cost to Own a Pet?
What sorts of items contribute to the annual cost of dog ownership? Here are the most common expenses according to The Dog People blog:
Food: Choosing Premium Products or Affordable Traditional Products
It should come as no surprise that for most pet owners, food is the biggest expense. Your pet needs to eat at least once or twice a day, and possibly more depending on the species and breed.
As a pet ages, food expenses tend to increase. Puppy and kitten food may be more expensive than adult pet food, but they usually eat less than a full-grown animal. Unfortunately, as your pet ages they may require special food — diet food, renal food among others — which increases costs.
As people increasingly view their pets through an anthropomorphized lens, a vast range of pet food brands have entered the market. You can spend a small fortune on premium brands at the highest end of the market, a more modest amount on traditional pet food, or opt for a middle ground.
Traditional Pet Food
The most popular pet food brands can be found at most major grocery stores and retailers like Wal Mart and Target. Brands like Purina, Pedigree, Kibbles ‘n Bits are some of the most popular and well known, and come at a much lower price than premium brands.
Many budget pet foods contain filler and byproducts that don’t offer much nutrition to your pet. However, just because a pet food is inexpensive doesn’t mean it’s not healthy — you just have to do more research.
Dog Food Advisor recommends Canidae All Life Stages Chicken Meal & Rice as the best budget dog food brand and Jinx Grain-Free Atlantic Salmon, Sweet Potato and Carrot Recipe as the best budget dry dog food. These brands and many others offer quality nutrition but won’t break the bank — sometimes being as much as 30%-40% less than premium brands.
Premium Brand Pet Food
For pet owners on a higher budget, there are endless premium pet food brands that cover a wide scale of prices. From independent, locally-owned stores to larger chains like Pet Food Express and Healthy Spot, you can find a plethora of nutrition options that are not just your typical kibble.
You’ll find these brands use terms like:
- Air Dried
- Dehydrated
- Gently-Cooked
- Raw
- Steam and Dried
In the past, you’d need to live near a boutique pet food store in order to have access to these premium brands. Now, companies like Chewy.com, PetCo, PetSmart and even Amazon make it convenient for even the most remotely-located pet owners to order high-end food.
There are lower-cost fresh food options like Freshpet, which come in rolls ($3-4 per pound) and bags (~$10 a bag). What's great about Freshpet is that it’s available at just about every major grocery store as well as stores like Target and Wal-Mart.
Meal Subscription Service
A popular choice for pet owners is subscribing to a meal service. While they tend to be more expensive than traditional pet food options, there are many benefits to a subscription service:
- Customization and personalization: Most pet food subscription services ask you to fill out a detailed form before recommending a meal plan.
- Portioned meals: The meal plan provides the exact amount of food your pet needs each week/month so you avoid over or underfeeding.
- Convenience: The food is delivered to your doorstep.
- Customer service: Many subscription services have a dedicated customer service team to help with any questions or concerns.
The cost of a meal service varies, depending on factors like species/breed, the size of the animal, the quality of the ingredients, and shipping costs. Here are a few examples of popular meal services and their subscription costs:
- The Farmer’s Dog: $40 - $500 per month
- Nom Nom: $100 - $200 per month
- Spot & Tango: $30 - $200 per month
- Ollie: $40 - $100 per month
Prescription Pet Food
Unfortunately, sometimes pets need prescription-grade food to treat health issues. This could range from heart problems to kidney disease to simply being overweight. While it's distressing when your pet is in poor health, the cost of prescription food is doubly stressful.
Simply put, prescription pet food is expensive. And even worse, it's not as easy to obtain as it should be. You might be lucky and your vet always has the prescription food in stock; but this isn't usually the case. Online stores like Chewy and major pet food retailers like Petco and Petsmart carry prescription food, but you'll need a written note from the doctor to purchase it.
When our previous dog, Gidget, was diagnosed with kidney disease, she was prescribed a renal-friendly food. Frequently, prescription food isn't very palatable, so it took a while to find a brand and texture that she would eat. That ended up being Royal Canin Loaf Canned Food, which was about $100 for 24 cans in a case. The good news is the food lasted a long time — one case usually was enough for about two months, though we supplemented it with Freshpet to get her to eat more.
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Our Personal Pet Food Experience
We feed Grover a combination of Freshpet and Blue Buffalo kibble, which is in the middle price tier of pet food. Grover is about 20 pounds and we feed him twice a day. We usual mix Blue Buffalo dry kibble with mashed up Freshpet loaf or the brand's "small bites" soft kibble.
- A 15-pound bag of Blue Buffalo Life Protection Formula costs around $25 and lasts for about a month and a half.
- Freshpet is less expensive, with a small bag of the "small bites" kibble or a loaf costing about $10 but only lasting about two weeks.
Our cat Zip Zip is less expensive: she typically eats a can or two of Fancy Feast per day, supplemented with Kindfull kibble. That means she goes through a 12-pack of Fancy Feast a week, and the Nutro kibble lasts about a month.
- A 12-pack of Fancy Feast Medleys canned food is about $14 and we go through about four a month.
- Kindfull kibble is about $18 for a seven-pound bag that lasts all month.
Overall, our family spends about $110 a month on our dog and cat food — certainly on the lower end of cost to feed a dog. Surprisingly, we spend more on cat food than on dog food! Of course, we could spend significantly more if we had larger pets or made the leap into premium pet foods.
Here's what some other pet owners have said about their pet food expenses:
How much do you all budget for dog food?
byu/Awkward_Tie9816 inbudget
Preventatives: Keeping (You and) Your Pets Comfortable
One expense that isn't frequently discussed but can end up making a big dent in your budget is preventatives. Preventative care covers a wide gamut, including:
- Flea and tick medication
- Disease screenings
- Neuturing/spaying
- Dental care
For this section, we'll just focus on parasite prevention, i.e. flea and tick medication. We'll focus on the other preventatives in the section below.
Parasite prevention ranges in performance depending on your lifestyle and location. If you have a large yard or even live on a range, or spend lots of time outdoors with your pets, flea and tick preventatives are going to be a quarterly expense. If you live in a city apartment and rarely spend time in grassy areas — though even in our experience as urban apartment dwellers, fleas can be insidious, especially with carpeted floors.
We just bought Frontline brand flea prevention treatment for Grover, and it was $44.99 at Target. There are other brands widely available, including Advecta ($32.99 at Target), Pet Armor Plus ($42.99 at Target), Tevrapet Activate II ($26.99 at Target). Each pack includes three doses of flea medication, and each dose should last at least 30 days.
Some pet owners choose to use flea collars or simply wash with flea and tick-preventing shampoos. Capstar also makes an oral flea preventative that is almost instantly effective in killing fleas, but only lasts for up to 48 hours. With that in mind, you should plan to budget between $100 and $200 a year for flea prevention.
Veterinary Expenses
Rising Cost of Vet Services
Not only are pet products being affected by inflation, veterinary services are increasing in cost as well. Inflation has effected the cost of medical supplies, but it's not the only reason for the rising cost of vet services:
- Increased demand for pet adoptions in 2020 (lessening over the last few years)
- Veterinarian and veterinarian assistant shortage
- Small family practices bought by large corporations
- Rise in veterinarian school costs and limited admissions
When calculating how much you'll pay for vet services, consider where you live — urban and suburban areas are typically more expensive than rural vets. It's not just the urban/rural divide that affects vet costs; high cost of living states see larger vet bills than less expensive states. For example, North Carolina the average vet trip is $56 while in CA it’s $71. That is 24% more expensive!
Why You Should Consider Pet Insurance
Unfortunately, one of the biggest pet-related expenses is medical costs. As profit margins become more slim, veterinarians are under increased pressure to upsell customers on additional products and services. Some of these products and services are certainly worth the cost, while others should be met with a degree of skepticism.
“37% of pet owners have gone into debt for their pets, with 68% saying a medical emergency caused it. These emergencies are common, as 64% of owners say they’ve had an unexpected medical expense for their pet, and only 27% have pet insurance.”
However, it's a fact that pets get sick, have emergencies, develop long-term conditions, and more — all of which will cost you, the pet owner. In fact, Lending Tree finds that 68% of pet owners that are in debt because of a medical emergency.
One way to avoid paying quite so much for an unexpected vet bill is to sign up for pet insurance.
- Keep in mind that co-pays aren’t common in vet care, you pay the full cost up front and then get reimbursed.
- Get insurance as soon as you bring your pet home, as pre-existing conditions aren’t covered (so get them covered before it’s pre-existing).
- Rare, but does happen: employers offering group plans for pet owners.
Teeth Cleaning Costs
Anyone that's taken a pet to the vet knows about teeth cleaning. Veterinarians recommend that pets have their teeth cleaning once a year!
How much does pet dental cleaning cost? MetLife Pet Insurance estimates that the cost of dental cleaning ranges from $300 to $2,000. Just like all pet expenses, there are factors that can make the procedure more expensive:
- Location (vet fees in high-cost states and urban areas are more)
- Complexity of the procedure
- Extractions
- Pre-existing conditions
Most of the time, pets are sedated before having their teeth cleaned. Sedation is one of the most expensive elements of teeth cleaning; in order to be sedated, your pet likely will need to undergo bloodwork, which could add hundreds to the total cost.
Cost of Owning a Pet in 2025: In Conclusion
It's extremely rewarding to bring an animal into your home and add to your family. While it's certainly not as expensive as the cost of raising a child, pet ownership comes with significant costs. That's why it's important to plan ahead and budget before getting a pet. When you understand the cost of pet ownership, you can plan ahead to avoid cutting out things in your life you love or taking on debt.