Pet ownership is widespread in the United States, but it is not distributed evenly across households, age groups, generations, or animal types. The U.S. Census Bureau counted about 63.8 million occupied housing units with at least one pet in 2021, while APPA estimated 94 million pet-owning U.S. households in 2025. Those figures come from different sources, methods, and measurement periods, so they should be read as separate benchmarks rather than a single time series.
Table of contents
- How many U.S. households have pets?
- Ownership by animal type
- Ownership by age and household type
- Generational pet ownership
- Emerging demographic patterns
- Pet care and spending behaviors
How many U.S. households have pets?
The U.S. Census Bureau’s 2021 Household Pets figures provide a household-level view of pet ownership. Approximately 63.8 million occupied housing units had at least one pet in 2021. That represented 49.6% of all U.S. occupied housing units. The estimate describes housing units, not a count of individual animals or people.
APPA’s later figures use a different research program and should not be treated as a direct update to the Census estimate. APPA’s 2023–2024 National Pet Owners Survey reported that 66% of U.S. households owned a pet, equivalent to 86.9 million households in that survey. APPA’s 2025 State of the Industry Report estimated 94 million U.S. households owned a pet in 2025.
These measurements show why the source and period matter in pet demographics. The Census Bureau’s 2021 result is a 2021 household estimate, while APPA’s 66% result comes from a 2023–2024 survey wave and APPA’s 94-million figure is a 2025 estimate. Differences may reflect both changing ownership and differences in survey design, definitions, and timing.
Ownership by animal type
The Census Bureau’s 2021 Household Pets data counted 49.0 million U.S. households with one or more dogs and 28.2 million with one or more cats. Other animals appeared in substantially fewer households in the same dataset: 4.9 million had birds, 2.7 million had fish, 2.5 million had reptiles, and 2.7 million had small mammals.
APPA’s 2025 State of the Industry Report estimated larger household counts for several categories in its own measurement. It estimated 68 million dog-owning households and 49 million cat-owning households. The report also estimated 6 million bird-owning households, 2 million horse-owning households, 10 million freshwater-fish-owning households, 2 million saltwater-fish-owning households, 6 million reptile-owning households, and 6 million small-animal-owning households.
| Animal category | Census Bureau, 2021 households | APPA estimate, 2025 households |
|---|---|---|
| Dogs | 49.0 million | 68 million |
| Cats | 28.2 million | 49 million |
| Birds | 4.9 million | 6 million |
| Reptiles | 2.5 million | 6 million |
| Small mammals or small animals | 2.7 million | 6 million |
| Fish | 2.7 million | 12 million combined freshwater and saltwater |
The fish comparison requires particular care. The Census Bureau figure is a single 2021 fish category, while APPA separates freshwater fish and saltwater fish in 2025. APPA’s two estimates total 12 million households, but that sum should not be interpreted as a like-for-like trend without matching definitions and methodology. The same caution applies to “small mammals” and APPA’s “small animals” labels.
Ownership by age and household type
The Census Bureau’s 2021 Household Pets data show a clear age pattern. Households headed by adults ages 45 to 54 had the highest reported pet ownership rate, at 58%. The rate was 45% among adults under age 25, 50% among adults ages 25 to 34, and 54% among adults ages 35 to 44.
Ownership remained comparatively high among older middle-aged households: 53% for adults ages 55 to 64. The reported rate was 40% for adults ages 65 and over. In this dataset, the highest measured rate was therefore among households headed by adults ages 45 to 54, while the lowest was among households headed by adults ages 65 and over.
Housing type and tenure also differed. Households in manufactured or mobile homes had a 61% pet ownership rate in 2021. Homeowners had a 56% rate, compared with 38% among renters. These figures describe group-level ownership rates; they do not explain why the rates differ or indicate that every household in a group shares the same circumstances.
Generational pet ownership
APPA’s industry trends page reported the following generation split among pet owners in 2025: Millennials accounted for 30%, Gen X for 25%, Baby Boomers for 25%, and Gen Z for 20%. This is a distribution of pet owners by generation, not the percentage of every person in each generation who owns a pet.
APPA also reported that Gen Z represented 20% of pet-owning households in 2024, equal to 18.8 million households, in the 2025 State of the Industry Report. APPA said that the 18.8 million Gen Z pet households were 43.5% higher than in 2023. The comparison is a reported change from 2023 to 2024, while the generation split above is labeled as APPA’s 2025 generation split.
Gen Z’s presence was also reported separately within major animal-owner groups. Gen Z made up 20% of dog owners in 2024, with its share of dog owners up 18% from 2023. Gen Z made up 20% of cat owners in 2024, and its share of cat owners was up 25% from 2023.
The APPA report found that 70% of Gen Z pet owners had two or more pets. This is a household or owner-level pattern within the cited APPA measure, and it does not provide the average number of pets owned by all Gen Z households.
Emerging demographic patterns
Some of the most specific recent changes appear in smaller or more specialized ownership groups. APPA’s 2025 State of the Industry Report said 11 million U.S. households owned backyard chickens in 2024. Backyard chicken ownership rose 28% from 2023 to 2024.
Gender patterns varied by generation and animal. Among Gen Z dog owners, 58% were men, and the share of male Gen Z dog owners rose 15.2% from 2023. Among Millennial dog owners, 63% were men, with that share rising 18.6% from 2023.
Cat ownership showed different reported shares. Men represented 38% of Gen Z cat owners, a share APPA said rose 17.8% from 2023. Men represented 46% of Millennial cat owners, and that share rose 23.9% from 2023. These figures refer to the specified owner groups; they should not be generalized to all dog owners, all cat owners, or all generations.
APPA’s 2025 Fish & Reptile Report said 43% of reptile keepers owned turtles or tortoises. Gen Z represented 33% of reptile owners, and Gen Z reptile ownership was up 27% from 2023. APPA’s 2025 Bird, Small Animal & Horse Report reported that Gen Z represented 22% of bird owners, with that share up 22% from 2023.
Horse ownership also showed multi-animal households. APPA’s 2024 Bird, Small Animal & Horse Report found that 55% of horse owners had two or more horses in their household. The same report measured human-animal bonding with HABSCORE: horse owners scored between 55.9 and 57.2 out of 70. That score is a reported range, not a percentage of owners.
Pet care and spending behaviors
Pet demographics include care practices as well as ownership counts. APPA’s 2023–2024 National Pet Owners Survey reported that 75% of pet owners remained committed to their pet’s current standard of care, while 56% remained loyal to their current pet brands. At the same time, 31% viewed pet supplies as discretionary and planned to curtail purchases to save money. These findings describe different attitudes in the same survey context and should not be combined into a single spending index.
For dogs, APPA’s 2025 Dog & Cat Report said 74% of dog owners who travel with their dogs had traveled by plane in the last year, and 87% had traveled by car in the last year. The denominator is dog owners who travel with their dogs, not all dog owners.
Health-related purchasing also differed by animal. APPA’s 2024 Dog & Cat Report said 50% of dog owners gave their dogs a vitamin or supplement in 2024. The corresponding share among cat owners was 32%.
Training-aid use among cat owners was 46% in 2024, according to the same APPA report. That rate was up from 34% in 2018. The figures identify a reported change across the cited years, but they do not establish why the change occurred.
Fish and reptile ownership often involves multiple animals or specialized equipment. APPA’s 2025 Fish & Reptile Report said 77% of fish owners kept two or more fish, up 7% from 2018. Among freshwater fish owners, 70% used aquarium lighting, up 32% from 2018, and 31% planned to purchase aquarium lighting in the next year. That planned-purchase share was up 158% from 2018.
APPA’s 2024 Fish & Reptile Report found that 21% of reptile owners had two reptiles and 14% had three or more reptiles. Those shares were up from 15% and 12%, respectively, in 2018. APPA’s 2025 Fish & Reptile Report also said 64% of reptile owners bought gifts for their pets, spending an average of $34 per gift. Average reptile gift spending was up 42% from 2023.