The number of U.S. households that host a furry, scaly or feathery family member has been on a steady rise since the 1980s but the amount of money pet owners are spending to keep Mittens, Rover and/or Polly in good stead has skyrocketed and is now north of $100 billion every year.
A new report from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics finds pet-related expenses are making up a growing percentage of consumers’ budgets, rising from $57.8 billion in 2013 to $102.8 billion in 2021, a nearly 78% increase. Over the same period, average annual incomes have increased about 46%.
The level of pet-related spending in 2021 easily outpaces what U.S. consumers shelled out for recreational reading materials, $15.2 billion; alcoholic beverages, $73.8 billion; and women’s clothing, $87.9 billion, according to the “Beyond the Numbers” report from Kristen Thiel, senior economist for the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The Labor Department tracks pet-related spending in four different categories that include pet purchases/supplies/medicine; nonveterinary pet services; veterinary services; and food. In 2021, pet owners, on average, spent more than $5,700 in these four areas combined.
Thiel overlayed inflation data with the volume of pet-related spending to show that, while prices on pet related products have increased since 2013, the majority of the spending increase is volume-driven. She also noted that spending on pets increased more rapidly than other entertainment expenditures, total expenditures and average annual income over the same time period. And, even when total expenditures and average annual income decreased, pet expenditures grew.
There is also evidence to suggest that even when consumers who are also pet owners reduce spending in other areas, they continue to spend money on their pets and the share of pet expenditures in household budgets has increased.
Earlier this year, Forbes published a statistical report that provides a snapshot of how ubiquitous pet ownership has become in the U.S.
A few takeaways from that report:
- 66% of U.S. households, 86.9 million homes, own a pet. That’s up from 56% of households in 1988.
- Dogs are the most popular pet in the U.S., 65.1 million U.S. households own a dog, followed by cats, 46.5 million households, and freshwater fish, 11.1 million households.
- Millennials make up the largest percentage of current pet owners, 33%, followed by Gen X, 25%, and baby boomers, 24%.
- 42% of dog owners and 43% of cat owners got their pets from a store, while 38% of dog owners and 40% of cat owners got their pets from an animal shelter or rescue.
- Households with annual incomes of $100,000 and more are most likely to own pets: 63% of households in this income bracket own dogs and 40% own cats.
- Homeowners are more likely to own pets than renters: 58% of homeowners have a dog and 36% have a cat.
- 23% of dog owners report getting their dog from a breeder compared to 7% of cat owners.