Pets
Baltimore Among Least Pet-Friendly Cities In America: Study
A new report put Baltimore near the bottom of the list of pet-friendly U.S. cities.
BALTIMORE, MD — The dog days of summer are here, and Charm City has work to do when it comes to pet friendliness. At least, that's what personal finance website WalletHub found.
Baltimore ranked No. 88 in its list of 2019's Most Pet-Friendly Cities.
To identify what it deemed the most pet-friendly cities in America, WalletHub compared the 100 most populous U.S. cities using 24 metrics in three areas: pet budget, pet health and wellness and outdoor pet-friendliness.
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Scottsdale, Arizona, was touted as the most pet-friendly city for the second year in a row, while Fresno, California, ranked as the least pet-friendly city, according to the report.
Budget: Baltimore ranks 68th.
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To determine pet budget rankings, WalletHub considered vet care costs, dog insurance premiums and minimum pet-care provider rates per visit.
Oklahoma City is the best place for pet owners' budgets overall, according to the analysis, while San Francisco is the worst.
When it comes to vet care costs in particular, the cheapest place is Stockton, California, while these cities are the most expensive: Philadelphia, Nashville, New York, Plano, Texas, and Washington, D.C., according to WalletHub.
Pet health and wellness: Baltimore ranks 84th.
The pet health and wellness score was based, among other factors, on the number of veterinarians, pet caretakers, animal trainers, pet businesses, dog-friendly restaurants, animal shelters, pet-friendly hotels, doggie daycare and boarding businesses and pet meetup groups per capita. WalletHub also looked at average home square footage, pet friendliness in the rental market and strength of animal protection laws.
Scottsdale, Arizona, is the best place for pet health and wellness based on these measures overall, while Laredo, Texas was ranked the worst.
In the measure of number of dog-friendly restaurants per capita, there was a six-way tie, which included nearby Washington, D.C. Others on the list were Orlando; Atlanta; Austin, Texas; Portland, Oregon; and San Diego.
Outdoor pet-friendliness: Baltimore ranks 53rd.
To measure outdoor pet-friendliness, WalletHub looked at weather; parkland as a share of the city's total area; walk score; and the number of dog parks and dog-friendly trails per capita.
San Francisco took the top slot in the rankings for outdoor pet-friendliness. Fort Wayne, Indiana, was last on the list.
Six cities were top dogs, with the most parks for canines per capita: New York; Portland, Oregon; San Francisco; Las Vegas; Henderson, Nevada; and Boise, Idaho.
These are the top 10 overall most pet-friendly cities, according to WalletHub:
- Scottsdale, AZ
- Orlando, FL
- Tampa, FL
- Austin, TX
- Phoenix, AZ
- Las Vegas, NV
- Atlanta, GA
- St. Louis, MO
- Seattle, WA
- Portland, OR
Here are the cities that placed in the bottom 20, including Baltimore:
- 80. Chandler, AZ
- 81 Reno, NV
- 82. Wichita, KS
- 83. Mesa, AZ
- 84. Baton Rouge, LA
- 85. Norfolk, VA
- 86. Charlotte, NC
- 87. Honolulu, HI
- 88. Baltimore, MD
- 89. San Bernadino, CA
- 90. Anchorage, AK
- 91. Detroit, MI
- 92. Aurora, CO
- 93. Nashville, TN
- 94. Newark, NJ
- 95. Santa Ana, CA
- 96. Chula Vista, CA
- 97. Milwaukee, WI
- 98. Buffalo, NY
- 99. Laredo, TX
- 100. Fresno, CA
Read the methodology behind the 2019 pet-friendliness report for 2019, released this month by WalletHub.
Patch editors Dan Hampton and D'Ann Lawrence contributed to this article.
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