PHOENIX — Whether you prefer dogs or cats, Scottsdale is the place to be. In a recent nationwide study, the Valley city was ranked the most pet-friendly and Phoenix cracked the top 20.
WalletHub’s “Most Pet-Friendly Cities (2025)” stacked up the 100 most-populated U.S. cities and rated them based on three primary categories:
- Pet budget
- Pet health and wellness
- Outdoor pet-friendliness.
All eligible towns could earn up to 100 points, and Scottsdale (66.19 points) had five points of separation from second-place Tampa, Florida (61.04). The top five was rounded out by Cincinnati, Ohio (59.97), Las Vegas, Nevada (59.16) and Portland, Oregon (58.98).
Phoenix landed at 18th while the remaining five Arizona cities included failed to make the top 50, Tucson the highest at 61st and Mesa the lowest at 88th.
How Scottsdale scored in pet-friendly study
Scottsdale finished in the top five in both pet health and wellness (first) and outdoor pet-friendliness (fifth). Those top ranks more than made up for an 84th-place showing in the pet budget category.
Despite having the T-94-best dog insurance price, Scottsdale topped pet businesses per capita and was fifth in animal shelters per capita — Phoenix was notably No. 1 in the latter subcategory while Chandler was 99th.
Gilbert (third) and Phoenix (sixth) excelled in pet health and wellness with top-10 ratings as well.
Featured subcategories of the 23 total were veterinary care costs, pet-friendliness of rental market, average home square footage, weather and dog parks per capita.
Scottsdale has been named the nation’s most pet-friendly city for several years running, including in the 2024 study which it was also the best for pet health.
Honolulu, Hawaii came in dead last, earning 12th in outdoor pet-friendliness but 92nd and 100th in pet budget and pet health and wellness, respectively.
We want to hear from you.
Have a story idea or tip? Pass it along to the KTAR News team here.
