Americans are spending more money than ever on their pets, which are increasingly replacing children as members of the household. In many cities, canines seem to be taking over public spaces, from parks and sidewalks to restaurants and stores. A vast industry has arisen to cater to the needs of dogs, cats, and other animal friends, including health insurance, hip replacements, gourmet food, and high-end accessories.
U.S. consumers will spend an estimated $150.6 billion on their pets in 2024, rising from $147 billion last year, according to projections from the American Pet Products Association (APPA). To put that in perspective, $150.6 billion is more than the gross domestic product (GDP) of most countries in the world. If the U.S. pet industry were its own country, it would rank as the world’s 59th largest economy as of 2022, just behind Ukraine.
Underscoring the unprecedented levels of money and care that Americans are lavishing on their pets, a public charter service called Bark Air launched the first commercial flight for dogs last month. Marketed as “a more fun—and humane—option for dogs traveling with their two-legged human companions,” according to a statement, the flights are specially designed to offer a first-class experience for canines, including “dog-centric cabin preparation,” a variety of snacks and treats, and access to noise-cancelling earmuffs and calming jackets.
Flights from New York to Los Angeles in June and July go for $6,000, according to this author’s review of booking options on the company site. The service is offered by a subsidiary of BARK, a New York Stock Exchange-listed maker of dog products and services, including dog toy subscription service BarkBox.
Bark Air’s white-glove aviation experience for canines is an extreme example, but Americans are increasingly obsessed with owning and pampering four-legged mammals. Among the trends highlighted by the APPA, 65.1 million households (almost half of the total) own a dog, while 46.5 million households have a cat. In total, 86.9 million households, or nearly two-thirds, own a pet of some kind. Millennials are the largest pet-owning generation, accounting for 33 percent of pet owners, while the number of Generation Z pet owners is rising fast, the APPA says.
The growing popularity of animal companions coincides with a dwindling interest in children. In contrast with the predominance of pet-owning households, just 40 percent of American households have children living in the home as of 2022, dropping from 48 percent in 2002, according to data from the U.S. Census Bureau. The national fertility rate hit an all-time low of 1.62 births per woman in 2023, federal data show.
It makes sense that childless people, especially if they live alone, will often seek out pets for companionship or as a way to express their nurturing impulses. There may be a connection, then, between the rise of single-person households in the United States and the pet ownership rate reaching an all-time high. More than 27 percent of all U.S. households consisted of just one person in 2020, up from less than 8 percent in 1940, according to the census.
Today, dogs are being humanized as people deepen their emotional investment in their four-legged companions. Whereas in Victorian England, dogs were seen as companions to children, they are taking the place of children in a growing number of modern households. The role of dogs in providing emotional support strengthened during the COVID-19 pandemic, as lockdowns and isolation helped motivate millions of Americans to adopt a pet. According to the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, roughly 23 million households adopted a dog or cat from 2020–21.
More Americans are living alone, Americans are spending more time at home due to remote work, and consumer spending is continuing to increase despite inflation. Each of these trends lend themselves to increased pet ownership and more money being spent on pets. Indeed, the APPA predicts that pet industry spending will top $250 billion by 2030. While designer cat beds and private flights for golden retrievers may be out of reach for the average pet owner, America’s sprawling pet business is on a growth trajectory that shows no signs of ending.
