The pandemic unleashed a well-reported pet adoption boom. By 2021, 23 million U.S. households — about one in five — had added a cat or dog during the Covid-19 crisis, according to the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. And because the pandemic also set off a wave of high home prices, high interest rates and low inventory, more pet owners moved into rentals.
While it’s been reported that many of these hastily acquired pets have been returned to shelters, Zillow research found that in the fall of 2023, 40 percent of U.S. households had at least one dog — up from 31 percent in 2019.
In a new study, Zillow aimed to find the cities with the most dog-friendly rentals. Examining every rental listing in the 25 largest U.S. cities from March 2023 through February 2024, researchers learned that 55 percent of the homes were listed as dog-friendly. But the share was much higher in the most canine-tolerant markets, the three friendliest of which were in Texas — Dallas (79 percent), Austin (77 percent) and San Antonio (75 percent).
Zillow then partnered with BARK, the dog product company, which dug into its customer data from March 2023 through March 2024 and found the most popular dog names and breeds in each of those cities. Golden retrievers and Labrador retrievers were exceedingly loved in the top cities, and American pit bull terriers were also sitting pretty in many. As for names, Bella and Bear were often the most popular or second-most popular names. Zillow reported the favorites in the 10 cities with the highest share of dog-friendly rentals and provided The New York Times with an expanded list of 20.
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