The Most Dog-Friendly Cities in California
100 U.S cities were evaluated by WalletHub, ending in them being ranked in order of most pet-friendly to least. California towns made the list more than a few times, and here are those results as well as the methodology behind this ranking.
How The Cities are Ranked
Data on the average pet budgets, pet health & wellness, and outdoor pet-friendliness were compared across 100 of the largest cities in America. Metrics created by WalletHub were then created for each category, with corresponding points assigned to them. The evaluation was graded on a 100-point scale (100 being the most favorable and 0 being the least). Overall there were 24 relevant metrics, to get a better picture here is how pet budget was broken down:
Pet Budget: 25 Points Possible
- Veterinary Care Costs (10 points possible)
- Minimum Pet-Care Provider Rate per Visit: Half Weight (5 Points possible)
- Dog Insurance Premium: Full Weight (1o points possible)
After all the points were tallied, they determined each city’s weighted average across all of the metrics to calculate its overall score.
Which Cities Made the Cut
These are, in order, the top 10 most dog-friendly cities in California, according to WalletHub’s evaluation. In parenthesis, you can see what their national score is along with their total score next to that. To give a point of reference, the city that came in first, Scottsdale, AZ, received an overall score of 58.89 points.
- San Diego (11) Total Score: 53.14
- Irvine (17) Total Score: 50.43
- Sacramento (18) Total Score: 50.37
- Los Angeles (27) Total Score: 48.62
- Anaheim (30) Total Score: 48.30
- Oakland (33) Total Score: 48.23
- Long Beach (37) Total Score: 46.98
- San Francisco (41) Total Score: 46.86
- Bakersfield (47) Total Score: 45.50
- Fremont (50) Total Score: 44.64
If it isn’t apparent already, California is a dog-loving state. And it shows with 10 of their cities making the cut for the top half of this report.