Top Canine-Friendly Cities in the U.S.

A recent survey by the American Pet Products Association reveals that 54.5 million American households (or 44% of the total American population) owns at least one dog. And looking at the the spending of American dog owners from 2001 to 2015, it is amazing how much people are spending for "mans's best friend". APPA reports that people have doubled their spending on their canine friends from $28.5 billion 15 years ago to $60.28 billion today. Truly this data is indicative of how much we give importance to our pets, even giving consideration to them when choosing where we'll live.

Recent Realtor.com® data reveals that there are cities that are great for our canine friends, so living in them is perfect for families with K9 companions. Here are the top 10 cities in the U.S. that are great for raising your dogs:

1. Charleston, SC (median home price: $349,000; 68% of households own a dog)

2. Temecula, CA (median home price: $519,000; 85% of households own a dog)

3. Las Vegas, NV (median home price: $249,000; 62% of households own a dog)

4. Scottsdale, AZ (median home price: $596,500; 69% of households own a dog)

5. San Diego, CA (median home price: $689,000; 63% of households own a dog)

6. Austin, TX (median home price: $450,000; 61% of households own a dog)

7. Tampa, FL (median home price: $230,000; 57% of households own a dog)

8. Fort Collins, CO (median home price: $419,000; 67% of households own a dog)

9. Atlanta, GA (median home price: $314,900; 54% of households own a dog)

10. Seattle, WA (median home price: $609,000; 52% of households own a dog)

Realtor® used the following criteria in choosing the top U.S. cities for dogs this 2016:

• Nielsen data on percentage of households with dog ownership
• BringFido.com data on available dog parks, trails, and beaches per capita
• Yelp.com data on number of dog-friendly restaurants and bars per capita
• Yelp.com data on number of pet stores, trainers, groomers, boarding services, and vets per capita, and;
• Care.com data on number of dog walkers per capita and average hourly rate 

Austin made it to the sixth spot in the list, thanks to its 265 dog-friendly restaurants and other "pawesome" canine establishments that service pooches in the area, like Fido food truck "Bow-Wow Bones", "Groovy Dog Bakery", "Yappy Barkday", and more. There are also plenty of places to take your pooches for fun, like in Red Bud Isle (dogs-only swimming spot) and Doga (dog-centered yoga studio), among others.

Want to know more about how dog-friendly Austin is? You can check out the original article written by Yuqing Pan for Realtor.com® here.