Despite its large pet-owning population, Houston didn’t rank highly among the nation’s most pet-friendly places, landing outside the top 50 of the 100 largest U.S. cities.
Overall, the city claimed spot No. 51, with a combined score of 50.59.
The study evaluated cities across three categories: pet budget (25 points), pet health and wellness (50 points) and outdoor pet-friendliness (25 points). The pet budget considered costs such as veterinary care and dog insurance, while the health and wellness category factored in the number of dog-friendly restaurants, pet meetup groups, trainers and other amenities. Outdoor pet-friendliness (an area where Houston noticeably struggled) measured factors including walkability, weather and the number of dog parks.
Houston performed best in the pet budget category, ranking 42nd. The city slipped to 54th for pet health and wellness before falling to 61st for outdoor pet-friendliness.
A number of Texas cities beat out Houston in their pet-friendly ranking.
However, several other Texas cities also fared worse than H-town.