Missouri Among Most Pet-Loving States In U.S.

There’s something to be said about the tangible effect our four-legged friends have on us on a daily basis.

In the Show Me State, pet ownership seems to be a rite of passage, with more than 63% of residents owning either a dog or cat.

April 11 is National Pet Day, a day for people everywhere to love on their fur babies a little extra. But which states love their pets the most? BetMissouri.com, which also features all the latest coverage of Missouri sports betting issues, sought to find out.

BetMissouri.com used data from the American Veterinary Medical Association’s Pet Ownership and Demographics Sourcebook to calculate which states had the highest percentage of pet ownership.

Pet-Loving States

Rank	State	% of Pet Ownership
1	Wyoming	71.8
2	West Virginia	71
3	Idaho	70
4	Vermont	70
5	Indiana	69.2
6	Arkansas	69
7	Mississippi	65.5
8	Oklahoma	65
9	Kentucky	64.1
10	North Dakota	63.7
11	Maine	63.5
12	Missouri	63.5
13	Washington	63
14	Kansas	62.8
15	Michigan	62.4
16	Ohio	62.4
17	Montana	62
18	South Carolina	62
19	Tennessee	61.7
20	Pennsylvania	60.6
21	New Mexico	60
22	Alabama	59.8
23	Oregon	59.2
24	Iowa	59
25	North Carolina	59
26	Wisconsin	59
27	Utah	58.5
28	Texas	58.2
29	Arizona	58
30	Delaware	57.9
31	Florida	56
32	Virginia	55.5
33	Louisiana	54
34	Minnesota	54
35	Nevada	53
36	New Hampshire	52
37	Nebraska	51.3
38	Georgia	51
39	Connecticut	50
40	New York	50
41	Massachusetts	49
42	Illinois	48.6
43	Maryland	48.6
44	New Jersey	47.4
45	Colorado	47.2
46	South Dakota	46
47	Rhode Island	45.4
48	California	40.1
49	*Alaska	0
50	*Hawaii	0

* — Limited information available on Alaska and Hawaii.

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Where Missouri Pet Ownership Stacks Up Nationally

Missouri is just outside the top 10 nationally when it comes to pet ownership, though the state ranks ahead of its western neighbor.

Sitting at 63.5%, Missouri is two spots ahead of Kansas, which has a 62.8% pet ownership rate, with the former sitting 12th nationally, while the latter ranks 14th.

The state ranks well ahead of Illinois, which finished 42nd at 48.6%, while Iowa came in 24th, with 59% of the Hawkeye State owning at least one pet.

The only neighboring state to finish with a higher percentage of pet owners was Arkansas, which is ranked sixth nationally at 69%.

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Author

Christopher Boan

@cgboan

Christopher Boan is a lead writer for BetMissouri.com, specializing in covering state issues. He has covered sports and sports betting in Arizona for more than seven years, including stops at ArizonaSports.com, the Tucson Weekly and the Green Valley News.