New Study Reveals 5 States with the Happiest Pets and Some are Surprising

A state happiness index is a measure used to evaluate and compare the overall well-being and life satisfaction of residents within different states or regions. Factors that are taken into consideration usually include things like employment rates, access to healthcare and pollution levels.

Well, thanks to TrustedHousesitters and their new study of the comprehensive Happy Pet Index you can now see which states ranks the happiest places for cats and dogs to live!

The TrustedHousesitters Happy Pet Index analyzed ten key factors across all 50 states, including veterinary care, parks, walkability, pet ownership rates, shelter adoptions, pet-friendly rentals, animal protection laws, climate, remote working rates, and pet sitter accessibility. Each metric accounted for 10% of the total 100-point score, with Colorado earning the highest overall score of 75.44 out of 100 possible points.

The top five Happiest States for Pets and each state’s total score out of 100 include:

Other key data points from the top five states include:

• 73% of animals taken in by shelters in both Colorado and Oregon were adopted in 2023.
• Oregon ranks first nationally for its robust animal protection laws, according to the Animal Legal Defense Fund’s ranking.
• 96% of people living in Massachusetts are within one mile of a public park.
• Washington has a strong availability of pet sitters, with a ratio of 4.07 pets per available pet sitter.
• 86% of animals taken in by shelters in Massachusetts were adopted in 2023.
• Over 4 in 10 (42%) rentals in Arizona are pet friendly.

If you are planning a trip to Colorado, the Colorado Parks & Wildlife website has some fun activities where you can bring your dog along.

These findings show us what a lot of pet parents all ready feel, that is we are considering a move to a state we want to live in an area with close veterinary care, access to green space for our fur babies and rentals that are pet friendly.

Related: Traveling With Fido? Check Out These 10 Pet-Friendly U.S. Airports

You can read more about the findings at the TrustedHousitters blog here .

About TrustedHousesitters

TrustedHousesitters is the leading travel solution for pet people; a global community whose love of pets and travel enables home sharing and pet caring all over the world. The service was founded in Brighton, UK, in 2010 and has over 200,000 members in more than 140 countries, responsible for 10 million nights of pet sitting. A subscription gives unlimited access to short and long term sits with no further money changing hands. Sitters explore the world while staying in real homes and enjoying the companionship of pets. Meanwhile, owners enjoy freedom and peace of mind by prioritizing their pets' well-being at home with a trusted companion. For more information, go to: www.TrustedHousesitters.com