Pet boarding sits at the intersection of two large behaviors: pet ownership and travel. In 2024, 45.5% of U.S. households owned dogs, representing 59.8 million households, while the global pet boarding services market was valued at $8.62 billion. The figures below describe the households most likely to need care, the spending categories that include boarding, and the published market and travel indicators surrounding the service.
Contents
- The U.S. pet-owner base
- Pet spending and services
- Recent spending trends
- Boarding market size and forecasts
- Dogs, platforms, and provider reach
- Travel demand connected to boarding
The U.S. pet-owner base
Dogs are the largest measured household pet segment in the supplied 2024 AVMA figures. The AVMA 2024 Pet Ownership and Demographics Sourcebook reports that 45.5% of U.S. households owned dogs in 2024. That equaled 59.8 million dog-owning households and a U.S. dog population of 89.7 million. Dog-owning households averaged 1.5 dogs per pet-owning household.
Cats formed the second major household segment. In 2024, 32.1% of U.S. households owned cats, equal to 42.2 million households. The U.S. cat population was 73.8 million, and cat-owning households averaged 1.8 cats per pet-owning household. These household and population measures are distinct: a household can own more than one animal, so household counts should not be read as animal counts.
The same AVMA source reported smaller ownership shares for other pets in 2024. Fish were owned by 2.9% of U.S. households, or 3.9 million households. Reptiles were owned by 1.8%, or 2.3 million households, while birds were owned by 1.6%, or 2.1 million households. Small mammals were present in 1.0% of households, equal to 1.3 million households.
The remaining reported categories were rabbits at 0.7%, or 0.9 million households; horses at 0.5%, or 0.7 million households; and poultry at 0.5%, also or 0.7 million households. The AVMA survey used 7,539 respondents and was weighted to U.S. Census distributions. The figures therefore describe a weighted survey estimate for U.S. households rather than a boarding-facility census.
For boarding providers, the dog and cat figures establish the broadest potential customer base. They do not say how many owners board an animal, how often boarding occurs, or how many nights are booked. Those behaviors require separate measurement.
Pet spending and services
The Bureau of Labor Statistics groups several pet-related costs into broader consumer-expenditure categories. In 2023, U.S. households spent an average of $969 on pets, toys, hobbies, and playground equipment. The BLS Consumer Expenditures 2023 release says this category was down 6.3% from 2022 to 2023. Because the category combines pets with toys, hobbies, and playground equipment, the $969 figure is not a boarding-only average.
For context, average annual expenditures for all consumer units were $77,280 in 2023, up 5.9% from 2022. Average annual income before taxes was $87,869. The BLS Consumer Expenditure Tables guide describes spending of $77,280 as about 88% of after-tax income, implying an average annual savings rate of about 12% in that presentation. That implied rate is a broad household measure, not a pet-care affordability measure.
The BLS also publishes a pet services category that includes boarding for travel. Pet services expenditures increased 35.34% in 2022. Looking across the prior changes reported by BLS, pet services expenditures fell 19.46% from 2019 to 2020, then rose 29.70% from 2020 to 2021 and 35.34% from 2021 to 2022. These year-to-year movements show volatility in a category that includes boarding, but they do not isolate boarding revenue from other pet services.
The distinction matters when interpreting market reports. A market estimate for pet boarding measures a narrower commercial service market, while a consumer-expenditure category can combine households’ purchases across multiple types of care or goods. The two sources can describe the same economy without being interchangeable.
Recent spending trends
The BLS Beyond the Numbers article published in November 2023 provides a longer view of selected pet expenditures. Weekly pet food spending rose from $27.89 in 2019 to $39.29 in 2020, then fell to $34.28 in 2021. Food is not boarding, but the sequence shows that different pet categories moved differently during the period.
Quarterly pet services spending was $223.97 in 2019, $216.35 in 2020, and $236.23 in 2021. This series includes pet services rather than boarding alone. Quarterly veterinary services spending rose from $389.24 in 2019 to $439.12 in 2020 and $491.38 in 2021. Quarterly pet purchases, supplies, and medicine spending was $192.65 in 2019, $185.72 in 2020, and $261.29 in 2021.
The same BLS analysis reported that pet expenditures increased 78.0% from 2013 to 2021. Over that period, all other entertainment expenditures rose 47.0%, total expenditures rose 39.2%, and annual income before taxes rose 45.7%. These are indexed changes across the stated period, not a forecast for later years.
The pandemic-period comparisons also show why a single annual change can be misleading. In 2020, pet expenditures rose 1.3% while all other entertainment spending fell 7.8%. In 2021, pet expenditures rose 11.6%, compared with a 9.1% rise in total expenditures.
The share of consumer units reporting each category in 2021 was 14.47% for pet food, 17.05% for pet purchase, supplies, and medicine spending, 7.21% for pet services spending, and 12.44% for veterinary services spending. These percentages describe consumer units reporting spending in the measured period; they should not be treated as the percentage of all pet-owning households using boarding.
| BLS category or measure | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Weekly pet food spending | $27.89 | $39.29 | $34.28 |
| Quarterly pet services spending | $223.97 | $216.35 | $236.23 |
| Quarterly veterinary services spending | $389.24 | $439.12 | $491.38 |
| Quarterly pet purchases, supplies, and medicine | $192.65 | $185.72 | $261.29 |
Source labels for these historical figures: BLS Beyond the Numbers, November 2023. The table preserves the reported measurement periods and does not convert the figures into unsupported annual totals.
Boarding market size and forecasts
Grand View Research valued the global pet boarding services market at $8.62 billion in 2024. Its forecast places the market at $14.02 billion by 2030, with an 8.59% compound annual growth rate from 2025 to 2030. The 2030 figure is a forecast, not an observed result, and the growth period begins in 2025.
North America held 41.88% of global pet boarding revenue in 2024, according to Grand View Research. The same source estimated the U.S. pet boarding services market at $2,646.1 million in 2024. It projects the U.S. market to reach $4,138.2 million by 2030, with a 7.9% CAGR from 2025 to 2030.
| Market measure | Reported or forecast value | Status and period |
|---|---|---|
| Global pet boarding services market | $8.62 billion | Reported value for 2024 |
| Global pet boarding services market | $14.02 billion | Forecast for 2030 |
| Global growth rate | 8.59% CAGR | Forecast period 2025–2030 |
| U.S. pet boarding services market | $2,646.1 million | Reported value for 2024 |
| U.S. pet boarding services market | $4,138.2 million | Forecast for 2030 |
| U.S. growth rate | 7.9% CAGR | Forecast period 2025–2030 |
The global and U.S. estimates are not the same geographic measure. The global total includes markets outside the United States, while the U.S. estimate is a national market figure. North America’s 41.88% share is a regional revenue share, not a share of households or pets.
Grand View Research also reported that dogs accounted for 86.77% of U.S. pet boarding services revenue in 2024. That revenue mix aligns with the AVMA’s large U.S. dog-owning household base, but the two statistics measure different things: AVMA measures ownership, while Grand View Research measures boarding-services revenue.
Dogs, platforms, and provider reach
Platform data offers another view of access and activity, but it should not be confused with the whole boarding market. Wag!‘s 2024 Form 10-K said more than 95% of the U.S. population had access to Wag! in December 2024. The filing also reported about 445,000 platform participants who transacted on Wag! for at least one service in the fourth quarter of 2024.
Wag! reported more than 500,000 approved Pet Caregivers across North America in 2024. “Approved” caregivers and transacting participants are different measures: approval indicates platform eligibility, while the quarterly participant figure indicates at least one transaction during Q4 2024. Neither number is a count of boarding facilities, booked nights, or boarding customers across the U.S.
The Wag! 2024 Form 10-K identified five distinct revenue streams: service fees, subscriptions, registration fees, wellness revenue, and affiliate fees. It said service-fee revenue came from fees charged to Pet Caregivers for successfully completing pet-care services through the platform. This revenue model means platform disclosures may include services beyond overnight boarding.
For readers comparing providers, the practical takeaway is measurement scope. A national market forecast, a platform’s access statement, approved caregiver count, and quarterly transacting-user count answer different questions. Treating them as direct substitutes would overstate what any one statistic demonstrates.
Travel demand connected to boarding
Travel creates one important reason households may seek temporary pet care, but travel totals are not boarding totals. The Transportation Security Administration’s December 13, 2024 holiday travel outlook projected 39 million air travelers nationwide during the 2024 holiday travel period. Its November 19, 2024 Thanksgiving outlook projected 18.3 million passengers for the Thanksgiving 2024 travel period, about 6% above 2023. TSA also said passenger volumes in 2024 were up 17% versus 2022.
AAA’s 2024 Holiday Travel Forecast projected that 119.3 million people would travel 50 miles or more during the 2024 year-end holiday period. AAA said 107 million of those travelers would go by car, nearly 90% of the total. These are people-travel estimates, not counts of pets, bookings, boarding stays, or households using a kennel or sitter.
The travel figures still provide useful context for boarding demand. Air travelers may need care while away, and some road travelers may also arrange care depending on destination, trip length, and pet needs. The supplied figures do not quantify the share of travelers who board pets, so no conversion from travelers to boarding customers is supported.
Taken together, the data describes a sizeable potential customer base, a boarding market with published growth forecasts, and substantial travel activity in 2024. The clearest quantified facts are the ones with their boundaries intact: AVMA’s 2024 U.S. ownership estimates, BLS spending measures and historical changes, Grand View Research’s market estimates and forecasts, Wag!‘s platform disclosures, and TSA and AAA travel projections.