We crunched the numbers to determine the most dog-friendly cities in America. Using census statistics, local business information and our own data, we rated communities on a 100-point scale — creating the Bark Score.
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Most Dog-Friendly Metro Areas in the U.S.
| Ranking | City | Bark Score |
| 1 | Vallejo / Fairfield / Napa, CA | 100 |
| 2 | Boston, MA / NH | 99 |
| 3 | Monmouth / Ocean, NJ | 97 |
| 4 | Boulder / Longmont, CO | 97 |
| 5 | Nassau / Suffolk, NY | 96 |
| 6 | Medford / Ashland, OR | 95 |
| 7 | Oakland, CA | 93 |
| 8 | Portland, OR / Vancouver, WA | 93 |
| 9 | Bridgeport, CT | 92 |
| 10 | Austin / San Marcos, TX | 92 |
Most Dog-Friendly Large Cities
| Ranking | City | Bark Score |
| 1 | Naples, FL | 89 |
| 2 | Santa Rosa, CA | 81 |
| 3 | Alpharetta, GA | 78 |
| 4 | Thousand Oaks, CA | 77 |
| 5 | Asheville, NC | 76 |
| 6 | Sarasota, FL | 76 |
| 7 | Boulder, CO | 76 |
| 8 | Fort Myers, FL | 76 |
| 9 | Charleston, SC | 75 |
| 10 | Fremont, CA | 74 |
Most Dog-Friendly Mid Size Cities
| Ranking | City | Bark Score |
| 1 | Livermore, CA | 82 |
| 2 | Los Gatos, CA | 81 |
| 3 | Apex, NC | 80 |
| 4 | Walnut Creek, CA | 78 |
| 5 | Lutz, FL | 76 |
| 6 | Golden, CO | 75 |
| 7 | Hoboken, NJ | 74 |
| 8 | Alameda, CA | 74 |
| 9 | Queen Creek, AZ | 74 |
| 10 | Dublin, CA | 73 |
Most Dog-Friendly Small Cities
| Ranking | City | Bark Score |
| 1 | West Hollywood, CA | 85 |
| 2 | El Segundo, CA | 79 |
| 3 | Erie, CO | 77 |
| 4 | Mustang, OK | 77 |
| 5 | Sahuarita, AZ | 75 |
| 6 | Eagle, ID | 75 |
| 7 | Hermosa Beach, CA | 75 |
| 8 | North Haven, CT | 74 |
| 9 | Albany, CA | 74 |
| 10 | Rancho Mirage, CA | 73 |
Top Cities for Dog Walking
| Ranking | City | Bark Score |
| 1 | New York, NY | 100 |
| 2 | Hoboken, NJ | 93 |
| 3 | San Francisco, CA | 91 |
| 4 | Chicago, IL | 87 |
| 5 | Somerville, MA | 86 |
| 6 | Oakland, CA | 85 |
| 7 | Livermore, CA | 85 |
| 8 | Alameda, CA | 85 |
| 9 | West Hollywood, CA | 85 |
| 10 | Los Angeles, CA | 84 |
What is the Bark Score?
This top tier scored 80 or higher, ideal for life with canine companions.
These places earned 60 to 79 points, giving pets and pet parents lots of options.
These communities scored a 50 to 69 and still do a solid job.
How did we calculate the Bark Score?
We love taking care of pets. But we also enjoy some number crunching. So we decided to figure out which cities, large or small, could be considered the most dog friendly.
To start, we chose four major categories that are important to pet parents. Then we broke the categories into several, distinct data points. We assigned a value to each data point, adjusting for population. Here are the main categories and data points we used:
Veterinarian Availability & Healthcare
- Number of emergency & 24/7 veterinarians available
- Number of regular veterinarians & specialists
- Average premium for dog insurance
Pet Services
- Number of groomers available
- Amount of dog trainers in the area
- Adoption and breeder availability
- Count of Rover sitters & dog-boarding options
Parks & Fun
- Number of hotels that allow dogs
- Amount of dog-friendly restaurants
- Dog parks nearby
- Average number of sunny days
Quality of “Dog” Life
- Overall dog population
- House vs. apartment ratio
- Average yard size
- Number of dog-friendly property rentals
