Pet Care Is Big Business

According to a recent report by the U.S. Census Bureau, about half of all American households own pets. That’s about 60 million pet owners! With that many pet owners, people are constantly looking for time-saving and money-saving ways to help care for their furry and feathered friends. You can now find mobile dog groomers who work out of a truck that comes right to your home, sitters who will visit your pet while you are away, and dog walkers looking to make a few extra bucks.

It’s not hard to find someone to help with your pet needs. There are now more than 110,000 people working in the pet care service industry nationwide; that number has increased over 111% in the past decade.  Most employees are self-employed or work for a small business that provides a pet care service.

Pet care has proven to be big business in recent years. From 2007-2017, sales of pet care-related services doubled—making it a $5.8 billion industry (Economic Census statistics). That figure accounts for grooming, boarding services, training and pet sitting but does NOT count vet care or pet food and supplies.

Taking care of a pet often includes a lot of expense. So, not surprisingly, the rate of pet ownership goes up as household income increases. Close to 60% of households with annual income at $80,000 and higher have pets. Compare that to only 36% of homes with less than $20,000 annual income.

To see the full report, Pet Owners Spending More on Time-Saving, Specialty Pet Care Services, click here.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, pexels.com