Statistics · Updated November 2, 2026

Cat Ownership Statistics 2026

Includes AVMA's 2026 Pet Ownership Sourcebook and APPA's 2026 Cat Report

  • 84statistics
  • 31sources from 23 publishers
  • Checkedevery figure against its original source
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Compiled by the House of Mittens research desk from the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA), the American Pet Products Association (APPA), Pew Research Center, FEDIAF, Shelter Animals Count and NAPHIA data.

There were 77 million pet cats in the U.S. in 2026, living in 34.1% of households (about 46 million), according to the American Veterinary Medical Association. The pet industry's own survey, from APPA, counts 53 million cat-owning households (39%) in 2025. The two surveys measure differently, so this page keeps them side by side.

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Key findings

  1. 77 million

    There were 77 million pet cats in the U.S. in 2026, according to the American Veterinary Medical Association's 2026 Pet Ownership and Demographics Sourcebook.

    American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA), 2026 Pet Ownership and Demographics Sourcebook · 2026 data

    Details
  2. 53 million

    53 million U.S. households owned a cat in 2025, according to the American Pet Products Association's 2025 National Pet Owners Survey.

    American Pet Products Association (APPA), 2025 National Pet Owners Survey (2026 Cat Report) · 2025 data

    Details
  3. 34.1%

    34.1% of U.S. households owned a cat in 2026, according to the American Veterinary Medical Association's 2026 Pet Ownership and Demographics Sourcebook.

    American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA), 2026 Pet Ownership and Demographics Sourcebook · 2026 data

    Details
  4. 1.7

    U.S. cat-owning households had an average of 1.7 cats in 2026, compared with 1.5 dogs per dog-owning household, according to the AVMA.

    American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA), 2026 Pet Ownership and Demographics Sourcebook · 2026 data

    Details
  5. 43%

    Men made up 43% of U.S. cat owners in 2025, according to the American Pet Products Association (APPA) 2026 Cat Report.

    American Pet Products Association (APPA), 2026 Cat Report (2025 National Pet Owners Survey) · 2025 data

    Details
  6. 47.6%

    Among U.S. pet owners who acquired a pet in the past two years, 47.6% acquired a cat in 2025, up from 43.5% in 2023, while the share acquiring a dog fell from 57.3% to 54.5%, according to the AVMA 2025 Pet Ownership and Demographics Sourcebook.

    American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA), 2025 Pet Ownership and Demographics Sourcebook, via AVMA News · 2025 data

    Details
  7. 290 million

    The 15 countries in this table alone account for at least 290 million pet cats, a House of Mittens calculation that adds each country's latest national estimate (data years 2024 to 2026). It is a floor for these countries and should not be read as a world total.

    House of Mittens calculation from AVMA, Pethadoop (via CCTV), Instituto Pet Brasil, FACCO, IVH/ZZF, UK Pet Food, FEDIAF, Japan Pet Food Association, CAHI and Animal Medicines Australia · 2024-2026 data

    Details
  8. 110,861,000

    Europe had 110,861,000 pet cats in 2024 across the 41 countries FEDIAF covers, against 91,205,000 pet dogs, according to FEDIAF's Facts & Figures 2026.

    FEDIAF, Facts & Figures 2026 (in the FEDIAF Annual Report 2026) · 2024 data

    Details
  9. 2.2 million

    Approximately 2.2 million cats were adopted from U.S. shelters and rescues in 2025, according to Shelter Animals Count data published by the ASPCA.

    ASPCA, U.S. Animal Shelter Statistics (Shelter Animals Count 2025 data) · 2025 data

    Details
  10. 28.0%

    In 2025, 28.0% of cat owners said they spent no money on veterinary care in the past year, compared with 16.1% of dog owners, according to the AVMA 2025 Pet Ownership and Demographics Sourcebook.

    American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA), 2025 Pet Ownership and Demographics Sourcebook, via AVMA News · 2025 data

    Details

How many pet cats are in the U.S.?

The AVMA puts the U.S. pet cat population at 77 million in 2026, living in 46 million households. The pet industry's own survey, run by APPA, counts more cat-owning households (53 million in 2025) but does not publish a cat headcount in its free releases.

Estimates of U.S. cat-owning households, in millions, by survey and data year. AVMA and APPA use different samples and weighting, so compare within a survey, not across.
  • AVMA 2024 42.1M
  • AVMA 2025 43.1M
  • AVMA 2026 46M
  • APPA 2023 40M
  • APPA 2024 49M
  • APPA 2025 53M

Source: AVMA Pet Ownership and Demographics Sourcebooks (2024 to 2026); APPA National Pet Owners Surveys (2023 to 2025); AVMA News (Oct 2024 and Oct 2026) and APPA State of the Industry releases. Chart: House of Mittens, free to reuse with a link to this page.

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AVMA 202442.1M
AVMA 202543.1M
AVMA 202646M
APPA 202340M
APPA 202449M
APPA 202553M

For the number of pet cats, use the AVMA figure (77 million, 2026); it is the only national estimate of cats, rather than households, that is published openly. For households, quote AVMA (46 million, 2026) and APPA (53 million, 2025) separately and name the survey: they measure differently and should never be averaged. AVMA's 2026 figures come from an opt-in online survey of 7,547 people fielded in early spring 2026 and weighted to Census Bureau household data.

What percentage of U.S. households and adults own a cat?

Between a third and two-fifths of U.S. households have a cat, depending on the survey. Among adults who own any pet, close to half have at least one cat.

Share of U.S. households owning a cat, by survey
SurveyData yearCat-owning householdsShare of all households
AVMA Pet Ownership and Demographics Sourcebook202646.0 million34.1%
AVMA Pet Ownership and Demographics Sourcebook202543.1 million32.6%
APPA National Pet Owners Survey202553 million39%
APPA National Pet Owners Survey202449 million37%

Source: AVMA (2025 and 2026 sourcebooks); APPA 2025 and 2026 State of the Industry releases (2024 row: APPA 2025 release)

Household shares (AVMA 34.1%, APPA 39%) and shares of adults (Pew) answer different questions. A household with a cat can include adults who do not consider themselves its owner.

Is cat ownership in the U.S. growing?

Yes, in recent years. The AVMA's share of households with a cat fell to 25.4% in 2016 and has risen in every edition published since, reaching 34.1% in 2026, the highest in AVMA data going back to 1986. The pet cat population has risen about 32% in a decade.

Share of U.S. households owning a cat (%), AVMA pet demographics surveys, by data year. 1986 to 2011 as tabulated by Rowan (2018); 2020 and 2022 published rounded (2022 preliminary). Survey methods changed in 2016 and again from 2020 (online opt-in panels, yearly from 2022), so year-to-year steps across those breaks are not strictly comparable.
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 1986 30.5% 1996 2006 2016 2022 2026 34.1% 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 1986 30.5% 2001 2016 2026 34.1%

Source: American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA), Pet Ownership and Demographics Sourcebooks, 1987 to 2026 editions. Chart: House of Mittens, free to reuse with a link to this page.

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198630.5%
199130.9%
199627.3%
200131.6%
200632.4%
201130.4%
201625.4%
202026%
202229%
202432.1%
202532.6%
202634.1%

Read the long AVMA series with care. The AVMA surveyed about every five years until 2016 and now surveys yearly with an opt-in online panel; it said its 2011 sample over-represented women and urban households and so overstated cat ownership. Treat the 2011 to 2016 drop as partly a method correction.

How many cats does the average cat-owning household have?

The average U.S. cat-owning household had 1.7 cats in 2026, down from 2.2 in 1987. Single-cat homes are still the majority, but APPA data show multi-cat homes growing fastest.

U.S. households by number of cats owned, 2020 (AVMA). Shares are House of Mittens calculations from AVMA's household counts.
Cats in householdHouseholdsShare of cat-owning households
1 cat20.6 million56%
2 cats10.3 million28%
3 cats3.0 million8%
4 cats1.4 million4%
5 or more cats1.3 million4%

Source: American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA), 2022 Pet Ownership and Demographics Sourcebook (2020 data)

AVMA's average counts every cat-owning household; APPA reports changes in the share of single, two-cat and three-plus homes. APPA's percentage changes are relative changes (a 9% decrease from 64% to 58%), not percentage points.

Who owns cats in the U.S.?

Cat owners span every income level and generation. Men and Gen Z adults make up a growing share, according to APPA, while AVMA data show most cat owners own their homes.

Share of U.S. households owning a cat, by household income (2020 data)
  • Under $25K 27%
  • $25K to $34.9K 29%
  • $35K to $49.9K 31%
  • $50K to $74.9K 35%
  • $75K to $99.9K 37%
  • $100K to $149.9K 40%
  • $150K+ 40%

Source: AVMA, 2022 Pet Ownership and Demographics Sourcebook. Chart: House of Mittens, free to reuse with a link to this page.

Show chart data
Under $25K27%
$25K to $34.9K29%
$35K to $49.9K31%
$50K to $74.9K35%
$75K to $99.9K37%
$100K to $149.9K40%
$150K+40%

APPA, AVMA, Morning Consult and the Frontiers study measure different things (share of cat owners, share of households, share of adults, share of surveyed pet owners). Compare figures only within the same source.

Cats vs. dogs: how do they compare?

Dogs live in more U.S. homes than cats, but cat owners keep more animals per household and the gap in new pet acquisitions is narrowing. Cat owners spend less on veterinary care.

Dogs and cats in U.S. households, AVMA 2026
MeasureDogsCats
Households owning43.7%34.1%
Households (millions)58.9M46.0M
Animals per owning household1.51.7
Total animals88.9M77.0M
Vet spending per household per year$595$426

Source: American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA), 2026 Pet Ownership and Demographics Sourcebook

Which states have the most cat owners?

Northern New England leads the country for cat ownership. The newest state-level figures come from AVMA survey data for year-end 2016; AVMA's later sourcebooks have not published state rates publicly.

Top 5 states by share of households owning a cat, year-end 2016
RankStateHouseholds with a cat
1Vermont45%
2Maine44%
3Indiana38%
3West Virginia38%
5New Hampshire36%

Source: AVMA 2017-2018 Pet Ownership and Demographics Sourcebook (2016 data), as reported by U.S. News & World Report

State figures are from 2016 and use AVMA's older survey method, so they are not comparable with AVMA's 2026 national rate of 34.1%. AVMA has not released a public 50-state cat table; the widely shared full tables are third-party compilations that disagree with each other, so only the top five states, as reported from AVMA data, are shown here.

How many cats are in the world?

Nobody counts the world's cats, so this section adds up each country's own estimate of its pet cats. The 15 countries in the table below hold at least 290 million pet cats between them.

Pet cats in the eight countries with the largest national estimates, in millions (latest year each country published, 2024 to 2026; China counts urban households only)
  • United States 77M
  • China (urban) 72.9M
  • Brazil 32.2M
  • France 16.6M
  • Germany 15.7M
  • United Kingdom 13M
  • Italy 11.9M
  • Japan 8.8M

Source: Compiled by House of Mittens from AVMA, Pethadoop (via CCTV), Instituto Pet Brasil, FACCO, IVH/ZZF, UK Pet Food, FEDIAF and the Japan Pet Food Association. Chart: House of Mittens, free to reuse with a link to this page.

Show chart data
United States77M
China (urban)72.9M
Brazil32.2M
France16.6M
Germany15.7M
United Kingdom13M
Italy11.9M
Japan8.8M
Pet cat populations by country, from each country's own latest survey or estimate (sorted high to low)
CountryPet catsYearSource
United States77.0M2026AVMA
China (urban)72.9M2025Pethadoop white paper
Brazil32.2M2024Instituto Pet Brasil
France16.6M2025-26FACCO-Odoxa
Germany15.7M2025IVH/ZZF
United Kingdom13.0M2026UK Pet Food
Italy11.9M2024FEDIAF
Japan8.8M2025Japan Pet Food Assn.
Canada8.2M2024CAHI
Poland7.5M2024FEDIAF
Ukraine6.9M2024FEDIAF estimate
Australia5.8M2025Animal Medicines Australia
Spain4.9M2024FEDIAF
Türkiye4.9M2024FEDIAF estimate
Romania4.4M2024FEDIAF estimate

Source: Compiled by House of Mittens from national sources listed in each row

No international body publishes a census or a method-backed estimate of the world's cats. Round figures of 400 million to 600 million circulate online without a stated source or method, so this page does not repeat them. The country figures here count owned pet cats only. They leave out unowned, stray and feral cats, and countries such as India and Russia that publish no comparable national survey. Each country measures differently and in a different year, so treat the sums as a floor for pet cats in these countries, never as a world total.

Where do pet cats come from, and how many are adopted?

Many pet cats arrive as strays taken in or as gifts from friends and family rather than from breeders. U.S. shelters and rescues place millions more each year.

Owner surveys disagree on the shelter share because they word the question differently: the AVMA splits shelters, rescue groups and pet-store adoption events, while APPA asks about shelters and rescues directly. Shelter adoption counts come from Shelter Animals Count, which estimates national totals from participating shelters and rescues.

How much do cat owners spend on vet care?

The average cat-owning household spends a few hundred dollars a year on veterinary care, and more than a quarter spend nothing. Only about 2% of U.S. cats are insured, though insured cats are a growing share of the market.

Insured cats in the U.S., in millions, 2021 to 2025
0M 0.5M 1M 1.5M 2M 2021 0.7M 2022 2023 2024 2025 1.8M 0M 0.5M 1M 1.5M 2M 2021 0.7M 2023 2025 1.8M

Source: North American Pet Health Insurance Association (NAPHIA), State of the Industry Report 2026. Chart: House of Mittens, free to reuse with a link to this page.

Show chart data
20210.7M
20221M
20231.2M
20241.5M
20251.8M

AVMA's 2025 sourcebook reported average 2025 vet spending of $529 for cat owners; the 2026 edition reports $426 per cat-owning household. The two editions use different survey waves, so treat them as separate estimates. APPA's $158 billion covers spending on all pets, not cats alone.

Methodology

This page keeps the two national U.S. pet surveys separate because they measure differently and should never be averaged. The American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) Pet Ownership and Demographics Sourcebook is the veterinary profession's survey. Its 2026 edition is based on an opt-in online survey of 7,547 people, pet owners and non-owners, fielded in early spring 2026 and weighted to Census Bureau household data. It is the only open source that publishes both cat-owning households and an estimated number of cats (households multiplied by average cats per household). The American Pet Products Association (APPA) National Pet Owners Survey is the pet products industry's survey. It reports cat-owning households and their share of all households, but its free releases give no sample size or cat headcount. A 2018 review by Andrew Rowan found APPA's estimates run about 20 to 25% above the AVMA's, and APPA rebased its series around 2024.

The AVMA's long-run series also changed method. It surveyed about every five years until 2016 and now runs a yearly online panel, and it said its 2011 sample overstated cat ownership. Values for 1986 to 2011 come from Rowan's tabulation of the AVMA surveys; the 2020 and 2022 values were published rounded, and 2022 was preliminary. Where the AVMA has restated an older figure (for example the 2016 cat population, 58.4 million in 2019 reporting and 58.3 million in 2026 materials), each stat quotes its own source.

Demographic figures come from APPA's 2026 Cat Report and State of the Industry releases, the AVMA sourcebooks (the 2022 edition is the only public AVMA source for ownership by income), Pew Research Center's April 2023 survey of 5,073 adults, Morning Consult tracking surveys and a 2026 Frontiers in Veterinary Science study. These measure shares of cat owners, of households, of adults and of surveyed pet owners respectively, so figures are compared only within one source. No primary source publishes a full 50-state table of cat ownership; the state figures are AVMA data for year-end 2016 as reported by U.S. News & World Report.

There is no reliable world total because there is no global survey and no agreed definition of a cat population. The country table uses each country's own latest source: owner surveys scaled to households (AVMA, UK Pet Food, IVH and ZZF, FACCO-Odoxa, the Japan Pet Food Association, the Canadian Animal Health Institute and Animal Medicines Australia), industry estimates supplied by national pet food associations to FEDIAF (with FEDIAF's own estimates for countries without an association), an urban-only estimate for China (Pethadoop), and an industry estimate for Brazil (Instituto Pet Brasil and Abinpet). Data years run from 2024 to 2026, so every sum is a floor for the listed countries, never a world total.

Shelter intake and adoption figures come from Shelter Animals Count, which estimates national totals from participating U.S. shelters and rescues. Pet insurance figures come from the North American Pet Health Insurance Association (NAPHIA) State of the Industry Report 2026, which covers 2025. Every figure was checked against its original source, and figures we worked out ourselves are marked House of Mittens calculation, with the arithmetic in the CSV.

Spot an error or a newer figure? Tell us and we will correct the page and note the change.

Cite this page

Free to quote, chart or link in articles, reports and coursework. Please credit the original source for each figure and link to this page as the compilation.

House of Mittens. (2026, November 2). Cat Ownership Statistics 2026. https://houseofmittens.com/cat-ownership-statistics/

Frequently asked questions

How many cats are in the U.S.?

About 77 million pet cats lived in U.S. homes in 2026, according to the American Veterinary Medical Association's 2026 Pet Ownership and Demographics Sourcebook. That is up about 32% from 2016 (House of Mittens calculation from AVMA data). The figure counts owned pet cats only, not shelter, community or feral cats. APPA, the pet products trade group, counts cat-owning households (53 million in 2025) but does not publish a cat headcount in its free releases.

What percentage of U.S. households have a cat?

34.1% of U.S. households owned a cat in 2026, according to the AVMA, the highest share in AVMA data going back to 1986. APPA's 2025 National Pet Owners Survey puts it higher, at 39%. Dogs are still more common: 43.7% of households owned a dog in 2026 (AVMA).

How many people own cats?

Between 46 million and 53 million U.S. households own a cat: about 46 million in 2026 by the AVMA's count and 53 million in 2025 by APPA's. Counting people instead of households, a 2023 Pew Research Center survey found that 62% of U.S. adults own a pet, and 47% of those pet owners have at least one cat (23% cats only, 24% dogs and cats). APPA reports that men make up 43% of cat owners.

What percentage of Americans own a pet?

It depends on the survey. The AVMA found that 58.6% of U.S. households (77.5 million) owned a pet of any kind in 2025. APPA's 2025 National Pet Owners Survey counts 95 million pet-owning households. Pew Research Center found that 62% of U.S. adults owned a pet in 2023.

How many cats are in the world?

Nobody knows, because no organization counts them. Round figures of 400 million to 600 million circulate online with no published method. What can be counted is pet cats in the countries that survey them: the 15 countries on this page hold at least 290 million pet cats (House of Mittens calculation, data years 2024 to 2026). Europe alone had 110,861,000 pet cats in 2024 across the 41 countries FEDIAF covers. None of these figures include stray or feral cats.

Which country has the most pet cats?

The United States, with about 77 million pet cats in 2026 (AVMA). Urban China is close behind with 72.89 million in 2025 (Pethadoop white paper), and because that figure covers cities only, China's national total is higher. Brazil is third with 32.2 million (Instituto Pet Brasil, 2024). In Europe, France leads with 16.6 million (FACCO-Odoxa 2025-2026), followed by Germany at 15.7 million (IVH and ZZF, 2025).

Do more people own cats or dogs?

Dogs. In 2026, 43.7% of U.S. households owned a dog and 34.1% owned a cat, according to the AVMA, which puts the populations at 88.9 million dogs and 77 million cats. Cats are closing the gap: among people who got a pet in the past two years, 47.6% got a cat in 2025, up from 43.5% in 2023 (AVMA). Cat households also keep more animals each, 1.7 cats against 1.5 dogs.

Which state has the most cat owners?

Vermont, with about 45 percent of households owning a cat, followed by Maine at 44 percent. Both are AVMA figures for year-end 2016, as reported by U.S. News & World Report, and they are the newest state-level numbers available. Indiana and West Virginia (38 percent) and New Hampshire (36 percent) complete the top five.

How many cats are adopted each year?

About 2.2 million cats were adopted from U.S. shelters and rescues in 2025, out of an estimated 3 million cats that entered them, according to Shelter Animals Count. Owner surveys suggest roughly a quarter of U.S. pet cats came from a shelter or rescue: 23.9% in the AVMA's 2025 sourcebook, and 37% in APPA's Dog & Cat 2024 Report, which asks the question differently.

Sources

  1. American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA), 2026 Pet Ownership and Demographics Sourcebook avma.org
  2. American Pet Products Association (APPA), 2025 National Pet Owners Survey (2026 Cat Report) americanpetproducts.org
  3. Andrew N. Rowan, Companion Animal Statistics in the USA (WBI Studies Repository, 2018) wellbeingintlstudiesrepository.org
  4. American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA), 2026 Pet Ownership and Demographics Sourcebook avma.org
  5. American Pet Products Association (APPA), 2025 National Pet Owners Survey (2026 State of the Industry Report) americanpetproducts.org
  6. American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA), 2025 Pet Ownership and Demographics Sourcebook web.archive.org
  7. American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA), 2025 Pet Ownership and Demographics Sourcebook (National Pet Week 2026 release) avma.org
  8. Pew Research Center, American Trends Panel survey, April 10-16, 2023 pewresearch.org
  9. American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA), 2024 Pet Ownership and Demographics Sourcebook avma.org
  10. American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA), 2017-2018 Pet Ownership and Demographics Sourcebook, as reported in JAVMA News avma.org
  11. American Pet Products Association (APPA), 2025 Dog & Cat Report (National Pet Owners Survey) americanpetproducts.org
  12. American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA), 2025 Pet Ownership and Demographics Sourcebook avma.org
  13. House of Mittens calculation from AVMA 2022 Pet Ownership and Demographics Sourcebook ebusiness.avma.org
  14. Morning Consult, The State of Pet Ownership in the U.S. morningconsult.com
  15. Neill and ShalekBriski, Frontiers in Veterinary Science (2026) frontiersin.org
  16. AVMA 2017-2018 Pet Ownership and Demographics Sourcebook (2016 data), as reported by U.S. News & World Report usnews.com
  17. House of Mittens calculation from AVMA, Pethadoop (via CCTV), Instituto Pet Brasil, FACCO, IVH/ZZF, UK Pet Food, FEDIAF, Japan Pet Food Association, CAHI and Animal Medicines Australia europeanpetfood.org
  18. FACCO-Odoxa barometer 2025-2026, as reported by Le Point Vétérinaire lepointveterinaire.fr
  19. IVH and ZZF, Heimtiere in Deutschland 2025 zzf.de
  20. UK Pet Food, UK Pet Population 2026 ukpetfood.org
  21. Pethadoop (派读), 2026 China Pet Industry White Paper, as reported by CCTV (央视网) business.cctv.com
  22. Instituto Pet Brasil (IPB) and Abinpet, Censo Pet 2024, as reported by Petfood Forum Brasil petfoodforumbrasil.com
  23. Japan Pet Food Association, 令和7年（2025年）全国犬猫飼育実態調査, 主要指標サマリー petfood.or.jp
  24. Canadian Animal Health Institute (CAHI), 2024 Canadian Pet Population Survey cahi-icsa.ca
  25. Animal Medicines Australia, Pets in Australia: A national survey of pets and people 2025 animalmedicinesaustralia.org.au
  26. ASPCA, U.S. Animal Shelter Statistics (Shelter Animals Count 2025 data) aspca.org
  27. Shelter Animals Count, 2025 Annual Data Report shelteranimalscount.org
  28. Shelter Animals Count, Altered Status at Intake for 2025 shelteranimalscount.org
  29. AVMA, 2025 Pet Ownership and Demographics Sourcebook, as reported by Humane World for Animals (HumanePro) humanepro.org
  30. FACCO, Les chiffres clés de la population animale (Baromètre FACCO-Odoxa 2025-2026) facco.fr
  31. North American Pet Health Insurance Association (NAPHIA), State of the Industry Report 2026 naphia.org

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