These Are the Most Cat-Friendly U.S. Cities Right Now
This one's for the cat lovers.
Cities are always scored on their dog-friendliness, but nobody ever talks about cat-friendliness. Animal research website PetListed finally gave cat lovers the information they've been waiting for: a report of the most cat-friendly cities in America.
To compile the data, PetListed rated the 100 most populated US cities using four criteria:
- Percentage of cat-friendly housing in the city
- Number of AAFP-certified cat veterinary practices
- Number of local animal shelters and welfare groups
- Number of pet stores on Yelp
The top 10 cities are actually pretty varied:

Birmingham, Alabama, scored high in every category, earning it a seemingly arbitrary "A+" grade, followed closely by Portland, Oregon, which would have come in first if it hadn't fallen behind in the pet stores per capita category. Madison, Wisconsin, ranked only 1.6 points behind Portland, resulting in a very strong top 3.
Here is the top 25, for those of you who aren't quite set on up and moving with your kitty to one of the first 10 cities:
1. Birmingham, AL
2. Portland, OR
3. Madison, WI
4. Richmond, VA
5. Minneapolis, MN
6. St. Louis, MO
7. Tampa, FL
8. Orlando, FL
9. Greensboro, NC
10. Denver, CO
11. Fort Wayne, IN
12. Baton Rouge, LA
13. Seattle, WA
14. Omaha, NE
15. Tulsa, OK
16. St. Paul, MN
17. Sacramento, CA
18. St. Petersburg, FL
19. Reno, NV
20. Cincinnati, OH
21. Scottsdale, AZ
22. Pittsburgh, PA
23. Indianapolis, IN
24. Albuquerque, NM
25. Wichita, KS
Read the full report on PetListed's website.
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