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Households spent an average of $528 on pets in 2015

April 04, 2017

In 2015, households spent an average of $528 on pets, or about 1 percent of average household spending. Pet expenditures include pet food; pet purchases, supplies, and medicine; pet services; and veterinary services. Average household spending on pet food jumped from $190 in 2014 to $230 in 2015, or from 37 percent of average household spending on pets to 44 percent. 

Annual average household expenditures on pets, 2007–2015
Item 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

Pets

$431 $571 $543 $480 $502 $522 $460 $507 $528

Pet food

147 163 169 165 183 195 183 190 230

Pet purchases, supplies, medicine

139 164 166 163 141 136 119 134 116

Pet services

32 37 43 39 36 42 42 45 49

Veterinary services

113 207 165 114 143 150 116 139 133

Average household spending on veterinary services, which reached over $200 in 2008, was $133 in 2015, or about 25 percent of average household expenditures on pets. Average household spending on pet purchases, supplies, and medicine, which represented 34 percent of average household spending on pets in 2010, measured only 22 percent of pet expenditures in 2015, falling from $163 to $116 over that period. 

On average, households with one consumer spent the least on pet expenditures in 2015 ($360), while households with two consumers spent the most ($672). Average household spending on pets by households with two consumers increased by about $100 from 2014 to 2015, while average household spending on pets in households with 5 or more consumers decreased by about $150 over the same period.  

Annual average household expenditures on pets by size of consumer unit, 2013–2015
Size of consumer unit 2013 2014 2015

All consumer units

$460 $507 $528

One person

356 341 360

Two people

528 572 672

Three people

442 622 653

Four people

503 526 462

Five or more people

511 583 434

These data are from the Consumer Expenditure Survey. A consumer unit comprises either: (1) all members of a particular household who are related by blood, marriage, adoption, or other legal arrangements; (2) a person living alone or sharing a household with others or living as a roomer in a private home or lodging house or in permanent living quarters in a hotel or motel, but who is financially independent; or (3) two or more persons living together who use their income to make joint expenditure decisions.

SUGGESTED CITATION

Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, The Economics Daily, Households spent an average of $528 on pets in 2015 at https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2017/households-spent-an-average-of-528-dollars-on-pets-in-2015.htm (visited October 31, 2024).

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