Renting with Pets: The Most Pet-Friendly Cities in the U.S.

Living with pets is such a common practice, that more and more families are adding pets to their households, regardless of whether they are homeowners or renters. It is undoubtedly easy for homeowners to have as many, and pretty much any size, pets as they want.

But what about renting with pets? We wanted to find out which are the most pet-friendly cities in the U.S. so you can have as many options as needed to find a pet-friendly apartment.

The good news is that apartment buildings are doing more to accommodate for special occupants. To determine the most pet-friendly cities for renters, we analyzed rental listings on RentCafe to see how many rental properties are pet-friendly, how much the monthly pet rent is, and what additional charges are associated with pets. So, without further ado, here are the best cities for renting with pets, ranked!

America’s Most Pet-Friendly Cities

Florissant, a middle-class suburb of St. Louis, MO, takes first place in our top of America’s most pet-friendly cities. With a whopping 91% of the listed rental properties accepting pets, an average monthly rent of $21, and an average of $223 in additional one-time charges, Florissant is the best place for renting with pets.

Atlanta takes second place in our top pet-friendly places. Pet-friendly properties in Atlanta make up about 72% of all apartments here, and the average monthly rent is only $18, with $236 in one-time charges. Also, out of the pet-friendly properties in Atlanta, 34% are both cat and dog friendly.

In third-ranked Birmingham, AL, the average monthly pet rent comes in at $17, among the cheapest of the cities analyzed, while one-time costs average out at $179. The Southern city has a 72% share of rental properties that are accepting pets, so renters have a nice selection to choose from.

Fourth place is occupied by Kansas City, MO, with a share of 73% of rental properties being pet-friendly. The average rent per month is $21, while one-time costs average out at $205. In Kansas City, rental properties allow an average of 3 pets per unit, great news if your life philosophy is “the more the merrier”.

Roughly 72% of rental properties in Denver allow pets and the average monthly rent is $27, which puts the Mile-High City in fifth place on our list of best places for renting with pets. The average cost for deposits and/or fees is an additional $225. What really scored points for Denver is the fact that the share of properties both cat and dog friendly is an impressive 70%.

In Philadelphia, the share of pet-friendly properties is 75%, with only 40% of those being specifically cat and dog friendly. Average pet rent per month is very low, at only $13, while additional one-time costs can be expected to be about $233 on average, making Philly the sixth best choice for renting with pets.

Back to Missouri, the seventh city in our top is St. Louis, with an average pet rent of $25 and average one-time costs around $218. What really makes St. Louis a great choice to live in for you and your furry friends is that 81% of rental properties allow pets and 60% are both cat and dog friendly.

Number eight on our list is Madison, WI, where 81% of the rental properties listed are pet-friendly, and 85% of those are dog and cat friendly. However, there is an average limit of one pet per unit. The average pet rent for the extra occupant is $23, while the one-time charge is $174.

Cincinnati has a share of 75% pet-friendly properties, of which 64% are cat and dog friendly. Average pet rent is $32, while the one-time cost comes to $144 for each of the 2 pets that are accepted on average per unit.

With a population of around 2.7 million, Chicago is not just a friendly city, it’s also one of the most pet-friendly cities in the country. Chi-town finishes our top 10 list with 76% of rental properties accepting pets. Average pet rent per month is $22 for each of the 2 pets that are accepted on average per unit, while the one-time costs are about $263.

Top 50 Most Pet-Friendly Cities for Renting with Pets

Unfortunately, pet-friendliness comes with some limitations. While there are restrictions that don’t allow pets onto properties at all, there are also other common limitations in pet-friendly buildings. Those pet restrictions range from the number of pets allowed in a given unit to the breed, weight, and type of pet.

There are also pet restrictions relating to the age of the animal, such as it being at least 6 months old, or health condition, which requires that the pet be vaccinated, declawed, and at times spayed or neutered. As can be seen below, the most common pet restriction, representing 31%, is on the type of pet you can have in your apartment, another 28% deal with breeds and 21% relate to the number of pets allowed in a unit.

Most Common Pet Restrictions in Rental Buildings

Methodology

• This report was prepared by RentCafe.com, a nationwide apartment search website that enables renters to easily find apartments and houses for rent throughout the United States.
• The ranking for most pet-friendly cities is based on RentCafe active listings. Only cities with more than 100 listings were included.
• The ranking is based on the share of pet-friendly properties from the total number of properties listed (50% weight), the average monthly pet rent (25% weight), the average one-time costs, pet fee or pet security deposit (20% weight), and the number of pets allowed per unit (5% weight). Each of these criteria was given a score, thus creating the top 50 cities with the highest score for pet friendliness.