A new study ranks one North Carolina city among the nation’s most pet-friendly — while two others landed near the bottom.
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WalletHub ranked Raleigh as the 16th most pet-friendly city in the U.S., making it the highest-ranked city in North Carolina. The personal finance website compared the nation’s 100 largest cities across 23 metrics related to the cost of pet ownership, pet health and wellness and outdoor amenities for animals.
The rankings considered factors such as veterinary costs, pet insurance premiums, access to animal shelters, dog parks and pet-friendly trails, walkability, weather and the strength of state animal protection laws. WalletHub used the combined scores to determine each city’s overall ranking.
Raleigh earned an overall score of 55.10, ranking 38th for pet budget, 25th for pet health and wellness and 56th for outdoor pet-friendliness.
Not every North Carolina city fared as well.
Charlotte ranked 80th out of 100 cities, placing it among the bottom 20 nationwide. The Queen City ranked 64th for pet budget, 56th for pet health and wellness and 84th for outdoor pet-friendliness.
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Durham finished even lower at No. 94, with WalletHub ranking it 44th for pet budget, 87th for pet health and wellness and 95th for outdoor pet-friendliness.
Greensboro was the only other North Carolina city included in the study, finishing at No. 53.
This story was originally published August 8, 2026 at 8:00 AM with the headline “One NC city is top-ranked for pets, while two land near the bottom, study says.”
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