Tucson Ranked No. 2 On 2019 'Most Dog-Friendly Cities' List

TUCSON, AZ — SmartAsset released its 4th annual list of "The Most Dog-Friendly Cities in America" Wednesday, coinciding with the rapidly approaching National Dog Day on Monday, Aug. 26. Tucson was ranked No. 2 on this year’s list, after Las Vegas and just ahead of San Francisco.

Most Tucsonians won’t be surprised by Tucson’s high ranking: You don’t have to be in Tucson long before you spot dogs in outdoor restaurant seating areas. Many Tucson dogs also make an appearance trotting beside their humans outside a strip mall, and sometimes well-behaved canines are even noticed walking demurely inside a grocery store or other market. Perhaps the local leashed canine is most often observed running or walking alongside an athletically attired human, burning off energy in the process. These factors, among others, were key in smartasset.com’s rankings.

The study listed the top 25 U.S. dog-friendly cities, based on metrics in six categories: Dog-friendly Restaurants data derived from BringFido.com represented restaurants permitting canines on outdoor patios. This metric was weighted at 20 percent of each city’s total score, as was the number of Dog-friendly Shopping Centers, data also from BringFido.com. Dog Parks Per 100,000 Residents statistics were collected from the Trust for Public Land’s 2019 ParkScore Index and also carried a 20 percent weight in the study. Walk Score data collected from Walkscore.com and Average Annual Precipitation Days statistics gathered from Currentresults.com were each weighted at 15 percent of the total score. Median Home Value data, which carried a 10 percent weight, was gathered from the Census Bureau’s 1-year American Community Survey of 2017, as dogs are among the most costly pets to care for and maintain, according to SmartAsset.

Report details showed that Tucson has 1.5 Dog Parks Per 100,000 Residents, 248 Dog-friendly Restaurants and 4 Dog-friendly Shopping Centers. Tucson’s Walk Score rating was 42 out of 100, with Average Annual Precipitation Days at 22.7 and Median House Value at about $150,000. All data combined gave Tucson a total score of 98.19 out of 100 possible points.

Other top 10 most dog-friendly U.S. cities included Albuquerque, Denver, San Diego, Chicago, New York, Austin and Tampa. See the full 25-city rankings list at smartasset.com.