Pet Industry Statistics 2026: What Every Pet Store Owner Needs To Know

Pet owners will spend an estimated $165 billion in 2026, and they’ll keep spending more each year. They’re also becoming choosier about where that money goes.

The headline number matters less to an independent pet store than what sits underneath it — which categories are growing, which generations are buying, and where a small shop competes best.

Below are the pet industry statistics worth your attention this year, along with what’s driving them and where we think each trend is heading next.

Market Size and Growth

The industry is posting steady gains now instead of pandemic-era spikes:

• U.S. pet industry expenditures reached $158 billion in 2025, up 3.7% from 2024.
• The American Pet Products Association (APPA) expects $165 billion in 2026, a gain of roughly 4.4%.
• Inflation accounts for about 2% of that, so real volume still rises.
• The APPA forecasts that the industry will top $197.9 billion by 2030.

Why the pace slowed: The pandemic pet boom pulled years of adoptions forward. What remains is organic demand, which builds more slowly but is steadier.

What this means for your pet store: Plan for modest annual gains rather than a boom. Watch your product mix closely, because that’s where the real movement happens.

Pet Ownership Trends

Household numbers held flat, but the mix shifted in ways that hit your floor directly:

• 95 million U.S. households owned at least one pet in 2025.
• Dog-owning homes rose from 51% of households to 53%, adding about 4 million families.
• Cat households climbed 5% year over year and now account for 39% of the country, or 53 million homes.
• More than 187 million adults live with a pet.

Size preferences shifted too. Small dog adoptions climbed 6% in the first half of 2025, while large dog adoptions fell 9%. More than 58% of owners now weigh size heavily when choosing a dog. The French bulldog has held the AKC’s top spot for four straight years, with the dachshund breaking into the top five for the first time in two decades.

What’s driving the shift: Housing costs push people into smaller spaces, and smaller spaces favor smaller dogs. Cats benefit from the same math.

What this means for your pet store: 4 million new dog families arrived in one year, and many of those owners need guidance. Stock your small-breed sizes heavily, because that’s where adoptions were concentrated.

Spending by Category

Food still takes the largest share, though supplies grew faster last year:

• Pet food and treats totaled $68.3 billion in 2025, up 3% and accounting for 43.2% of all pet spending.
• Veterinary care and product sales reached $41 billion, or 25.9% of the market.
• Supplies, live animals, and OTC medicine totaled $34.4 billion, up 4.4%.
• Grooming, boarding, training, and pet sitting brought in $14.3 billion combined.

Wellness products make up a growing slice of that supplies figure. The global pet supplement market hit $3.14 billion in 2025 and should reach $3.33 billion in 2026, with hip and joint formulas taking roughly 40% of sales. Specialty stores hold 42% of supplement distribution, more than any other channel.

Why the numbers look this way: Pets live longer, and owners treat preventive care the way they treat their own. Supplements sell through specialty shops because customers want a recommendation before they buy, and big-box aisles don’t offer that conversation.

What this means for your pet store: Food brings people through the door, but supplies deliver stronger margins. Supplements reward the thing you already do well, which is knowing the customer and the animal.

Related Read: 10 Popular Pet Food Brands Worth Stocking in 2026: A Retailer’s Guide

Generational Spending Patterns

Growth spread across age groups last year, and each one shops its own way:

• Gen Z and millennials drove the rise in cat households.
• Gen X posted a 12% year-over-year jump, the biggest gain of any generation.
• Within Gen X, dogs climbed 12% and cats 8%. Birds rose 25%, reptiles 20%, and freshwater fish 17%.
• Half of pet owners kept their spending unchanged in 2025, while 22% spent less, up 10% from the prior year.

What’s behind it: Gen X hit the empty-nest stage, and pets fill that space. Younger owners face tighter budgets, which explains why value-seeking rose even as adoption held.

What this means for your pet store: Gen X delivered the largest gain, and those households branched well beyond dogs and cats. If your small-animal section has been an afterthought, expand it this year. And with a fifth of customers cutting back, shelve value options right beside your premium ones.

How eTailPet helps: Blanket promotions waste your marketing budget when each generation responds to something different. A point of sale (POS) system like eTailPet comes with built-in marketing tools that segment customers by purchase history so you can send targeted campaigns. Your Gen X bird owners hear about premium seed blends, while your millennial cat owners hear about the new litter line.

Services and Grooming

Services deliver the smallest dollar figure on this list but some of the steadiest revenue an independent pet store can build:

• The category generated $14.3 billion in 2025.
• The APPA projects 4.2% growth for 2026, outpacing both food and vet care.
• Services should top $17.7 billion by 2030.
• Grooming and boarding alone account for roughly $15.4 billion across 193,000 businesses.

Why services hold steady: Owners cut discretionary purchases before they cut care, and grooming counts as care. A matted coat creates a real problem, so those appointments survive budget tightening.

What this means for your pet store: Services carry no inventory risk and bring customers back on a schedule instead of whenever the food runs out. If you haven’t added grooming or boarding, this growth rate is your signal to start.

How eTailPet helps: Adding services means juggling appointments and retail at the same time. eTailPet’s service scheduling books grooming directly into your POS, so your calendar and your register stay in one system.

 Related Read: Is Pet Grooming Profitable? 6 Key Factors 

What To Expect in 2027

The data above describes where the industry stands. Here’s where it looks like it’s headed next:

• Small-breed health products will outpace the rest of the aisle. French bulldogs and dachshunds now dominate adoptions, and both breeds carry documented respiratory and spinal problems. Watch for demand around joint supplements, breathing-friendly harnesses, and weight-management food designed for small dogs.
• Training will become a real revenue line. 4 million households added a dog in a single year, and first-time owners need help. Any store already running grooming has the space and the customer list to add classes without much new overhead.
• The middle of your shelf will get squeezed. With 22% of owners spending less and roughly half holding steady, shoppers are sorting themselves into deal-seekers and quality-seekers. Mid-tier products offering neither a price advantage nor a clear story will lose ground fastest.
• Supplements will graduate from add-on to destination. Specialty shops already account for 42% of that distribution. As pets age and preventive care spreads, the category rewards stores whose staff can explain what a product does.
• Cats will continue to close the gap. Feline households grew faster than dog households last year, driven by younger owners in smaller homes. Most independent pet stores still allocate floor space as though the split were 70–30.

Put These Pet Industry Statistics To Work

National numbers show you where the market is headed. Your own sales data shows what happens on your floor, and the gap between them is where the opportunity sits.

Maybe supplements climb 6% nationally but 20% in your store because your staff knows how to recommend them. Maybe cat products surge everywhere except your shop, because that aisle sits in the back corner. You only find those gaps by tracking performance over time.

eTailPet reports sales by product line, brand, and customer, so you can measure your store against the trends instead of guessing. Pair that with service scheduling and targeted marketing, and you can act while a trend still has room to run.

Start with the areas the numbers point to, then let your own reports tell you where to go next.

Build and Price your eTailPet setup today.