St. Pete Ranks As One Of The Most Dog-Friendly Cities In Nation

ST. PETERSBURG, FL — St. Petersburg is ranked as one of the most dog-friendly cities in the United States, ranking at No. 7, according to a SmartAsset study. Tampa ranks at No. 6 in the nation among most dog-friendly cities.

St. Petersburg has the seventh-highest concentration of pet stores and veterinary offices at about 79 per 10,000 establishments, says the SmartAsset study. The city has the 15th highest ratio of dog parks to residents, at 2.3 per 100,000 residents. Additionally, the city ranks within the top half of the study for three other metrics: median home value, walk score and dog-friendly restaurants.

Tampa has the sixth number of dog parks per 100,000 residents, at 3.9, across all 100 cities in the study. While it ranks in the middle the study for median home value, at $257,600, it claims a top-20 ranking for its number of dog-friendly restaurants, at 226, and top-40 rankings for walk score, number of dog-friendly shopping centers and concentration of pet stores and vet offices.

For the study, SmartAsset analyzed data for 100 of the largest U.S. cities across the following six metrics: dog parks per 100,000 residents, dog-friendly restaurants, dog-friendly shopping centers, median home value, walk score and concentration of pet stores and veterinary offices.

For details on its data sources and how they put all the information together to create the final rankings, check out the data and methodology link. You can also view the full list of the 24 dog friendly cities that made the list. St. Pete and Tampa were the only Florida cities to make the list.