2022’s Purrfect Cities for Cat Lovers

Cats aren’t for everyone, but those who love them really love them. Cat people will put up with just about anything to keep their feline overlords happy.

But where are the best places for those long-suffering friends of felines to call home?

To mark International Cat Day on Aug. 8, LawnStarter ranked 2022’s Best Cities for Cat Lovers.

We compared the 200 largest U.S. cities across 14 factors, such as vet access, cost of cat sitting, and cat-friendly rental properties.

Find out which cities me-wowed us (or landed at the bottom of the litter box) below, followed by some highlights and lowlights. (Click here to see where your city ranks.)

Best Cities for Cat Lovers, in ranking order

1 Orlando, FL
2 Scottsdale, AZ
3 Knoxville, TN
4 Fort Lauderdale, FL
5 Fort Collins, CO
6 Salem, OR
7 Richmond, VA
8 Las Vegas, NV
9 Savannah, GA
10 Murfreesboro, TN

Worst Cities for Cat Lovers, in ranking order

1 Detroit, MI
2 Sunrise Manor, NV
3 Newark, NJ
4 Paterson, NJ
5 Paradise, NV
6 Brownsville, TX
7 Hialeah, FL
8 Bridgeport, CT
9 Springfield, MA
10 Laredo, TX
Highlights and Lowlights:

Orlando: The Most Magical Place on Earth for Cats, Too: Mickey Mouse better watch out — Orlando, Florida, is the U.S. cat capital for the second year in a row. What is it that makes O-Town more like Meow-Town? It came in first place for the number of cat sitters and boarding options and second place in pet stores and cat-friendly hotels.

And for those cat lovers who don’t have space for a kitty of their own, Orlando has plenty of cat cafes (coming in at No. 4) where anyone can stop by for a snack, drink, and snuggle with the free-roaming, adoptable cats who call the cafe home (for now).

De-clawed Detroit: This year, Detroit seems to be the worst city for cat lovers. The paw-blem is a severe lack of access to adoptable cats and resources. Detroit ranked in the bottom 50 in 12 out of 14 factors, such as animal shelters, cat sitters, and veterinarians.

As you can see, it isn’t easy to own a cat in Detroit. It isn’t cheap, either. Motown has the second-highest average cost for cat sitting, 12th-highest cat insurance premium, and 37th most expensive average hotel pet fee. Rates for these services are higher in Detroit than most of the other cities on our list.

Californian Cat Crusaders: No California cities made it into our top 10 this year, but the Golden State is still a great place for animal rights activists who want to be a voice for homeless, vulnerable kitties that need love the most.

Santa Rosa and Pasadena are the top two big cities in the country for access to animal shelters. Help is most desperately needed in city-run shelters in Los Angeles, where the current volunteer force is struggling to keep up with all the animals in their care, including litters of kittens abandoned in boxes at the shelters’ front doors.

Our full ranking and analysis are available here: https://www.lawnstarter.com/blog/studies/best-cities-cat-lovers/

Please reach out if you have any questions about our study or would like to interview our dog-loving and cat-tolerating editor-in-chief, Jeff Herman.

Whether you’re an enthusiastic cat lover or a begrudging cat roommate, give the kitties in your life a little extra love (in cat language: extra treats) to celebrate International Cat Day this year.