Economy

This Is the Worst American City to Walk a Dog

Douglas A. McIntyre

Published: January 28, 2022 7:30 am

Last Updated: February 1, 2022 12:00 pm

Owning a dog can be expensive and time-consuming. This has not kept dogs from being the most widely owned pets in America. A total of 48,255,413 households have a dog. That is almost 50% higher than cat ownership.

Dog ownership can cost over $1,000 a year. In the first year, buying a puppy can cost several hundred dollars. The Spruce Pets puts annual dog ownership costs between $1,500 and $9,900.

Many dogs spend some time outdoors. Inventions like the electric fence allow dogs to live freely outside the house but in a contained area. Many dogs are walked by their owners, often several times a day.

24/7 Tempo has picked the worst city to walk your dog in, based on a report from LawnStarter. In the report, 174 of America’s largest cities were ranked on a 100-point scale based on their walkability, dog-friendly environment, safety and services related to dog walking.

Walkability is a score that takes into account pedestrian access and comfort. Can residents run errands without a car? Is there access to footpaths or sidewalks, and are these comfortable routes to businesses and parks?

In addition to a city’s walkability, are the sidewalks large enough to safely walk a dog past a group of people or another dog walker? LawnStarter’s environment metric takes into account the number of dog-friendly trails in a city, as well as the city’s ranking in its Best Dog Park Cities list.

The dog walking services ranking includes the number of for-hire dog walkers per capita and their average cost, while the safety metric includes pedestrian deaths per capita.

The worst city to walk a dog is Jackson, Mississippi. Here are the details:

• Overall score: 25.38
• Walkability rank: 161st
• Environment rank: 163rd
• Services rank: 106th
• Safety rank: 168th
• Population: 153,701

Click here to see the 25 worst cities in which to walk a dog.