The Pet Industry Isn't Slowing Down. Here's What the Numbers Show.

Numbers tell stories and the pet industry's numbers tell a pretty consistent one: this category keeps growing, year after year, regardless of what else is happening in the economy.

Here’s what we’re seeing: In 2024, U.S. pet industry expenditures were at $152 billion. In 2025 those expenditures reached $158 billion. And projected for 2026? $165 billion. That’s an average of 4 percent growth each year and it’s the continuation of a pattern that has held for decades, through multiple recessions and plenty of shifting consumer priorities.

Pet ownership itself keeps climbing too. An estimated 95 million U.S. households now own at least one pet, up from 73 million in 2010. Dog ownership rose from 51 percent of households in 2024 to 53 percent in 2025, and cat ownership grew 5 percent year over year to reach 39 percent of households, with notably strong gains among Gen X owners specifically.

Here's where it gets interesting for anyone evaluating a pet business opportunity: pet food and treats isn't just the largest category in the industry, it's the fastest-growing one holding that position. The segment reached $68.3 billion in sales in 2025 and it's projected to climb to $69.7 billion in 2026. That's roughly 43 percent of every dollar spent in the pet industry, more than any other category, including vet care and supplies combined.

That spending isn't slowing down because pet owners are cutting back elsewhere to protect it. Food is where the humanization trend shows up most directly: pet owners increasingly choose limited-ingredient, small-batch, and nutrition-forward options the same way they'd choose groceries for their own families. Grooming adds a second, complementary layer on top of that (a fast-growing services category in its own right), but food is where the real weight of the industry sits, and where a nutrition-focused business model has the most room to win.

Pet Wants was built around exactly that shift, offering slow-cooked, small-batch food made with fresh, whole ingredients, paired with grooming services that give owners a second revenue stream in one of the industry's fastest-growing segments. For anyone evaluating where to invest next, that combination (a business model built on the category's biggest spend driver, layered with the momentum of pet services) is what makes Pet Wants a strong bet on an industry with real staying power.

Data Sources: American Pet Products Association, 2026 State of the Industry Report