>The gang at Movoto fetched the data and visualized how America’s favorite critters stack up in all 50 states. Spoiler alert: It’s looking ruff for cats.
Since the beginning of civilization as we know it, a great battle has raged on. It has crossed cultures, spanned centuries, divided people, and ruined families with a fierce animosity.
We’re talking, of course, about the question of which is more popular: cats or dogs.
Here at the Movoto Real Estate Blog, we think it’s high time to end this stupid battle: dogs are the more popular pet, hands down, no questions asked, final answer, period.
Now before you get all hissy, allow us to explain.
For this map, we went from state to state, noting the number of Facebook Likes for each of the five most popular pets: dogs, cats, fish, birds, and reptiles.
Overall, dogs were the most popular out of the five in every single state (that’s 50 points for dog people!), but we wanted to take a closer look at America’s pet preferences. After all, we love helping people find homes, but we love animals just as much.
Dogs: The Numbers Don’t Lie… Down And Roll Over
Dogs: man’s best friend. Or should we say Maine’s best friend?
Yes, that’s right; out of all of the states, the highest percentage of Maine’s population Liked dogs: 14.45 percent of everyone in the state. This was followed by Alaska (14.08 percent), West Virginia (14.03), Wyoming (13.48), and then Vermont (13.10).
To put that into perspective for you, take a look at Maryland, where the lowest percentage of people liked dogs: just 8.66 percent of the population.
Interestingly, most of these top five states are among some of the least densely populated states in the U.S. Maine, for example, ranks the 12th least densely-populated, Wyoming is the 2nd least, and Alaska is the least densely-populated state in the U.S.—plenty of room for Fido to roam.
Maryland, on the other hand, is the fifth most densely populated state, so we guess we can’t completely blame them for not liking dogs more; they simply have less room.
Cats: We’re Sure Some Folks Aren’t Feline Fine About This
Let’s take a look at the five states that Liked cats the most—and to quickly clarify, this doesn’t mean that more people Liked cats than Liked dogs in these states. It just means that these states had higher cat-Like-percentages than other states did. So just calm down, cat lovers.
The state with the highest percentage of cat Likes was, once again, Maine. This was followed by West Virginia, Kentucky, Vermont, and then Alaska, ranging from 9.49 percent to 7.32 percent of the population Liking cats.
On the other end of the spectrum, though, was Hawaii. Here, only 5.15 percent of people Liked cats—though I’d imagine the feeling is mutual. Do you know any cats who’d like to be surrounded by water all the time?
Fish: Thinking Inside Of The Tank
Surprise, surprise, the state that Liked fish more than all the others was the seeming darling of this analysis, Alaska, where 7.32 percent of residents were hooked. This was followed by Maine, West Virginia, Wyoming, and Louisiana.
The state that Liked fish the least was Connecticut, where apparently they’ve had enough white clam pizza to satisfy their craving for anything at all to do with the sea. Just 3.02 percent of the population here Liked fish.
Birds: Where The Fans Of Feathers Flock Together
In Alaska, 5.35 percent of the people like birds so much they Liked birds. The other top states for these creepy dinosaur descendants were Wyoming, Texas, Maine, and Nevada.
Maryland came up as the state where the least people Liked birds, at just 3.08 percent. Of course, most birds are indoor pets and so Maryland really doesn’t have the dense population excuse to use again. I guess these guys just hate polly.
Reptiles: At The Bottom Of The Scale
Perhaps not surprisingly, out of the five most popular pets, lizards are the least popular… though perhaps surprisingly, they made the list at all.
For whatever reason, 0.99 percent of the people in Georgia Like lizards on Facebook, making this the state where they are the most popular. It was followed by Alabama, Oklahoma, Tennessee, and then Ohio.
The state where reptiles were Liked the least was North Carolina, with just .03 percent, where the average for lizard Likes in the U.S. was .28 percent. North Carolina, why so… cold blooded? (Sorry.)
What About Pets In General?
Alright, animal lovers, this is it; this is the section where we tell you just which states Liked pets in general the most, and which sickos Liked them the least.
Coming in as the state with the highest percentage of Likes for Pets was Alaska, with 24.78 percent of the population. This was following by Wyoming (24.48 percent), Maine (24.09 percent), West Virginia (23.75 percent), and North Dakota (23.19 percent).
And as promised, the states that aren’t so big on domesticated animals were Maryland, where only 15.93 percent of the population Liked pets, Connecticut with 16.79 percent, New Jersey with 17.29 percent, Hawaii with 17.64, and California with 17.72 percent, where apparently people are just totally ambivalent, Liking neither pets nor their own state all that much.
Again, there was a close correlation between the state’s population density and the pet Likes. In Alaska and Wyoming, for example, there is plenty of room for pets to roam, as these are the two least densely-populated states. On the other hand, the five states that Liked pets the least are also among the most crowded.
But for real, less than 16 percent, Maryland? Woof.
