New Data: Ranking America’s Most Cat-Obsessed States

Leading 15 states by felines conserved per 100,000 homeowners:
1. Wyoming – 1,024 per 100k (5,918 felines conserved, 23 reporting shelters, population 577,929)
2. Colorado – 949 per 100k (54,745 felines conserved, 49 reporting shelters, population 5,770,790)
3. Idaho – 794 per 100k (14,723 felines conserved, 22 reporting shelters, population 1,854,109)
4. New Mexico – 791 per 100k (16,712 felines conserved, 32 reporting shelters, population 2,112,463)
5. Maine – 786 per 100k (10,746 felines conserved, 18 reporting shelters, population 1,366,949)
6. West Virginia – 772 per 100k (13,847 felines conserved, 29 reporting shelters, population 1,792,967)
7. Montana – 741 per 100k (8,093 felines conserved, 20 reporting shelters, population 1,091,840)
8. Utah – 716 per 100k (23,519 felines conserved, 38 reporting shelters, population 3,283,809)
9. North Dakota – 676 per 100k (5,253 felines conserved, 14 reporting shelters, population 776,874)
10. Kentucky – 655 per 100k (29,479 felines conserved, 47 reporting shelters, population 4,502,935)
11. Virginia – 644 per 100k (55,541 felines conserved, 117 reporting shelters, population 8,624,511)
12. Florida – 638 per 100k (137,949 felines conserved, 84 reporting shelters, population 21,634,529)
13. Missouri – 626 per 100k (38,527 felines conserved, 88 reporting shelters, population 6,154,422)
14. Nebraska – 612 per 100k (11,994 felines conserved, 14 reporting shelters, population 1,958,939)
15. Indiana – 605 per 100k (41,036 felines conserved, 61 reporting shelters, population 6,784,403)

Wyoming has actually been crowned America’s many cat-obsessed state. Its shelters conserved 5,918 felines in 12 months, or 1,024 for every single 100,000 locals, which is one feline conserved for every 98 individuals living there. The Mountain West has actually swept the board. Wyoming, Colorado, Idaho and New Mexico take the leading 4 locations outright, and with Montana at 7th and Utah at 8th, 6 of the leading 8 are Mountain West states. Throughout the United States as an entire, the information reveals 451.3 felines are conserved throughout every 100,000 citizens. Nationally, a feline leaves a United States shelter alive every 21 seconds, which is 4,096 felines a day and 1,494,995 over 12 months. John Butterworth, Marketing Lead at KittySpout (https://www.kittyspout.com), talked about the findings: “Every state in this top 15 is saving a lot more cats than the national average. It’s a magnificent achievement worth shouting about. Shelter workers are some of the most dedicated people and their work often goes unrecognized. If you can donate; please do. And, huge credit to the families saving these cats. Nearly a million and a half cats left American shelters alive last year. Not one of them walked out on their own.”

What the ranking procedures:
Conserved implies the feline left the shelter alive. That covers adoption, go back to owner, transfer to another company, and launch back to a handled community-cat nest. Population size is represented. Larger states shelter more felines merely due to the fact that more individuals live there. Counting per 100,000 locals strips out that benefit and offers a stabilized worth, revealing which state’s citizens and neighborhoods are conserving the most felines.

Approach:
The figures originate from result information released by the Best Friends Animal Society Pet Lifesaving Dashboard, covering a rolling 12 months from October 2024 to September 2025 and pulled on 29th May 2026. All 3,884 United States shelters reporting feline results were consisted of. Population figures are United States Census ACS 5-Year Estimates for 2022. Each state figure is the overall felines conserved by all reporting shelters divided by state population, per 100,000 locals.

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