Editor's Note: This story originally appeared on LawnStarter.
Space to run and play is vital for raising a pup in the big city, so which U.S. cities are the best for bringing man’s best friend to the dog park?
To find out, LawnStarter ranked 2026’s best dog park cities.
For the 100 U.S. cities with data available, we considered the number of dog parks per 100,000 residents, access to Sniffspot rentals, and dog park ratings. We also included Google search interest and climate factors, among 10 total metrics.
Take a W-A-L-K through our ranking below before heading out to your local P-A-R-K. To learn how we ranked the cities, sniff through our methodology breakdown at the end.
15. Sacramento, CA
- Overall Score: 44.32
- Access Rank: 13
- Quality Rank: 43
- Google Search Interest: 35
- Climate Rank: 29
14. Des Moines, IA
- Overall Score: 44.52
- Access Rank: 49
- Quality Rank: 2
- Google Search Interest: 60
- Climate Rank: 89
13. St. Petersburg, FL
- Overall Score: 45.44
- Access Rank: 17
- Quality Rank: 17
- Google Search Interest: 29
- Climate Rank: 37
12. New York, NY
- Overall Score: 45.54
- Access Rank: 16
- Quality Rank: 57
- Google Search Interest: 7
- Climate Rank: 72
11. Atlanta, GA
- Overall Score: 45.62
- Access Rank: 14
- Quality Rank: 26
- Google Search Interest: 8
- Climate Rank: 61
10. Arlington, VA
- Overall Score: 45.69
- Access Rank: 11
- Quality Rank: 22
- Google Search Interest: 13
- Climate Rank: 63
9. Miami, FL
- Overall Score: 46.28
- Access Rank: 9
- Quality Rank: 51
- Google Search Interest: 4
- Climate Rank: 62
8. Albuquerque, NM
- Overall Score: 46.84
- Access Rank: 5
- Quality Rank: 53
- Google Search Interest: 42
- Climate Rank: 28
7. Tampa, FL
- Overall Score: 47.86
- Access Rank: 8
- Quality Rank: 27
- Google Search Interest: 18
- Climate Rank: 37
6. Colorado Springs, CO
- Overall Score: 49.44
- Access Rank: 3
- Quality Rank: 9
- Google Search Interest: 13
- Climate Rank: 14
5. Henderson, NV
- Overall Score: 51.36
- Access Rank: 4
- Quality Rank: 44
- Google Search Interest: 46
- Climate Rank: 16
4. Las Vegas, NV
- Overall Score: 51.68
- Access Rank: 7
- Quality Rank: 54
- Google Search Interest: 6
- Climate Rank: 16
3. San Francisco, CA
- Overall Score: 53.99
- Access Rank: 6
- Quality Rank: 21
- Google Search Interest: 1
- Climate Rank: 61
2. Portland, OR
- Overall Score: 54.88
- Access Rank: 2
- Quality Rank: 30
- Google Search Interest: 9
- Climate Rank: 36
1. Boise, ID
- Overall Score: 60.03
- Access Rank: 1
- Quality Rank: 3
- Google Search Interest: 12
- Climate Rank: 53
Methodology
To rank the best dog park cities, we compared 100 U.S. cities across 10 metrics.
Our metrics covered four main themes:
- Access (31%): We collected the number of dog parks per 100,000 residents from the Trust for Public Land and the number of private dog parks for rent on Sniffspot.
- Quality (44%): We considered the number of top-rated (4.5+ star) dog parks on BringFido, average consumer ratings for dog parks, and the average number of reviews per dog park.
- Google Search Interest (6%): We looked into local Google search interest for keywords related to dog parks and adjusted results per 100,000 residents.
- Climate (19%): We factored in the average monthly inches of precipitation, average monthly percentage of sunshine, average number of very cold days, and average number of very hot days.
For each of the 100 cities with available data, we then gathered data on each metric.
Finally, we calculated scores (out of 100 points) for each city to determine its rank in each metric, each category, and overall. A city’s overall score is the average of its scores across all metrics and categories. The highest overall score ranked “Best” (No. 1).
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