Ask a renter with a dog what they check first on a listing and the answer is rarely the countertops. Pet rules decide whether a unit is even an option, which makes them one of the first questions a prospect has and one of the last things most property management websites explain clearly. When the only mention of pets is a line buried in a listing or a PDF lease addendum, renters either call to ask, guess, or move on to a company that spelled it out.
Pets are the filter renters use most
A 2024 study by Zillow and Bark found that across the 25 largest rental markets, twice as many renters filtered for pet-friendly listings as for any other amenity, ahead of in-unit laundry, parking and dishwashers. New York City was the only market where a different filter (in-unit washer and dryer) came first. Apartments.com search data cited in PetScreening's 2026 report points the same direction: more than half of renters using its pet filters are looking for dog-friendly communities.
How many renters actually own pets depends on who is asking. The same Zillow and Bark study put it at 59 percent of renters, with 40 percent owning a dog. PetScreening's 2026 State of Pets in Rental Housing report, a survey of 673 property managers and leasing professionals, cites 43 percent of renters, against 71 percent of all U.S. households. The American Pet Products Association puts pet-owning households at roughly 94 to 95 million. The exact share varies by survey, but every version of the number is large enough that a pet question is a routine part of leasing, not an edge case.
Three numbers worth knowing
2x
Renters who filter for pet-friendly listings versus any other amenity, across the 25 largest U.S. rental markets (Zillow and Bark, 2024)
80%
Share of U.S. rental apartments listed on RentCafe in 2025 that allow at least one pet
$35.65
Average monthly pet rent nationally, alongside an average $300 refundable pet deposit and $315 non-refundable pet fee (RentCafe, 2025)
Sources: Zillow and Bark renter study, 2024; RentCafe, U.S. Pet-Friendly Housing Statistics, 2025.
Pet-friendly is no longer a differentiator on its own
RentCafe's 2025 analysis found about 80 percent of the apartments listed on its site allow at least one pet, with the South and Midwest just under 83 percent. Zillow's study measured a lower national share of 55 percent across its listings, with Dallas, Austin and San Antonio between 75 and 79 percent. Different inventories give different totals, but the direction is clear: saying "pets welcome" puts you in the majority, not ahead of it. What separates one company from the next is how clearly the rules are stated, because the rules are where renters get surprised.
And there are a lot of rules. In PetScreening's 2026 operator survey, 78.4 percent of respondents limit the number of pets per household, 66.7 percent enforce breed restrictions and 59.8 percent enforce weight limits. RentCafe found that among pet-friendly listings with restrictions, 97.34 percent of breed restrictions target dogs and about half of dog restrictions mention size. A renter with a 70-pound dog who learns about a 50-pound limit after paying an application fee is not just a lost applicant. They are a likely one-star review about wasted money.
Assistance animals are not pets, and your page should say so
The most common legal mistake on a pet policy page is treating every animal the same way. Under the Fair Housing Act and HUD's regulation at 24 CFR 100.204, housing providers must make reasonable accommodations in their rules and policies when needed to give a person with a disability equal opportunity to use and enjoy a dwelling. Assistance animals (service animals and support animals) have long been treated as outside ordinary pet rules, which is why pet rent, pet deposits, breed limits and weight limits are generally not applied to them.
The federal guidance picture changed recently. On 17 September 2025, HUD withdrew FHEO Notice 2013-01 and FHEO Notice 2020-01, the two documents most property managers used to evaluate assistance animal requests, and the withdrawal was published in the Federal Register on 6 April 2026. The statute and the reasonable accommodation regulation did not change, and state and local laws may go further than federal law. The practical result for your website: keep the assistance animal section short, state that pet fees and pet rules do not apply to approved assistance animals, link to how to submit a request, and have a fair housing attorney review the wording for your state rather than copying language from an older template.
State caps change what you can publish
A pet fee schedule that is legal in one state can be unlawful in the next, and companies managing across state lines often publish one national number. Two examples show why that is risky. Colorado's HB23-1068, effective 1 January 2024, caps a pet deposit at $300, requires it to be refundable, and limits monthly pet rent to the greater of $35 or 1.5 percent of the monthly rent. California's AB 12, effective 1 July 2024, limits the total security deposit to one month's rent for most landlords, and a pet deposit counts toward that total, with a narrow exception for small landlords.
| Charge | National average (RentCafe, 2025) | Example state rule |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly pet rent | $35.65 per month | Colorado: no more than $35 or 1.5 percent of monthly rent, whichever is greater |
| Pet deposit (refundable) | $300 one time | Colorado: capped at $300 and must be refundable. California: counts toward the one-month security deposit limit |
| Pet fee (non-refundable) | $315 one time | Colorado: money collected upfront for a pet is treated as a refundable deposit |
| Assistance animals | Not applicable | Pet fees and pet rules generally do not apply under the Fair Housing Act reasonable accommodation requirement |
What a good pet policy page includes
The page does not need to be long. It needs to answer, in order, the questions a pet owner would otherwise call about: which animals are allowed, how many, any size or breed limits, what it costs, what the screening step looks like, and what happens with assistance animals. If rules differ by property, say so on the page and show the rule on each listing, because a renter should never discover a community-specific restriction for the first time at the application stage.
Pet amenities belong here too, but only the ones you actually have. PetScreening's operator survey found pet waste stations (45 percent) and pet parks (35 percent) are the most common, well ahead of dog-walking services (24.9 percent) and pet events (11.2 percent). A photo of a real dog run at one of your properties does more than a paragraph about being "pet lovers," and it gives the page something specific enough to rank for searches like "pet-friendly rentals" plus your city.
Seven steps to build the page
Give pets their own URL
A dedicated page (for example /pet-policy) can be linked from every listing, the rental application and your Google Business Profile, and it can rank for pet-friendly searches in your city. A paragraph inside a general FAQ can do none of that.
List the rules in the order renters ask
Allowed animals, pet count, size and breed limits, then costs, then screening. Use a short table for fees so renters can see pet rent, deposit and any one-time fee side by side before they apply.
Publish fees per state, not one national number
If you manage in more than one state, check each state and city for caps on pet deposits, pet rent and total security deposits. Colorado and California are two examples where a common national fee schedule would not comply.
Separate assistance animals clearly
Add a short section stating that approved assistance animals are not pets and pet fees do not apply, with a link or contact for submitting a reasonable accommodation request. Have counsel review the wording, since HUD withdrew its main guidance in September 2025.
Show property-level rules on every listing
If one building has a weight limit and another does not, the difference should appear on the listing itself, not just on the main policy page. Sync the same fields to your syndicated listings so the rules match everywhere.
Explain the screening step before the application
If you use a pet screening service or ask for vaccination records and a pet profile, say so, and say when in the process it happens. Surprises after an application fee is paid are what turn into complaints.
Review the page every time a rule or law changes
Put the page on the same calendar as your lease addendum review. An outdated weight limit or fee on your website creates a conflict with the lease that someone will eventually point out.
The bottom line
Pet-friendly is the amenity renters filter for most, and most rentals already allow pets, so the advantage now comes from clarity rather than the label. A dedicated pet policy page that lists the real rules, the real fees for each state, and a separate, carefully worded section on assistance animals answers the question renters ask first, cuts the calls your leasing team fields, and keeps applicants from learning about a weight limit after they have already paid to apply.
