three rescued rabbits on a chair
JoJo, Newton, and Florentine were rescued from a backyard hoarding case. Photo by Paige K Parsons.

Statistics: How Many Pet Rabbits are There in the USA?

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So how many rabbits (or bunnies) are there in the United States in 2024?

Each year, we get better data about the number of “pet” rabbits in the United States. Here are the most recent statistics, as well as some historical statistics on companion rabbits in the USA.

According to the American Veterinary Medical Association’s (AVMA’s) 2022 U.S. Pet Ownership & Demographics Sourcebook, 1.2% of households ( 1.5 million) owned rabbits1. and that there are 2.2 million pet rabbits2.

According to the 2022 American Pet Products Association (APPA) Pet Owners Survey, rabbits (bunnies) are the most popular Small Animal and 6.7 million households have small animals.3

In addition, Forbes reports that rabbits and other exotics are extremely popular with younger generations such as Millennials and Gen Z4.

The APPA also reported in their 2013-2014 survey that 25% of all pet rabbits were adopted and 14% were purchased from pet stores5.  The rest came from other sources. Between 2011-12 and 2013-14, the number of rabbits purchased at pet stores declined by 42%.6

Historical Data on Rabbits as Pets

United States Historical Summary

202212017720128201013200714,1520021820019200010199611199111
Households owning rabbits1.5M1.5M1.4M1.9M2.21.8M2.2M1.9M1.4M
% overall households owning rabbits1.2%1.2%1.19%1.62%1.70%1.6%1.90%1.50%
Average rabbits per household2.283.32.72.42.633.22
Total rabbit population2.2M2.2M3.2M6.6M6.1M5M4.8M5.3M4,9M4.6M
Historical data on rabbits as pets. Many thanks to RabbitWiki for tracking down several of these sources.

United States Historical Details

The 2012 AVMA survey found 1.2% of American households (or 1.2 million American households) lived with about 3 million rabbits (bunnies).12

The American Pet Products Association’s (APPA) 2009-2010 Pet Owners Survey confirmed that rabbits (bunnies) are the most commonly kept small animal pet in the United States. Out of the 15.9 million small animal pets owned in the U.S., 42 percent of them were rabbits (bunies). There were 6.6 million rabbits (bunnies) kept as pets in the United States in 2010.13

In 2007 the AVMA reported 6.1 million pet rabbits (bunnies) in the U.S.14, as did the 2007 American Pet Products Manufacturing Association (APPA) Pet Owners Survey15. the APPA survey also noted that in the past decade, rabbits (bunnies) have surpassed hamsters as the most popular small pet, making them the third most popular companion mammal, behind cats and dogs.

In 2006, Gallup found that just 1% of American households had at least one rabbit (bunny) as a pet, as did the AVMA.16 17

In 2002, the USDA released a report that said that 5 million rabbits (bunnies) were living as pets in the United States, in 2.2 million households18.

References

  1. AVMA 2022 U.S. Pet Ownership Statistics ↩︎
  2. AVMA 2022 U.S. Pet Ownership & Demographics Sourcebook ↩︎
  3. APPA 2021-2022 American Pet Products Association Pet Owners Survey ↩︎
  4. Forbes Advisor. 2024 Pet Ownership Statistics ↩︎
  5. APPA 2013-2014 American Pet Products Association Pet Owners Survey  ↩︎
  6. 2013-2014 American Pet Products Association Pet Owners Survey  ↩︎
  7. AVMA. 2017-2018 U.S. Pet Ownership Sourcebook. (archived) ↩︎
  8. AVMA. 2012 U.S. Pet Ownership Statistics. (archived) ↩︎
  9. AVMA. (n.d.) Market research statistics - U.S. pet ownership 2001. Retrieved 07 Oct 2016 from https://www.avma.org/KB/Resources/Statistics/Pages/Market-research-statistics-US-pet-ownership-2001.aspx ↩︎
  10. USDA:APHIS:VS. (2002). U.S. Rabbit Industry Profile. Retrieved 07 Oct 2016 from http://www.aphis.usda.gov/animal_health/emergingissues/downloads/RabbitReport1.pdf ↩︎
  11. Dean Marvin Warren. (2002). Small Animal Care and Management. Retrieved 07 Oct 2016 from https://books.google.com/books?id=Qz-3V6_TatUC&pg=PA6&lpg=PA6#v=onepage&q&f=false ↩︎
  12. AVMA. 2012 Ownership & Demographics Sourcebook ↩︎
  13. APPA. 2009-2010 Pet Owners Survey ↩︎
  14. AVMA. 2009 Ownership & Demographics Sourcebook. AVMA. (n.d.). Market research statistics - U.S. Pet Ownership 2007. Retrieved 07 Oct 2016 from https://www.avma.org/KB/Resources/Statistics/Pages/Market-research-statistics-US-pet-ownership-2007.aspx ↩︎
  15. APPA. 2007 Pet Owners Survey ↩︎
  16. Gallup. 2006 Gallup Lifestyle Poll. ↩︎
  17. Shepherd, A. J. (2008). Results of the 2006 AVMA survey of companion animal
    ownership in U.S. pet-owning households. Journal of the American Veterinary Medical
    Association, 232, 695–696. ↩︎
  18. Granis, J. (2002). U.S. Rabbit Industry Profile. USDA:APHIS:VS Executive Summary, 1-47. ↩︎
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