Pets · Metro area · Kentucky
Pet businesses in the Lexington-Fayette, KY metro area
How the Lexington-Fayette, KY metro area compares with other metro areas and the U.S. for pet businesses: competitors, household spending, official counts and growth.
Groundwork market score · out of 100
Score 32 out of 100: Lower middle
Ranked #327 of 387 scored metro areas
#5 of 6 scored metro areas based in Kentucky
- Listings
- 319
- 58 chain locations (18%)
- Official establishments
- 180
- +13.6% since 2019
- Household spending a year
- $194.6M
- On pets · $900 a household
- Spending per listing
- $610K
- 31% below the U.S.
- Listings per 10k households
- 14.7
- 41% above the U.S.
- Population, 2025
- 535,174
- +3.4% since 2020
See the pet businesses around any address in the Lexington-Fayette metro area
The site report maps the pet businesses on map listings near the address, by name and distance, and sizes the households and spending around it. Or open the report at the center of the Lexington-Fayette metro area. Signed out, you see a blurred preview; on an account, each report is one action.
Free10 actions over 3 days, no cardSurvey estimates 2020–2024 · population estimates 2025 · official business counts 2023 · map listings September 2026 · Data credits · How we measure
What this means
The Groundwork market score for pet businesses in the Lexington-Fayette metro area is 32 (lower middle), #327 of 387 scored metro areas and #5 of 6 scored metro areas based in Kentucky. That puts it in the bottom quarter of metro areas.
Households in the Lexington-Fayette metro area spend about $194.6M a year on pets, or $900 per household, in line with the U.S. average. Spread across 319 pet businesses, that is $610K per business, 31% below the U.S. figure of $878K.
The Lexington-Fayette metro area has 319 pet businesses on map listings as of September 2026. 58 of them (18%) are chain locations, against 17% across the U.S. That is 14.7 per 10,000 households, 41% above the U.S. rate of 10.4.
In 2023, official counts showed 180 businesses with payroll in the Lexington-Fayette metro area classed as pet care, veterinarians and pet stores, up 13.6% from 2019. That is one for every 1,202 households, against one for every 1,852 across the U.S. Since fiscal 2022, 13 SBA-backed loans worth $6.4M have gone to businesses classed as pet care, veterinarians and pet stores in the Lexington-Fayette metro area. Between 2020 and 2025, the population of the Lexington-Fayette metro area grew 3.4%, in step with the U.S. (+3.1%).
How the Lexington-Fayette metro area compares
The same measures for Kentucky and the whole U.S. Spending per listing divides a year of household spending on all pets by the pet businesses counted, so it measures the demand for each competitor, not any business’s revenue. Households per establishment does the same with the official count.
| Measure | Lexington-Fayette metro area | Kentucky | U.S. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Listings per 10k households | 14.7 | 11.5 | 10.4 |
| Spending per listing | $610K | $719K | $878K |
| Households per official establishment | 1,202 | 1,916 | 1,852 |
| Official establishment growth, 2019–2023 | +13.6% | +13.0% | +11.4% |
| Population growth, 2020–2025 | +3.4% | +2.2% | +3.1% |
| Spending per household on pets | $900 | $824 | $909 |
| Median household income | $71,966 | $63,726 | $80,734 |
| Groundwork market score | 32 | 38 |
Official counts and lending
Businesses
- Official establishments, 2019 to 2023
- 180+13.6% over the period
- Employees, 2023
- 1,924
- Annual payroll, 2023
- $98.9M
- One-person businesses, 2023
- 355Businesses with no payroll
- Map listings, September 2026
- 31958 chain locations
- Listings at the U.S. rate for this spending
- 222The U.S. ratio of listings to household spending, applied here
SBA-backed loans since fiscal 2022
- Loans
- 13
- Amount
- $6.4M
SBA-backed loans to businesses classed as pet care, veterinarians and pet stores in the Lexington-Fayette metro area, through June 2026, placed by the borrower’s ZIP code. Official establishments are businesses with payroll; the official counts leave out places with fewer than 3.
Population and households in the Lexington-Fayette metro area
- Population, 2025 estimate
- 535,174+3.4% since 2020
- Households
- 216,273
- Median age
- 38.1
- Homes lived in by their owners
- 59%
- Vehicles per household
- 1.7
- Land area
- 1,470 sq. mi.
- People per square mile
- 355
- Median household income
- $71,966+22.6% vs. 2015–2019, before inflation
- Average household income
- $102,014
- Median home value
- $281,300
- Jobs located here
- 289,772
- Daytime population
- 573,681Residents who don’t work, plus everyone whose job is here
Looking at a specific site in the Lexington-Fayette metro area?
These figures cover the whole metro area. A site report draws rings around one address and counts what’s inside them: households, spending, jobs, and the pet businesses on map listings by name and distance.
Or open the report at the center of the Lexington-Fayette metro area. Signed out, you see a blurred preview; on an account, each report is one action.
Free10 actions over 3 days, no cardPet businesses across Kentucky
Every Kentucky market ranked →The highest-scoring metro areas in Kentucky for pet businesses, numbered among those based in Kentucky (a market based in another state is listed without a number), with the Lexington-Fayette metro area marked.
Top metro areas in Kentucky
| Market | Score | Listings | Per 10k households | Spending per listing | Population growth | U.S. rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Clarksville, TN-KY | 64 | 124 | 9.9 | $834K | +8.5% | #92 of 387 |
| 1Owensboro, KY | 62 | 43 | 9.5 | $874K | +1.3% | #100 of 387 |
| 2Louisville/Jefferson County, KY-IN | 59 | 547 | 9.8 | $905K | +2.9% | #122 of 387 |
| Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN | 59 | 992 | 10.9 | $834K | +2.7% | #126 of 387 |
| 3Bowling Green, KY | 53 | 82 | 11.2 | $716K | +9.5% | #177 of 387 |
| Huntington-Ashland, WV-KY-OH | 47 | 143 | 9.4 | $832K | −2.6% | #217 of 387 |
| 4Elizabethtown, KY | 42 | 69 | 13.6 | $618K | +2.4% | #262 of 387 |
| 5Lexington-Fayette, KY | 32 | 319 | 14.7 | $610K | +3.4% | #327 of 387 |
| 6Paducah, KY-IL | 21 | 64 | 15.3 | $531K | −1.2% | #370 of 387 |
Other business types in the Lexington-Fayette metro area
Each with its Groundwork market score here, out of 100, where it has one.
Food and drink
Groceries and convenience
Auto
Beauty and personal care
Fitness and classes
Health care
Pets
- Pet businesses32
- Veterinarians28
- Pet grooming and boarding49
- Pet stores42
Child care
Clothing and laundry
Home services
Real estate
Funeral services
Questions
How many pet businesses are in the Lexington-Fayette, KY metro area?
Map listings as of September 2026 show 319 pet businesses in the Lexington-Fayette metro area. 58 of them (18%) are chain locations. The listings count vets, groomers, boarding and pet stores. Official counts show 180 businesses with payroll classed as pet care, veterinarians and pet stores in 2023, up 13.6% from 2019. Official counts list 355 one-person businesses without payroll.
How much do households in the Lexington-Fayette, KY metro area spend on pets?
About $194.6M a year, or $900 per household. That is in line with the U.S. average (an index of 99, where 100 is the U.S. average). Spread across the 319 pet businesses on map listings, it comes to $610K per business. It is estimated from the incomes of the 216,273 households in the Lexington-Fayette metro area and national spending patterns by income.
How does the Lexington-Fayette, KY metro area compare with the U.S. for pet businesses?
The Lexington-Fayette metro area has 14.7 pet businesses per 10,000 households, 41% above the U.S. rate of 10.4. Spending per business is $610K, 31% below the U.S. figure of $878K. At the U.S. ratio of pet businesses to household spending, the Lexington-Fayette metro area would have about 222, against 319 on map listings. There is one business with payroll in the industry for every 1,202 households, against one for every 1,852 across the U.S. The official count rose 13.6% from 2019 to 2023, against +11.4% for the U.S.
How fast is the Lexington-Fayette, KY metro area growing?
Population estimates put the Lexington-Fayette metro area at 535,174 people in 2025, up 3.4% since 2020, in step with the U.S. (+3.1%). It has 216,273 households. Median household income in the Lexington-Fayette metro area is $71,966, 11% below the U.S. median of $80,734. Against the 2015–2019 survey, the median rose 22.6%, before inflation.
What is the Groundwork market score?
The Groundwork market score runs from 0 to 100 and compares a market with others of its kind for one business type: states with states, metro areas with metro areas, small-town markets and counties with their own. It weighs household spending per competitor (35%), households per business with payroll (25%), population growth (20%) and spending power (20%), each ranked against those peers. A higher score means that, taken together, the market has more household spending and more households for each business already there, faster population growth and more spending per household than similar markets. It describes a market, not any one site or deal. The Lexington-Fayette metro area scores 32 for pet businesses (lower middle), #327 of 387 scored metro areas.
How can I see the market around a specific site?
Run a Groundwork site report on an address in the Lexington-Fayette metro area. It maps the pet businesses on map listings near the site and sizes the households and spending within the distance you choose. New accounts get 10 actions over 3 days, no card.
How the score works · Top markets for pet businesses · All 56 business types in the Lexington-Fayette metro area
Screening a site or an acquisition in the Lexington-Fayette metro area?
A site report maps the competitors on map listings near an address and sizes the households and spending around it.
The button opens the report at the center of the Lexington-Fayette metro area. Signed out, you see a blurred preview; on an account, each report is one action.
This product uses the Census Bureau Data API but is not endorsed or certified by the Census Bureau.
Figures are estimates for research only. Not investment or real estate advice.