Groundwork

Pets · Metro area · California

Pet grooming and boarding businesses in the San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA metro area

How the San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA metro area compares with other metro areas and the U.S. for pet grooming and boarding businesses: competitors, household spending, official counts and growth.

Groundwork market score · out of 100

Score 67 out of 100: Upper middle

Ranked #61 of 386 scored metro areas
#15 of 25 scored metro areas based in California

Listings
487
40 chain locations (8%)
Official establishments
365
+4.3% since 2019
Household spending a year
$2.4B
On pets · $1,364 a household
Spending per listing
$4.9M
92% above the U.S.
Listings per 10k households
2.8
22% below the U.S.
Population, 2025
4,630,041
−2.4% since 2020

See the pet grooming and boarding businesses around any address in the San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont metro area

The site report maps the pet grooming and boarding 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 San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont metro area. Signed out, you see a blurred preview; on an account, each report is one action.

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Survey estimates 2020–2024 · population estimates 2025 · official business counts 2023 · map listings September 2026 · Data credits · How we measure

What this means

At $1,364 per household (50% above the U.S. average), households in the San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont metro area spend about $2.4B a year on pets. Spread across 487 pet grooming and boarding businesses, that is $4.9M per business, 92% above the U.S. figure of $2.5M. The spending figure covers all pets, not only pet grooming and boarding businesses.

The San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont metro area has 487 pet grooming and boarding businesses on map listings as of September 2026. Chain locations make up 8% of them, against 9% across the U.S. That is 2.8 per 10,000 households, 22% below the U.S. rate of 3.6.

Official counts show 365 businesses with payroll classed as pet care (except veterinary) in the San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont metro area in 2023, up 4.3% from 2019. That is one for every 4,778 households, against one for every 5,057 across the U.S. Since fiscal 2022, 19 SBA-backed loans worth $15.5M have gone to businesses classed as pet care (except veterinary) in the San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont metro area.

Population estimates put the population change in the San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont metro area from 2020 to 2025 at −2.4%, against +3.1% for the U.S. The Groundwork market score for pet grooming and boarding businesses in the San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont metro area is 67 (upper middle), #61 of 386 scored metro areas and #15 of 25 scored metro areas based in California. That puts it in the top quarter of metro areas.

How the San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont metro area compares

The same measures for California and the whole U.S. Spending per listing divides a year of household spending on all pets by the pet grooming and boarding 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.

Pet grooming and boarding in San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA metro area compared with California and the U.S.
MeasureSan Francisco-Oakland-Fremont metro areaCaliforniaU.S.
Listings per 10k households2.83.03.6
Spending per listing$4.9M$3.8M$2.5M
Households per official establishment4,7785,2295,057
Official establishment growth, 2019–2023+4.3%+21.4%+25.2%
Population growth, 2020–2025−2.4%−0.4%+3.1%
Spending per household on pets$1,364$1,149$909
Median household income$136,027$99,122$80,734
Groundwork market score6769

Official counts and lending

Businesses

Official establishments, 2019 to 2023
365+4.3% over the period
Employees, 2023
3,051
Annual payroll, 2023
$137.8M
One-person businesses, 2023
Not publishedNot published for this business type
Map listings, September 2026
48740 chain locations
Listings at the U.S. rate for this spending
935The U.S. ratio of listings to household spending, applied here

SBA-backed loans since fiscal 2022

Loans
19
Amount
$15.5M

SBA-backed loans to businesses classed as pet care (except veterinary) in the San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont 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 San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont metro area

Population, 2025 estimate
4,630,041−2.4% since 2020
Households
1,744,070
Median age
41.3
Homes lived in by their owners
55%
Vehicles per household
1.7
Land area
2,470 sq. mi.
People per square mile
1,881
Median household income
$136,027+28.3% vs. 2015–2019, before inflation
Average household income
$194,370
Median home value
$1,140,700
Jobs located here
2,497,939
Daytime population
4,885,603Residents who don’t work, plus everyone whose job is here

Looking at a specific site in the San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont 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 grooming and boarding businesses on map listings by name and distance.

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Pet grooming and boarding across California

Every California market ranked →

The highest-scoring metro areas in California for pet grooming and boarding businesses, numbered among those based in California, with the San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont metro area marked.

Top metro areas in California

Metro areas in California ranked for pet grooming and boarding businesses by Groundwork market score
MarketScoreListingsPer 10k householdsSpending per listingPopulation growthU.S. rank
1Stockton-Lodi, CA91512.1$5.2M+5.5%#1 of 386
2Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA832442.8$4M+3.2%#4 of 386
3Fresno, CA82862.3$4.1M+3.2%#6 of 386
4Bakersfield-Delano, CA80732.6$3.6M+2.3%#7 of 386
5Merced, CA80242.8$3.1M+5.1%#9 of 386
6San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA791622.4$6.2M−0.6%#10 of 386
7Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA794363.0$3.5M+3.5%#12 of 386
8Visalia, CA79382.7$3.4M+2.4%#13 of 386
9Vallejo, CA78493.1$3.6M+0.6%#18 of 386
10Yuba City, CA77223.6$2.7M+3.3%#23 of 386
15San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA674872.8$4.9M−2.4%#61 of 386

Other business types in the San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont metro area

Each with its Groundwork market score here, out of 100, where it has one.

Questions

How many pet grooming and boarding businesses are in the San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA metro area?

Map listings as of September 2026 show 487 pet grooming and boarding businesses in the San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont metro area. 40 of them (8%) are chain locations. The listings count groomers, boarding, dog daycare and pet sitters. Official counts show 365 businesses with payroll classed as pet care (except veterinary) in 2023, up 4.3% from 2019.

How much do households in the San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA metro area spend on pets?

About $2.4B a year, or $1,364 per household. That is 50% above the U.S. average (an index of 150, where 100 is the U.S. average). Spread across the 487 pet grooming and boarding businesses on map listings, it comes to $4.9M per business. That spending covers all pets, which pet grooming and boarding businesses share with other businesses in the trade. It is estimated from the incomes of the 1,744,070 households in the San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont metro area and national spending patterns by income.

How does the San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA metro area compare with the U.S. for pet grooming and boarding businesses?

The San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont metro area has 2.8 pet grooming and boarding businesses per 10,000 households, 22% below the U.S. rate of 3.6. Spending per business is $4.9M, 92% above the U.S. figure of $2.5M. At the U.S. ratio of pet grooming and boarding businesses to household spending, the San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont metro area would have about 935, against 487 on map listings. There is one business with payroll in the industry for every 4,778 households, against one for every 5,057 across the U.S. The official count rose 4.3% from 2019 to 2023, against +25.2% for the U.S.

How fast is the San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA metro area growing?

Population estimates put the San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont metro area at 4,630,041 people in 2025, down 2.4% since 2020, against +3.1% for the U.S. It has 1,744,070 households. Median household income in the San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont metro area is $136,027, 68% above the U.S. median of $80,734. Against the 2015–2019 survey, the median rose 28.3%, 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 San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont metro area scores 67 for pet grooming and boarding businesses (upper middle), #61 of 386 scored metro areas.

How can I see the market around a specific site?

Run a Groundwork site report on an address in the San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont metro area. It maps the pet grooming and boarding 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 grooming and boarding businesses · All 56 business types in the San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont metro area

Screening a site or an acquisition in the San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont 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 San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont 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.