Boarding pets or in-home sitters: In Atlanta, 1 is a clear cost-saver

ATLANTA - We are a nation with pets. Often, lots of them. But we can’t take them everywhere. And leaving them behind while you’re out of town costs a bundle. A pet sitting survey shows that one way is cheaper than another if you leave pets with a sitter.

Whether it’s a cat, a dog, heck, maybe your ferret, somebody has to feed, pet, and let your fur baby out.

Certapet studied the costs of this, and Atlanta was one of the cities in their small, updated 2023 study. The company used the prices from Rover.com. They considered a single pet, which was a medium-sized dog. The choice was having a sitter in your home, or taking your pet to the sitter’s place. So it’s limited. But it’s a look.

In Atlanta, if you choose to board, you can save annually almost $290.50 with this option over having a sitter drop by your place. This is considering you take the equivalent of a two-week vacation over the year. In the first spot, there was Philadelphia at $336.70, then Los Angeles came in at $335.30. 

And yes, there’s a list of cities where boarding is not a savings at all. But no matter the route, it’s expensive. In Atlanta, the average annual cost to board is $536, per this study. To have someone come to your house is a whopping $827

The cost of raising a pet is one of those that is rising more annually than others. So if there’s a way to cut back, find it.