What Does PetSmart's New Ranking System Actually Measure?

What Does PetSmart's New Ranking System Actually Measure? What Does PetSmart's New Ranking System Actually Measure? Austen July 21, 2026 · 6 min read Too busy to read? Listen here × 0:00 / 0:00 When a shelter's ranking depends half on cat adoptions and half on how much those adopters spend on scratching posts, the definition of victory suddenly shifts. I've spent years watching shelters chase metrics. Adoption numbers. Live release rates. Days to placement. But PetSmart's cat city rankings introduce something I haven't seen before: a formula where 50% comes from adoptions and 50% comes from how much money people drop on cat toys after they leave [5] . It's not just measuring shelter success anymore. It's measuring consumer commitment. The Formula That Changes Everything PetSmart tracks two data streams through their in-store adoption program. First, the obvious one: how many cats actually find homes through their partnered shelters. Second, the commercial angle: what adopters buy immediately after signing papers. Treats, furniture, scratching essentials, the whole starter kit [4] . Here's what strikes me about this dual metric. A shelter in a wealthy suburb could place fewer cats than an urban rescue but still rank higher because their adopters have bigger wallets. The methodology rewards purchasing power as much as placement volume. That's not necessarily wrong, but it shifts what we're actually celebrating. Patrick Bell, PetSmart's Director of Pet Placement, frames it differently. "Cats are becoming increasingly popular companions because they fit so well into a wide variety of lifestyles" [3] . He's talking about adoption growth, but the ranking system suggests lifestyle also means disposable income. Why Lexington Beats Los Angeles Lexington, Kentucky holds the #1 spot again [1] . Not New York. Not LA. Not Chicago. Mid-sized cities and suburbs dominate the entire top 25, and that pattern held steady with 76% of ranked cities staying consistent year-over-year [5] . I think this reveals something shelters have suspected but couldn't prove: urban markets aren't adoption goldmines. They're adoption volume centers, sure, but spread across massive populations. Lexington-sized cities concentrate enthusiastic adopters in smaller geographic areas with less competition and probably lower living costs that free up pet budgets. PetSmart adjusts for store density in their calculations [5] , which theoretically levels the playing field. But I wonder if that adjustment actually captures the real advantage suburban shelters have: parking lots, weekend foot traffic, families with yards who can impulse-adopt during a Saturday PetSmart run. The Spending Half Matters More Than We Admit Product spending isn't just a proxy for wealth. It signals adopter confidence. Someone who drops money on a cat tower and premium litter on adoption day is probably committed for the long haul. They're not testing the waters. They've already mentally moved in the cat. From a shelter marketing perspective, this metric validates something we've always hoped: prepared adopters make better adopters. If your outreach attracts people who show up ready to spend, you're probably also attracting people who researched, planned, and won't return the cat in two weeks. But it also creates a bias. Shelters serving lower-income communities will struggle in this ranking even if their adoption counseling is phenomenal and their follow-up support prevents returns. The formula doesn't measure outcome quality, just initial financial commitment. What This Means for Shelters Outside the Top 25 Six new cities entered the 2026 rankings [5] , which means the landscape shifts slightly each year. For shelters in unranked markets, that's either motivation or a warning that this system isn't built for you. If you're in a major metro competing with dozens of rescue groups, PetSmart's rankings won't validate your work. If you're in a lower-income area where adopters stretch budgets, the spending metric penalizes your community's economic reality, not your shelter's effectiveness. The ranking measures what it measures: a combination of adoption volume and consumer spending captured through one retail chain's data [4] . That's useful but incomplete. It doesn't track long-term retention. It doesn't account for shelters doing TNR or community cat work. It doesn't measure the hardest placements, like senior cats or FIV-positive cats that take months to adopt. The Real Takeaway PetSmart Charities has run shelter partnerships since 1994 without selling cats or dogs themselves [7] , which gives them legitimacy in this space. Their data is probably the cleanest adoption-plus-spending dataset that exists. But if your shelter uses these rankings as a success benchmark, understand what you're chasing. You're optimizing for adopters with immediate purchasing power in markets where PetSmart has strong store presence. That might align with your mission. It might not. For me, the more interesting question is whether high spending actually predicts better outcomes. Does the family that buys the fancy cat tree keep their cat longer than the family that DIYs everything? PetSmart's methodology assumes yes, but I'd want to see the retention data before I restructure my outreach around attracting wealthier adopters. Success in shelter work is messier than any ranking can capture. This one just made the mess a little more expensive. Sources [1] PetSmart Just Ranked America's Most Cat-Loving Cities, and the No. 1 Pick May Surprise You [3] PetSmart Charities National Adoption Week Returns as Kitten Season Peaks Nationwide [4] PetSmart Reveals Top 25 Cat-Loving Cities in 2026 [5] PetSmart Reveals Top 25 Cat-Loving Cities in 2026 [7] PetSmart - Wikipedia Austen View more posts → Published with Austen — goausten.ai