Dog Adoption Statistics 2026: US Trends and Data

We track the adoption of rescue dogs across the US every day. This page brings together 386,941 adoptions recorded by rescues and shelters since 2018, including 27,650 in the last 12 months, to show which dogs find homes fastest, when people adopt, and where.

Key findings

• 26% longerLarge dogs wait 26% longer to be adopted than small dogs: a median of 39 days, against 31.
• 24% longerPit bull-type dogs wait 24% longer for a home than the typical dog: a median of 42 days, against 34.
• 33 daysBlack dogs don't wait longer, despite talk of "black dog syndrome": a median of 33 days to be adopted, against 34 for all dogs.
• 2.4× as longDogs with special needs wait 2.4 times as long for a home: 82 days, against 34 for other dogs.
• 45% below 2020Recorded dog adoptions peaked in 2020, the first year of the pandemic, and 2025's were 45% lower.
• MarchMarch is the busiest month for dog adoptions, with 20% more than September, the quietest.
• 33% puppiesPuppies made up 33% of adoptions in 2025, and they find homes fastest: a median of 27 days.
• DaisyDaisy is the most common name among adopted dogs, ahead of Bella and Luna.
• 34 daysThe typical rescue dog waits 34 days from being listed to being adopted.

Dog adoptions by year

Recorded adoptions rose 14% from 2018 to a peak of 58,885 in 2020, the first year of the pandemic. In 2025, rescues recorded 32,599.

The busiest months for dog adoption

Adoptions rise and fall with the seasons. March is the busiest month on average and September the quietest, with 16% fewer adoptions than March.

Which dogs wait longest for a home?

From being listed to being adopted, the typical dog waits 34 days. But it depends on the dog. These are median waits for the 26,316 adoptions in the last 12 months with both dates recorded.

By size

• Small31 days
• Medium33 days
• Large39 days
• Extra large34 days

By breed

The 12 breeds with the most adoptions, by the breed the rescue listed first. Pit bull type covers pit bull terriers and American Staffordshire terriers.

• Great Pyrenees54 days
• Pit bull type42 days
• Terrier36 days
• Shepherd36 days
• German Shepherd35 days
• Dachshund34 days
• Chihuahua33 days
• Beagle33 days
• Yorkshire Terrier31 days
• Poodle30 days
• Labrador Retriever29 days
• Shih Tzu27 days

By coat color

• White41 days
• Brown or chocolate40 days
• Black and white38 days
• Brindle38 days
• Black and tan36 days
• Tan, yellow or fawn36 days
• Tricolor35 days
• Red or golden35 days
• Gray or blue35 days
• Black33 days
• Merle29 days

By age

• Puppies27 days
• Young dogs37 days
• Adult dogs42 days
• Senior dogs56 days

Special needs, sex and coat length

• Special needs82 days
• No special needs34 days
• Females34 days
• Males34 days
• Short-haired40 days
• Medium-haired31 days
• Long-haired37 days

The most popular names for adopted dogs

The most common names among the 27,650 dogs adopted in the last 12 months.

1. Daisy 85
2. Bella 78
3. Luna 69
4. Charlie 68
5. Milo 65
6. Willow 61
7. Max 60
8. Rocky 57
9. Lucy 57
10. Buddy 53
11. Lily 50
12. Bruno 47
13. Cooper 46
14. Lola 46
15. Bear 46
16. Dolly 45
17. Jack 45
18. Sadie 45
19. Teddy 45
20. Rosie 45

Where dogs are being adopted

The metro areas where rescues recorded the most adoptions in the last 12 months. These counts reflect the rescues and shelters that record adoptions in our data, so a busy area with few of them can look quiet.

1. Minneapolis, MN 1,390
2. Salt Lake City, UT 1,341
3. Oakland, CA 1,059
4. Newark, NJ 921
5. Raleigh, NC 825
6. San Diego, CA 710
7. Houston, TX 692
8. Bridgeport, CT 542
9. Oneonta, NY 541
10. Dallas, TX 539
11. Seattle, WA 536
12. Nashville, TN 532
13. New York City, NY 526
14. Greer, SC 481
15. Harrisburg, PA 468

Waiting times vary by state too. Among states with enough recorded adoptions, dogs found homes fastest in Louisiana (13 days), Utah (20 days), Wisconsin (22 days), and waited longest in Maryland (69 days) and Tennessee (65 days).

Dogs waiting for homes right now

Today, 20,308 dogs listed in the last six months are waiting at US rescues and shelters in our data. Find one near you.

How we worked this out

These figures come from adoption records that US rescues and shelters publish alongside their pet listings, which we analyze every day. An adoption counts in the month and year of the adoption date the rescue recorded; adoptions without a recorded date are left out. Waiting times run from the day a dog was listed to the day it was adopted, using the median (the middle value) so a few very long stays don't skew them; we leave out waits over two years, which are usually old listings reused. Metro areas group each rescue with the largest city within 30 miles. Sizes, breeds and coat colors are the ones the rescue listed first.

The totals cover the 344 or so rescues and shelters that record adoption dates, not every adoption in the US, so they're best for comparing years, seasons and types of dog rather than as a national count. Rescues sometimes record adoptions weeks late, so recent months grow as records come in.

Use this data

You're welcome to use these figures with a link to this page. Please cite them as:

Dogs of the Day, "US Dog Adoption Statistics", https://dogsoftheday.com/dog-adoption-statistics/ (updated October 30, 2026).

Download the tables (CSV):

• adoptions by year.csv
• adoptions by month.csv
• waiting times.csv
• states.csv
• metro areas.csv
• names.csv

Updated weekly. Last updated October 30, 2026.