Is South Dakota a Dog State? The Numbers Say No

No matter how hard you look, you're never going to find a more loyal animal than a dog.

You'll also be hard-pressed to find a more dedicated group of people than dog owners. To them, these animals aren't pets, they're family.

South Dakota dog lovers are no different, there are just as many of them compared to the rest of the country.

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24/7 Wall St has released the latest numbers from the American Veterinary Medical Association showing where the majority of dog households are in the country and not surprisingly, South Dakota joins several other sparsely populated states with lower overall numbers of dogs.

The Mount Rushmore has the fourth-lowest dog population in America (149,000 dogs), as well as the fourth-lowest number of dog-owning households (114,000).

That's not a big shock considering we also have the fourth-fewest number of human households in the country (356,000)

When it comes to a more apples-to-apples comparison, the percentage of total households with at least one dog, we're in the bottom ten at 32.1 percent.

Overall, South Dakota is one of only ten states with fewer than one-third of the households having a dog in the family.

STATES WITH LEAST DOGS (by percentage of households)

New Hampshire (23.7%)
Connecticut (24%)
Rhode Island (25.8%)
New York (27%)
Vermont (28.3%)
Massachusetts (28.9%)
New Jersey (29.1%)
Maryland (30.2%)
Illinois (31%)
South Dakota (32.1%)

In four states, the majority of households include at least one dog with Idaho leading the way by a large margin.

STATES WITH MOST DOGS (by percentage of households)

Idaho (58.3%)
Montana (51.9%)
Arkansas (51.6%)
Mississippi (51%)
West Virginia (49.6%)
Indiana (49.4%)
Oklahoma (47.7%)
Colorado (47.2%)
Nebraska (47.1%)
Tennessee (47%)

RANKED: Here Are the 63 Smartest Dog Breeds

Does your loyal pup's breed make the list? Read on to see if you'll be bragging to the neighbors about your dog's intellectual prowess the next time you take your fur baby out for a walk. Don't worry: Even if your dog's breed doesn't land on the list, that doesn't mean he's not a good boy--some traits simply can't be measured.

LOOK: Here are the pets banned in each state

Because the regulation of exotic animals is left to states, some organizations, including The Humane Society of the United States, advocate for federal, standardized legislation that would ban owning large cats, bears, primates, and large poisonous snakes as pets.

Read on to see which pets are banned in your home state, as well as across the nation.