Meow We're Talking: Ranking Cities by Number of Cat Ladies

Nielsen Scarborough released new market data this week that revealed the cities with the highest percentage of single women who live along with at least one cat.

1 minute read

November 20, 2015, 5:00 AM PST

By James Brasuell @CasualBrasuell


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FotoYakov / Shutterstock

It's the kind of news that even the number two city on the list will announce with a feature article and full-scale infographic: a ranking of cities with the highest percentage of single women living alone with at least one cat. To put it a little less kindly, perhaps: the cities with the most cat ladies.

Topping the list is Portland, where 9.9 percent of all single women living alone have a cat. Seattle follows, with 9.3 percent. Pittsburgh places third, with 8.7 percent.

Before anyone goes to jumps to any conclusions about the implications of this data, Gene Kelly, who reported the study's findings, had only one "kernel of truth" to share about the cat-lady stereotype: "Women are much more likely to have a pet cat than are men. Nationally, single-person cat households skew nearly 2-to-1 in favor of women, and that pattern holds true for Seattle."

Tuesday, November 17, 2015 in The Seattle Times

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