Animal Shelters & Rescues by State

Behind every adoption and intake number is an organization doing the work — a municipal shelter, a foster-based rescue, or something in between. Shelter Animals Count tracks not just outcomes but the sheltering infrastructure itself: how many organizations report data in each state, and how that count splits between traditional shelters and rescue groups.

The figures below come from SAC's 2024 State Level Data, covering all 50 states and Washington, DC.

Animal Shelters & Rescues Reporting, by State

Shelter Animals Count's network includes more than 6,000 participating shelters and rescues nationwide. The table below breaks that network down by state, splitting each state's total between traditional shelters (typically municipal or open-admission facilities) and rescue groups (typically foster-based or limited-admission).

A note on reading this table: these are raw counts, not adjusted for population, so larger states naturally show larger numbers. For a population-adjusted view of adoption and intake activity, see our pet adoption statistics by state page instead.

Shelters vs. Rescues: Which States Rely on Which?

The ratio between shelters and rescues varies more than the raw totals suggest. Maryland has the most rescue-heavy mix of any state with a meaningful organization count: 168 rescues to just 33 shelters, a ratio of roughly 5 rescues for every shelter. California (1,341 rescues vs. 293 shelters) and New Jersey (313 vs. 77) show a similar lean toward rescue-based sheltering.

Wyoming runs the opposite way: 38 shelters to just 12 rescues, making it the most shelter-dominant state in the dataset. Missouri (178 shelters vs. 162 rescues) and Kansas (105 vs. 58) are among the few other states where traditional shelters outnumber rescue groups by a wide margin.

Why This Matters

A state with more rescues than shelters typically means more foster-based, limited-admission placement capacity and less centralized, open-admission intake capacity — which can affect how quickly a community absorbs a sudden increase in strays or surrenders. Neither model is inherently better; they reflect different regional histories of animal welfare infrastructure. For outcome-level detail (adoption and euthanasia rates), see our animal shelter & rescue statistics and adoption statistics by state pages.

The Big Picture

Raw organization counts mostly track population — California and Texas lead simply because they're the two largest states. The more interesting pattern is the shelter-to-rescue ratio, which varies independently of size: Maryland and California both lean heavily on rescue groups, while Wyoming and Missouri still rely more on traditional shelters. That mix says something about each state's animal welfare infrastructure that a single national number can't show.