Hamster & Ferret Ownership Statistics USA

Hamsters and ferrets sit at opposite ends of the small-pet spectrum — one is among the shortest-lived common pets, the other one of the longer-lived small mammals, and their legal status, cost, and health risks differ just as sharply. Here's what the data shows about how many U.S. households own each, what they cost, and what to watch for health-wise.

How Many U.S. Households Own a Hamster or Ferret?

Per APPA's 2025 report, hamsters and gerbils together live in about 1.3 million U.S. households (roughly 1% of all households). Within the broader small-animal category, hamsters account for 18% of small-animal owners — behind rabbits (37%) and guinea pigs (23%) — and hamster ownership has declined 25% since 2018. That decline is part of a broader small-animal pullback: total small-animal-owning households (rabbits, hamsters, guinea pigs, and ferrets combined) fell from 6.7 million in APPA's 2023–2024 survey to 6 million in its 2025 survey.

Ferrets are a much smaller category: an estimated 326,000 U.S. households own a ferret, per pet-ownership data compiled by The Zebra from APPA survey figures — making ferrets one of the least common companion mammals tracked in national pet-ownership surveys.

Where Are Ferrets Legal?

Ferret ownership is legal in 48 of the 50 states. California and Hawaii maintain outright statewide bans, and a handful of cities and counties add their own restrictions even where state law allows ferrets — New York City is the best-known example, banning ferrets within city limits even though the rest of New York State permits them.

Lifespan and Cost of Care

Hamsters have one of the shortest lifespans of any common pet — typically 1.5 to 3 years, with most estimates centering on 2 to 3 years. Annual care costs run roughly $300–$540 depending on housing and vet care, making a hamster's total lifetime cost among the lowest of any pet, at an estimated $700–$950 over its full life.

Ferrets live considerably longer, typically 6 to 10 years, but cost far more over that lifespan. Annual costs for a healthy young ferret run $300–$500, but that climbs sharply with age: a ferret over 3 years old managing a chronic condition can cost $1,500–$3,500 a year. That jump reflects a well-documented health risk in the breed: adrenal disease, insulinoma, and lymphoma are recognized by the American Ferret Association as the three most common ferret cancers. In the largest published case series (856 diagnosed ferret tumors in Italy), these three conditions together accounted for roughly two-thirds of all diagnosed neoplasms — adrenal tumors 36.6%, insulinoma 22.2%, lymphoma 8.2% — with a mean age of 4.5 years at diagnosis.

The Big Picture

Hamsters and ferrets are both minority pets by U.S. household count — hamsters within a shrinking small-animal category, ferrets restricted by law in two states and further limited by cost and health risk later in life. The data here draws on APPA's national ownership survey (via APPA's own release and secondary compilations), state-by-state legal-status research, and the American Ferret Association's guidance on age-related disease risk — species-specific data this thin on the U.S. pet market is genuinely hard to find in one place.