How Much Does Pet Boarding Cost? Dog & Cat Prices (2026)

Boarding a dog can run anywhere from around $20 a night to well over $150, and for cats the range is similarly wide but generally cheaper. That spread isn't random — it tracks facility type (a basic kennel vs. a boutique "pet hotel"), your pet's species, and a list of add-on fees that rarely show up on the price you see advertised. Here's a sourced U.S. breakdown of what boarding actually costs, and what tends to move the bill up.

Why the Price Range Is So Wide

"Boarding" isn't one product. It spans at least four different tiers of facility, each with a different cost structure:

• Basic kennel: a straightforward run or kennel with feeding, water, and supervised outdoor breaks — the least expensive option.
• Mid-range boarding facility: more staff attention, playgroups, and sometimes webcams, at a modest premium over a basic kennel.
• Luxury or boutique "pet hotel": private suites, extended one-on-one playtime, and sometimes amenities like TVs or raised beds — the most expensive tier by a wide margin.
• Veterinary-based boarding: boarding through a veterinary clinic or animal hospital, often chosen for pets with medical needs, since staff can administer medication and are on-site if something goes wrong.

Which tier makes sense depends on your pet and your budget more than on any objective "better" option — a healthy, well-socialized dog rarely needs a luxury suite, while a senior cat on daily medication may be worth the premium of a veterinary setting regardless of cost. Our comparison of pet sitters, boarding, and daycare walks through how to match the option to your specific pet and trip.

Location is the other big lever, and it's a bigger one than most owners expect: a facility in a high-cost-of-living metro area pays more in rent, wages, and insurance than one in a smaller town, and that overhead shows up directly in the nightly rate. Two facilities offering an otherwise identical basic-kennel experience can differ by tens of dollars a night purely because of where they're located, which is one reason the ranges below are worth treating as a starting planning figure rather than a specific quote for a facility near you.

Dog Boarding Costs by Facility Type

According to CareCredit's 2025 Synchrony Average Procedural Cost Study, a nationwide survey of pet-care pricing, average U.S. boarding costs for dogs break down roughly like this:

Across all facility types, CareCredit's data put the realistic national range for dog boarding at roughly $33 to $185 per night. A separate analysis from MetLife Pet Insurance landed in a broadly similar band by category — kennels around $18–$60/night, pet hotels around $50–$120/night, and veterinary-based boarding around $20–$50/night — with the two sources agreeing on the general shape even where exact averages differ, which is typical for an industry without one centralized pricing database. Treat both as planning ranges rather than a quote for a specific facility near you.

Cat Boarding Costs by Facility Type

Cat boarding is consistently cheaper than dog boarding across every tier, per the same CareCredit study:

The overall national range CareCredit found for cat boarding was roughly $22 to $108 per night — lower ceiling and floor than dogs at every comparable tier, largely because cats generally need less staff time and floor space than dogs. That said, many cats are genuinely more stressed by an unfamiliar facility than by staying home with visits, which is a behavioral consideration worth weighing separately from price — see the sitter-vs-boarding comparison linked above for that side of the decision.

What the Base Rate Usually Covers

At most facilities, the nightly rate you're quoted covers the basics: a kennel run or suite, scheduled feedings (usually with food you provide), fresh water, and a set number of supervised outdoor breaks or bathroom trips per day. Beyond that baseline, almost everything else — the items below — tends to be billed separately, which is exactly why two facilities advertising a similar "starting at" nightly rate can end up costing very different amounts once your pet's actual stay is booked.

What Drives the Bill Up Beyond the Nightly Rate

Based on published boarding-cost guidance from CareCredit and MetLife Pet Insurance, common add-ons include:

• Medication administration: many kennels charge a per-dose or per-day fee to give pills, insulin, or other medication — relevant for senior pets or anyone managing a chronic condition.
• Food: some facilities charge extra if they supply food rather than you bringing your pet's own, or for "gourmet" meal upgrades.
• Extra playtime, walks, or one-on-one attention: often sold as an add-on package rather than included in the base rate, especially at basic kennels.
• Grooming: a bath or brush-out before pickup is a common upsell, particularly for long-coated breeds.
• Pickup and drop-off transportation: some facilities offer this for an extra fee rather than including it.
• Behavioral surcharges: dogs that need to be kept separate from others due to reactivity or resource guarding sometimes carry a higher daily rate.

Multi-pet households can also see a discount structure rather than a flat per-pet rate — MetLife's analysis cited one facility example charging the full rate for a first dog and a reduced rate for a second dog boarding in the same run. Ask directly whether a facility offers a multi-pet rate before assuming the price simply multiplies.

Demand also moves price in a way a published rate card doesn't always reflect: boarding facilities commonly see their highest demand — and, in practice, the least availability at any price — around major U.S. travel holidays like Thanksgiving, Christmas, and the Fourth of July. If your trip falls near one of those windows, book well ahead rather than assuming the advertised nightly rate will still have openings close to the date.

How to Keep the Cost Down Without Cutting Corners on Care

• Ask for a full itemized quote before booking — get the base rate and every add-on fee that applies to your specific pet (medication, food, extra walks) in writing, not just the headline nightly price.
• Compare vet-based boarding directly against a kennel add-on rate if your pet needs daily medication — the "premium" of a veterinary setting sometimes evens out once a kennel's per-dose medication fee is factored in.
• Bring your pet's own food if the facility charges extra for house food, and confirm exactly how much to pack.
• Book early for peak travel weeks — last-minute openings around major holidays, when they exist at all, are rarely at the lower end of the price range.
• Weigh a pet sitter or in-home option against boarding for pets that don't need round-the-clock facility supervision — see our full sitter vs. boarding vs. daycare comparison for the suitability and cost tradeoffs, including national averages for in-home sitting.
• Ask about extended-stay or weekly rates if you're traveling for more than a few days — many facilities discount the per-night rate for longer bookings, but it's rarely advertised up front and usually has to be requested directly.

Whatever you choose, boarding is one line item inside the broader picture of what a dog or cat costs to keep — see our full breakdowns of what it actually costs to own a dog and what it actually costs to own a cat for how travel-related boarding fits alongside food, routine vet care, and other recurring expenses. And if a health issue is the reason you're weighing veterinary-based boarding in the first place, our guide to what a vet visit costs covers routine and urgent-care pricing separately. None of these figures are a substitute for calling the specific facility you're considering — ask what's included, what's billed separately, and whether the quoted rate is per pet or per run before you book, since that single conversation resolves more uncertainty than any published price guide can.