US pet industry spending

The New York cyclist and the American pet parent are not, on most census forms, the same person, and yet their habits have grown at nearly identical rates between 2016 and 2022 (r = 0.959). Citi Bike trips rose; pet industry spending rose; nobody involved appears to have been consulted. One rolls through Brooklyn; one sits warmly by a fireplace in Illinois. Both are expressions of disposable income looking for a place to go.

Citi Bike annual trips climbed from about 14 million in 2016 to nearly 36 million in 2022, with expansion into Queens and the Bronx, electric bikes in 2018, and the pandemic boosting bike commuting durably; US pet industry spending grew from $62 billion to over $136 billion, with pet humanization, premium food, and the pandemic-era boom in adoptions all contributing. The common thread is the same millennial and Gen X consumer directing disposable income toward small daily pleasures — a ride, a pet, a better version of both — in a decade where the big ticket items (houses, children) felt increasingly out of reach.

One rolls through Brooklyn. One curls by the fire. Neither knows about the other. Both are loved.