Methodology & sources

Our sources

• MoneyGeek — How Much Does Pet Insurance Cost on Average? (2026) — https://www.moneygeek.com/insurance/pet/pet-insurance-cost/ (accessed 2026-11-11). Accident & illness; MoneyGeek analysis of ~5M pet insurance profiles across 18 providers (author bio). Headline profile stated on page: $5,000 annual limit, $500 deductible, 80% reimbursement. Breed tables are single average monthly values per age table.
• Pet Insurance Review — Dog Insurance (typical cost by breed) — https://www.petinsurancereview.com/dog-insurance (accessed 2026-11-11). Median monthly premium across ALL ages from real quotes run on Pet Insurance Review; $500 deductible, 80% reimbursement, $5,000 annual limit. Range = middle half of quotes. Table last updated 2026-11-09 per page. Stored as age_basis=all_ages and NOT used in age-band calculator ranges.
• PetsOfWeb — What Pet Insurance Really Costs By State And Breed In 2026 — https://petsofweb.com/pet-insurance-cost-by-state-and-breed/ (accessed 2026-11-11). Compilation page; every figure carries its underlying source (Insurify, Bankrate via Spot, PetAutumn from Insurify/Compare.com, CoinLaw, BetterPet, NerdWallet). Underlying source and profile are recorded per data point. Figures from different underlying sources are never blended.
• Embrace Pet Insurance — 2026 Pet Insurance Cost Guide — https://rc.embracepetinsurance.com/research/pet-insurance-cost/ (accessed 2026-11-11). Insurer's own example costs, May 2025: $5,000 annual coverage, $1,000 deductible, 70% reimbursement, male 3-year-old in Texas. Lower deductible/reimbursement profile than MoneyGeek/PIR, which is why these examples sit well below other sources — recorded as a conflict, not averaged away.
• NAPHIA State of the Industry Report 2026 (calendar-2025 data) — https://naphia.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/NAPHIA_SOI2026_Report_HIGHLIGHTS_26-06-24.pdf (accessed 2026-11-11). Industry average accident & illness premium actually paid, policies in force (includes older pets and unlimited plans). Corroborated via PetsOfWeb's summary of the same report.
• Insurify — Average Pet Insurance Rates, June 2026 analysis (via PetsOfWeb) — https://petsofweb.com/pet-insurance-cost-by-state-and-breed/ (accessed 2026-11-11). One-year rolling medians from 250,000+ quotes across 10+ partner insurers, through end of May 2026; limits $2,500–unlimited, deductibles $250/$500/$1,000, reimbursement 70–90%. Accessed via PetsOfWeb's sourced compilation (Insurify page itself not opened in this pass — flagged in SOURCES.md).
• Forbes Advisor 2026 pet insurance cost analysis, as summarised by SpectrumCare — https://spectrumcare.pet/insurance/pet-insurance-cost-by-age (accessed 2026-11-11). Forbes Advisor analysis (478,000 rates per secondary reporting): average monthly premium by age for dogs, $5,000 annual limit, 80% reimbursement. Accessed via SpectrumCare's summary page, not Forbes directly — flagged in SOURCES.md. Used only as an all-breeds age benchmark.

Recorded conflicts (kept, not averaged away)

• Insurer example vs market average: Embrace's own example costs (3-year-old, Texas, $1,000 deductible / 70% reimbursement) sit far below MoneyGeek's standard-profile averages for the same breeds — e.g. French Bulldog $35.85 vs $61/month. Both are published; the difference is the coverage profile, and breed pages show the full span.
• Dachshund: $27/month (Insurify state median for the breed) vs $64/month (BetterPet/AdvisorSmith average) — back-surgery (IVDD) risk is priced very differently by state and insurer.
• Medians vs averages: Insurify's median quote ($43/dog) is much lower than NAPHIA's average premium actually paid ($836/yr ≈ $70/mo) because in-force policies include older pets and unlimited plans. We cite both, labelled.

What we don't publish

• Breed × state premiums. No source we trust publishes them, so neither do we. State pages show species-level state medians (Insurify) for the states published — all other states are marked data-pending. Any site showing you a precise "French Bulldog premium in Ohio" is modelling it silently; we'd rather show you the gap.
• Single-source senior figures are labelled as single-source. Senior breed tables currently rest mainly on one source (MoneyGeek) and are flagged for a second sampling pass.

Freshness

Premiums rose about 11.5% for dogs in 2025 (NAPHIA). We refresh this dataset quarterly; the collection date appears in every page footer, and stale cells are re-sourced or removed, never quietly carried forward.

Corrections

Found a figure that doesn't match its source? Tell us via the contact page and we'll re-check and correct with a note.