Dog Sitting and Boarding Rates in New York City (2026): What Local Sitters Actually Charge
Short answer: in New York City, a pet sitter who comes to your home costs about $19 to $26 an hour. Overnight boarding at a Manhattan dog hotel or daycare runs $80 to $170 a night (most charge $88 to $120), and an overnight sitter in your own apartment is about $80 to $110 a night. Full-day daycare is $50 to $95 a day (most $55 to $70), and a 30-minute walk is $25 to $45 (most $28 to $32). We checked the published price lists of 39 businesses in and around New York City, plus Care.com, in October 2026.
Leaving your dog? Hand your sitter one page with everything they need.
$17The price is the easy part. Your dog has 47 little rules. Your sitter probably knows 4. That gap is where trips go wrong, and it's why we built The Paw Brief (more below).
New York City dog care prices at a glance
| Type of care | Typical New York City price | Where the number comes from |
|---|---|---|
| Pet sitter in your home | $19.10 to $25.54 an hour | Care.com New York rates, October 2026 |
| Boarding, daycare-style dog hotel | $88 to $100 a night | Happy Dogs prices, pupculture FiDi, Puppy Loft boarding, PetStar |
| Boarding, small dogs vs large dogs | $95 a night (small) to $100 (large) | DOGTOWN rates, Tails of Manhattan |
| Boarding, cageless or lower-priced | $80 to $85 a night | Paws In Chelsea, Hounds Town Dumbo |
| Boarding, high end | $120 to $170 a night | Roxy's House, Pupstudio, Bark Street, Happy Tails, Dog House Seaport, Dog City NYC |
| Boarding just across the river | $74.99 a night | Allforthewag, Jersey City |
| Overnight sitter in your home | $80 to $110 a night | Canine Concierge, NYC Dog Co., Smiley Pets, New York's Pet Pal |
| Boarding in a sitter's home | From $42 to $120 a night | Rover sitter, Boerum Hill, Elena's Pets, Max The Pet Nanny, Cuddles and Tails |
| Doggy daycare, full day | $50 to $95 a day | Paws In Chelsea, pupculture, Puppy Loft, Roxy's House, Dog City NYC |
| Dog walk, 30 minutes | $25 to $45 | The Well Heeled Dog, RuffCity, Simply Pawtastic, Woofs & Wags, Roxy's House |
| Drop-in visit, 30 minutes | $30 to $45 | Simply Pawtastic, Canine Concierge |
| Short relief walk, 15 minutes | $15 to $25 | Fetchmates, Oh To Be A Dog, RuffCity |
New York City is a little above the New York State average ($18.87 to $24.54 an hour) and well above the national average of $16.68 to $22.55, according to Care.com. Boarding is where the city really costs more: one $100 night at a Manhattan dog hotel is about four hours of a sitter's time.
Rates in the suburbs
Care.com tracks sitter rates in the towns around the city. The range is wide, from about $14 an hour in parts of north Jersey to over $25 in Queens and Westchester:
| Area | Starting rate | Top rate |
|---|---|---|
| East Elmhurst, NY (Queens) | $25.83/hr | $31.17/hr |
| Dobbs Ferry, NY | $23.00/hr | $30.20/hr |
| Uniondale, NY | $22.57/hr | $28.00/hr |
| Madison, NJ | $22.86/hr | $23.57/hr |
| Lyndhurst, NJ | $16.00/hr | $21.00/hr |
| Rutherford, NJ | $16.00/hr | $20.57/hr |
| Middletown, NJ | $15.44/hr | $22.78/hr |
| Oradell, NJ | $14.00/hr | $16.80/hr |
Source: Care.com, October 2026.
What pushes the price up in New York City
- Big dogs. Some boarders charge by size: DOGTOWN is $95 a night for small dogs and $100 for dogs over 35 lbs, and Tails of Manhattan adds $5 for dogs over 25 lbs.
- More than one dog. Walkers add $7 to $15 for a second dog (RuffCity adds $7, The Well Heeled Dog adds $12 per 30 minutes). An overnight sitter at Smiley Pets is $100 for one dog and $50 for each extra dog.
- Weekends and holidays. Happy Dogs charges $88 on weeknights and $98 on weekends. Paws In Chelsea adds $10 a night on peak dates (Memorial Day, 4th of July, Labor Day and Presidents Day weekends, Thanksgiving weekend, and Christmas through New Year's), and Roxy's House adds $20 a night for holiday boarding. Those weeks fill up first, so book early.
- Puppies. Roxy's House adds $20 a night for dogs under a year old, and Cuddles and Tails charges $140 a day for puppies and senior dogs.
- City extras. Pick-up and drop-off runs $12.50 to $15 each way (Bark Street, pupculture, Ruff Club). Late pick-ups add up fast: pupculture charges $15 for every 15 minutes after closing. Some price lists don't include New York sales tax (Paws In Chelsea says so on its page), and one Manhattan sitter (Katie's Kitty) adds $5 per visit for walk-ups of 3+ floors.
- Memberships. Many Manhattan daycares have two prices. Bark Street is $129 a night for non-members and $125 for members; pupculture is $92.50 vs $88. The cheaper number usually needs a monthly fee.
Sitter at home, sitter's home, or kennel?
| Option | New York City price | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Sitter in your home | $19 to $26 an hour, or $80 to $110 for an overnight | Dogs who are anxious away from home, older dogs, homes with other pets |
| Boarding in a sitter's home | From $42 to $120 a night | Social dogs who like a quiet apartment and one person |
| Dog hotel or daycare boarding | $80 to $170 a night | Dogs who love other dogs and a busy day of play |
New York City adds its own wrinkles. Your sitter needs to know the doorman, the elevator or the walk-up, and where the keys live. In summer the pavement gets hot enough to hurt paws, so walks happen early or late; in winter the sidewalks are covered in salt. Whoever you pick needs to know your dog's limits.
The part no price covers
The walk is rarely what goes wrong. It's the text at 9pm.
"How much food again?" "Is the white pill the morning one?" "Who's your vet?"
You're paying $25 to $170 a day for someone to look after your dog. Then you hand them the most important information out loud, at the door, in a rush, and hope it sticks. Or you write a 10-page Word document they skim once.
Whether it's a friend, a $26-an-hour pro or a $170-a-night dog hotel, they all need the same things from you, and most owners forget at least one:
- Exactly how much your dog eats, and when (not "morning-ish")
- Every medication, the dose, and how to give it
- The quirks: the gate that doesn't latch, the bolt at the front door, the toy that can't be left out
- When to call you, and when to skip you and go straight to the emergency vet
- Your vet, the nearest 24-hour clinic, and a backup contact who isn't you
The Paw Brief: one handbook your sitter can scan in seconds
The Paw Brief asks you the questions you'd forget, then turns your answers into one clear care guide. Fill it in once, update it before each trip, and hand it to whoever is watching your dog: a sitter, a boarding kennel, or your neighbor.
What's inside:
- Who is who: photos and markings for each pet, so meds and food never get mixed up
- Precise times: real times for meals, walks and meds, not "evening"
- Little rituals: the bedtime toy, the water-bowl trick, the things only you know
- Behavior, honestly: checkboxes for reactivity, separation anxiety and resource guarding, so your sitter isn't surprised
- Emergency thresholds: exactly when to call you and when to go straight to the vet
- House details: alarm, fuse box, spare key, and neighbor boundaries
What you get: a fillable PDF that works on any device, plus an editable Canva version. Instant download, no subscription.
The math is easy. One night of New York City boarding costs $80 to $170. The Paw Brief costs $17, once, and you reuse it for every trip after this one.
No risk: if it doesn't help, you get your money back within 30 days.
The Paw Brief is made by the team behind this guide. The prices and local listings above are researched separately and nobody paid to be included.
New York City dog sitters, kennels and daycares
Real local options with their Google rating. Where a business publishes its prices, we list them with a link so you can check.
Boarding and kennels
- DOGMA, West Village · 4.9★ (612 Google reviews) · Website
- DIGS Canine Hotel Spa & Daycare, DUMBO and Brooklyn Heights · 4.8★ (405 Google reviews) · Website
- pupculture SoHo, SoHo · 4.7★ (272 Google reviews) · Website · Their prices: Overnight boarding, single night (non-member): $92.50 per night; 1 Full Day Session (non-member): $56 per day; Dog walk, 30 minutes, 1 dog: $42 per walk
- Happy Dogs, Gramercy and Kips Bay · 4.7★ (262 Google reviews) · Website · Their prices: Boarding, weeknights (Monday to Thursday): $88 per night; Boarding, weekends (Friday to Sunday): $98 per night; Full day daycare, 23rd and 1st (Manhattan): $59 per visit
- Puppy Loft, Chelsea · 4.8★ (233 Google reviews) · Website · Their prices: Regular boarding: $100 per night; Holiday boarding surcharge: $10 per night; Full day daycare (a la carte): $59 per day
- New York Dog Spa - 25th St., Flatiron · 4.5★ (245 Google reviews) · Website
- Brooklyn Pawffice, Williamsburg, Brooklyn · 4.9★ (192 Google reviews) · Website
- Easy Wag FiDi, Financial District · 4.9★ (178 Google reviews) · Website
- Allforthewag, Jersey City, NJ · 5★ (164 Google reviews) · Website · Their prices: Sleepover (24 hours): $74.99 per night; Playcare (up to 10 hours): $49.99 per day; Half Day Playcare (up to 5 hours): $29.99 per half day
- PetStar Dog Grooming & Daycare, Gramercy and Kips Bay · 4.9★ (155 Google reviews) · Website · Their prices: Overnight care: $100 per night; Daycare up to 8 Hrs: $60 per day; Daycare up to 4 Hrs: $45 per half day
- Manhattan Pawffice, East Village · 5★ (151 Google reviews) · Website
- City Tails NYC, West Village · 5★ (135 Google reviews) · Website
Daycare
- Urban Woof NYC - 78th, Upper East Side · 4.6★ (159 Google reviews) · Website
- Dog House Seaport Canine Club, Seaport · 5★ (16 Google reviews) · Website · Their prices: Full-Day Daycare (over 4 hours): $64 per day; Half-Day Daycare (up to 4 hours): $48 per half day; Sleepover Overnight Boarding: $155 per night
- CityWags, Flatiron · 4.6★ (11 Google reviews) · Website
- Dogs & and The city Behavioral Research, Financial District · 5★ (6 Google reviews) · Website
Sitters and walkers (they come to you)
- Jordan's Pet Care - Brooklyn Dog Walking and Pet Sitting, Park Slope, Brooklyn · 5★ (222 Google reviews) · Website · Their prices: 30 minute walk, occasional: $32 per walk; 30 minute walk, 3 to 5 walks per week: $26 per walk; 60 minute walk, occasional: $43 per walk
- Trusty Tails Pet Care, Hoboken, NJ · 4.8★ (158 Google reviews) · Website
- The Big City Woof Walker, Seaport · 5★ (94 Google reviews) · Website
- Brooklyn Tails and Trails, DUMBO and Brooklyn Heights · 5★ (92 Google reviews) · Website · Their prices: 30 minute walk: $27 per walk; 60 minute walk: $37 per walk; Overnight pet sitting: $140 per night
- Woofs & Wags, Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn · 5★ (83 Google reviews) · Website · Their prices: Group walk, 30 minutes, occasional: $32 per walk; Solo walk, 30 minutes: $44 per walk; Weekend and holiday walk, 30 minutes: $42 per walk
- Play Pals NYC, West Village · 5★ (82 Google reviews) · Website
- NYC Dog Walkers, LLC, Upper West Side · 4.7★ (87 Google reviews) · Website
- The West Village Cat Sitter & Manhattan Kitties LLC, Chelsea · 5★ (76 Google reviews) · Website
- Katie's Kitty, NoMad · 4.7★ (63 Google reviews) · Website · Their prices: Cat sitting, daily 30-minute visit: $35 per visit; Cat sitting, daily 60-minute visit: $60 per visit
- Brooklyn Bark, DUMBO and Brooklyn Heights · 4.7★ (61 Google reviews) · Website · Their prices: 30 Min Walk, solo: $39.95 per walk; 30 Min Walk, semi-private: $30.95 per walk; Overnight boarding (includes 3 walks a day): $180.25 per night
- Bare Paws NYC Dog Walkers & Pet Sitters, Upper East Side · 4.9★ (58 Google reviews) · Website
- PK Pet Sitters NYC, New York · 5★ (53 Google reviews) · Website
Listings come from Google Maps and each business's own website, checked October 2026. Nobody paid to be listed. Prices change, so confirm before you book. Own one of these businesses? Ask us about a featured spot.
Frequently asked questions
How much should I pay a dog sitter in New York City?
Most New York City pet sitters charge about $19 to $26 an hour, and a 30-minute walk is usually $28 to $32. For an overnight sitter in your apartment, expect about $80 to $110 a night. For a friend or neighbor, many owners pay close to the same rate or a flat amount per day, plus a thank-you.
How much is dog boarding in New York City per night?
Boarding at a Manhattan dog hotel or daycare is $80 to $170 a night; most charge $88 to $120. Boarding in a sitter's own home starts around $42 a night through Rover, and Allforthewag in Jersey City is $74.99 a night.
Is it cheaper to board my dog or have a sitter come over?
For a few short visits a day, a walker or drop-in sitter ($25 to $45 a visit) usually costs less than an $88 to $120 boarding night and keeps your dog in its own routine. For round-the-clock care, an overnight sitter in your home ($80 to $110) often costs about the same as a dog hotel or less.
Do New York City sitters charge more on holidays?
Often, yes. Expect $10 to $20 a night extra for holiday boarding, $10 extra per walk on holidays, and higher weekend rates at some places. Memorial Day, 4th of July, Labor Day, Thanksgiving and the Christmas to New Year's week book up first, so reserve early.
What should I leave for my dog sitter?
Feeding amounts and times, medications with doses, your vet and the nearest emergency clinic, a backup contact, and house rules, plus building details like the doorman, keys and elevator. The Paw Brief walks you through all of it and turns it into one guide your sitter can scan in seconds.