Dog bites cost US insurers $1.862 billion in claims in 2025, at an average payout of $65,450, and the danger is growing fast. New research from Sweet James, built on federal health data, national insurance claims, state law records, and workplace injury reports, finds that fatal dog attacks hit 127 in latest data, the highest count on record and a 165% rise on 2019. Claims filed with home insurers jumped 25.6% in a single year, from 22,658 in 2024 to 28,450 in 2025.
The study also finds that where a victim lives shapes both the harm and the help. A serious bite that needs a hospital stay leaves victims $23,222 to $26,330 out of pocket once medical bills, lost wages, and mental health care are counted. Yet four states have no dog bite law at all, so two victims of the same attack can face very different paths: one with a clear legal claim, one with the burden of proving the owner knew the dog was a threat.
Key Findings
- Dog liability claims reached $1.862 billion in 2025, at an average payout of $65,450
- Claims rose 25.6% in one year, and claim costs are up 209% since 2016
- New York ranks first for overall victim risk, with the highest average claim at $110,488
- A serious bite costs victims $23,222 to $26,330 in bills, lost wages, and care
- 94% of delivery drivers say they have been bitten by a dog
- USPS logged more than 5,200 attacks on postal workers in 2025
- Four states, North Dakota, Kansas, Arkansas, and Mississippi, have no dog bite statute
The States Where Victims Face the Highest Risk
The Sweet James Dog Bite Risk Index ranks states by total victim burden, not just the odds of an attack. It blends attack rates, claim costs, victim exposure, and the strength of each state’s legal protections.
| Rank | State |
| 1 | New York |
| 2 | North Dakota |
| 3 | Virginia |
| 4 | Kansas |
| 5 | Arkansas |
| 6 | California |
| 7 | Alaska |
| 8 | Nevada |
| 9 | Mississippi |
| 10 | Connecticut |
New York tops the index with a score of 63.3 out of 100, driven by the highest claim costs in the nation and some of the highest victim exposure. Florida leads on attack rate alone with a perfect 100, yet falls outside the top ten overall, proof that raw attack counts do not set total risk. Texas records the lowest attack score of all.
The States Where Bites Cost the Most
Claim costs, not claim counts, drive the money story. These four states post the highest average claim values in the country.
| Rank | State | Average claim value |
| 1 | New York | $110,488 |
| 2 | California | $86,229 |
| 3 | Texas | $75,674 |
| 4 | Illinois | $73,797 |
New York is the clear outlier at $110,488 per claim, nearly 70% above the national average payout of $65,450. Jury awards push the ceiling far higher. The largest known US dog bite verdict is the $12.9 million judgment against Chris Brown in Los Angeles, and recent awards of $5.4 million, $5 million, $3.76 million, and $2.3 million show how severe attacks now price like major injury cases. Standard home policies cover $100,000 to $300,000, so owners can be left to pay the rest.
The Workers on the Front Line
Dog bites are now a workplace hazard. USPS reported more than 5,200 attacks on postal workers in 2025, and a survey of 1,000 delivery drivers found 94% had been bitten. Up to 63% of vets and 48% of vet techs are bitten during their careers, and federal labor data shows animal caretakers suffer the most animal-related injuries at work.
| Rank | State | USPS attacks, 2025 |
| 1 | California | 673 |
| 2 | Texas | 358 |
| 3 | Ohio | 287 |
| 4 | New York | 269 |
| 5 | Pennsylvania | 267 |
California leads with 673 attacks on postal workers, nearly double second-placed Texas. The medical toll is steep across all victims: dog bites drive 337,000 emergency visits each year, 18% of bites become infected, and the average bite hospital stay runs 3.3 days at $18,200, 50% more than the average injury stay. Over 57% of those admitted need surgery.
Where the Law Leaves Victims Exposed
The Sweet James Leniency Index measures how far owners escape account after a serious attack. Eight states score a full 100 for leniency, and the gap between the strictest and the weakest states is stark.
| Most lenient states (score 100) | Strictest states |
| Alaska | Florida |
| Arkansas | Illinois |
| Idaho | Louisiana |
| Kansas | Michigan |
| Mississippi | Nebraska |
| North Dakota | New Jersey |
| South Dakota | Ohio |
| Wyoming | South Carolina and Washington |
The fairness gap is the story. North Dakota, Kansas, Arkansas, and Mississippi have no dog bite statute at all, and three of those states set no maximum owner penalty. The same eight lenient states also skip mandatory euthanasia after qualifying attacks. Rural victims carry an extra load: rural areas record four times the emergency visits and three times the hospital stays of urban areas, yet many sit in the states with the weakest laws.
Why This Matters Now
Exposure is rising on every front. 71 million US households now own a dog, up from 51% of homes to 53%, and around 4.5 million bites occur each year, with children hit hardest. Claims are up 97% in a decade and 18.6% in the last year alone.
The sharpest fact in the data is this: several of the states where victims face the highest overall risk, North Dakota, Kansas, Arkansas, and Mississippi, are the same states with no dog bite law and no cap-free owner penalties. The people most at risk have the least legal cover. That makes this a clear public interest story, and a live one, as New York has just changed its own legal framework after Flanders v. Goodfellow in 2025.
Methodology
Sweet James built the Dog Bite Risk Index from four inputs: attack frequency, claim costs, victim exposure, and state legal protections, scored per state out of 100. The Leniency Index scores accountability gaps using owner penalties, euthanasia rules, and post-attack legal cover. The Victim Cost Model combines a $18,200 baseline hospital cost from AHRQ/HCUP data, 3.5 weeks of lost wages, and $1,200 in expected mental health care. Claims data covers 2016 to 2025; fatality data covers 2019 to 2024.
Data Sources
Insurance Information Institute, Spotlight on Dog Bite Liability, with State Farm (iii.org)
CDC Wonder and CDC animal bite data (cdc.gov)
AHRQ Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (ahrq.gov)
United States Postal Service dog attack data (usps.com)
US Bureau of Labor Statistics workplace injury data (bls.gov)
Using This Research
Please credit Sweet James if you use these findings. I can share the full state tables, extra breakdowns, or answers to any question on the data or the method.