US Dog Bite Danger Zones Revealed, Including NYC’s Riskiest Borough
Forget sharks, bears and other fearsome predators. One of the animals posing the greatest threat to Americans may be snoozing on the family sofa.
The CDC estimates that dogs bite about 4.5 million people in the US each year. On average, one dog-bite victim is treated in an emergency room every 80 seconds.
A new study has now identified the states where residents face the highest risk of filing an insurance claim related to a dog bite.
New York ranked ninth, recording 1,308 dog-bite insurance claims in 2025. According to research by Gamble Mind, residents faced odds of one in 15,189 of being bitten by a dog.
In New York City, reported dog bites rose by nearly 25% in just one year, climbing from 4,041 in 2024 to 5,049 in 2025.
Staten Island was the city’s dog-bite hotspot, posting the highest reported bite rate among New York’s five boroughs. The borough recorded 395 bites in 2025—about one for every 1,261 residents.
Manhattan and Queens reported the same number of bites, with 1,192 incidents each. However, Manhattan’s smaller residential population gave it a substantially higher rate: one bite for every 1,393 residents, compared with one in 1,944 in Queens.
Brooklyn had the lowest dog-bite rate of any borough, despite recording 1,126 incidents. Its rate was approximately one bite for every 2,325 residents.
MORE STORY: Anika Wells’ trip meeting missing from another minister’s diary
Nationwide, Michigan ranked first, with residents facing annual odds of one in 7,073 of being involved in a dog-bite insurance claim, the study found.
The Wolverine State recorded 1,432 claims in 2025. After adjusting for population, its claim rate was 69% higher than the national average and more than three times Texas’ rate.
The findings come after a tragic incident last March, when a 5-day-old baby girl was mauled to death after being left alone with a dog the family had recently taken in.
Indiana ranked second, with 824 claims and odds of one in 8,463. Ohio followed with 1,348 claims and odds of one in 8,828, narrowly ahead of Pennsylvania, where 1,324 claims were filed and the odds of a dog bite stood at one in 9,864.
Illinois ranked fifth, recording 1,283 claims and odds of one in 9,914.
Florida took sixth place with 2,347 claims—a relatively high total. But its larger population brought the state’s odds down to one in 9,958.
New Jersey ranked seventh, with 818 claims and odds of one in 11,673.
California recorded more claims than any other state on the list, with a staggering 2,830. Its much larger population, however, placed it eighth, with odds of one in 13,933.
Texas rounded out the top 10 with 1,313 insurance claims. Residents faced odds of one in 23,832 of suffering a dog bite.
