The cheapest pets to own

Ranked by what a typical year costs once you're set up. Small, long-lived pets aren't always cheap over a lifetime: a budgie or bearded dragon can live 10 years or more, and exotic-vet visits cost more than you'd expect. Betta fish is the cheapest at about $130 a year.

#	Pet	Per year	First year	Lifetime	Lifespan
1	Betta fish	$130	$340	$700	4 yrs
2	Budgie	$540	$1,020	$5,800	10 yrs
3	Bearded dragon	$1,080	$1,860	$11,600	10 yrs
4	Cat	$1,310	$1,610	$21,300	15 yrs
5	Rabbit	$1,840	$3,020	$20,000	10 yrs
6	Dog (cheapest breed: Chihuahua)	$2,060	$5,950	$35,700	15 yrs
7	Dog (typical adopted mix)	$2,580	$3,020	$32,000	12 yrs
8	Dog (median breed: Greyhound)	$2,990	$6,180	$39,900	12 yrs

Typical owner, average-cost US area, no insurance. Dogs are shown three ways because breed matters so much; see the cheapest dog breeds. How we estimate costs