What Were Worst Cities for Dog Attacks on USPS Employees in 2023?

USPS employees in California suffered the most total dog attacks in 2023 according to new data provided by the Postal Service. California was also the top state in 2022.

The U.S. Postal Service (USPS) has released its listing of the worst cities for dog attacks on USPS employees as part of its annual National Dog Bite Awareness campaign which runs from Sunday, June 2, through Sunday, June 9, 2024.

There were over 5,800 cases of dog attacks on postal employees in 2023 according to the latest figures. This is up from over 5,300 in 2022 and over 5,400 in 2021 but it is roughly even with the 2020 and 2019 figures when there were around 5,800 incidents of dog attacks.

Los Angeles, CA was the top city in 2023 with 65 total attacks and Houston, TX came in second place. In 2022, the two cities were reversed with Houston on top. In 2021, however, Cleveland, OH knocked Houston out of the #1 position.

As far as the worst states go, California has had the most dog attacks for the last two years by far. It had 727 dog attacks in 2023 and 675 in 2022. Texas was the second place state with 411 dog attacks in 2023, 43% fewer than California. In 2022, the gap between the two states was 40%.

The full listing of rankings is included at the end of this article.

“Letter carriers are exposed to potential hazards every day, none more prevalent than a canine encounter. All it takes is one interaction for a letter carrier to possibly suffer an injury,” said Leeann Theriault, USPS Manager, Employee Safety and Health Awareness. “The U.S. Postal Service consistently encourages responsible pet ownership. The national dog bite campaign is an effort to promote dog bite awareness to keep our customers, their dogs, and letter carriers safe while delivering the mail.”

The Financial Cost of Dog Attacks

Dog attacks can obviously cause physical harm to mail carriers or anyone else who suffers one, but they can also be costly for the dogs’ owners.

According to Forbes, over 4.5 million people suffer dog bites each year and over 800,000 of those require medical attention.

The liability costs are expensive also. According to the Insurance Information Institute, the total cost of insurance claims paid out for dog attacks in 2022 was $1.13 billion, a 28% increase over the previous year. The average cost per claim was $64,555, a 32% increase over the previous year.

The Insurance Information Institute also notes that the top states where dog injury claims were filed in 2022 were California (1,954 claims), Florida (1,331), Texas (1,017), New York (969), and Michigan (905).

2023 Dog Attack Rankings By City

2023 USPS Dog Attacks By State