The TrustedHousesitters Thanksgiving Travel Stress Index

Making travel plans for Thanksgiving? Don’t move an inch - in The TrustedHousesitters Thanksgiving Travel Stress Index, we reveal the US states where pet parents feel the most travel-related stress over Thanksgiving.

In collaboration with Opinion Matters, the US Department of Transportation (and more), we’ve discovered that New Hampshire, Pennsylvania and South Dakota are home to pet owners that feel the most travel-related stress over Thanksgiving.

For the full scoop on The TrustedHousesitters Thanksgiving Travel Stress Index, take a look below to find out what’s causing travelers so much worry, and a key solution that’ll help to make travel-related stress a thing of the past this Thanksgiving.

How we did it:

In The TrustedHousesitters Thanksgiving Travel Stress Index that used survey data, conducted with Opinion Matters, we analyzed a combination of holiday travel-related stress factors across all 50 US states common to pet owners. 

These included tackling Thanksgiving crowds, flight delays, pet separation anxiety and feeling guilty for leaving a pet behind. 

Each key stressor was weighted equally to ensure a balanced representation of logistical and emotional travel stress, before determining a ‘stress score’ out of 25 for each state. Higher scores indicated higher stress felt about the key factor, with 25 the worst possible stress score.

The most stressful states for Thanksgiving travel

The TrustedHousesitters Thanksgiving Travel Stress Index conducted by Opinion Matters found that New Hampshire was felt as the most stressful state for travel during Thanksgiving, with Pennsylvania coming in second, closely followed by South Dakota and Mississippi. 

Travel guilt and separation anxiety from pets were the leading pain points for New Hampshire, and flight delays in Pennsylvania have clearly been grating on local pet parents, while Thanksgiving crowds have been stressing travelers out in Mississippi.

The US states where travelers feel the most stress over Thanksgiving are:

• New Hampshire
• Pennsylvania
• South Dakota
• Mississippi
• Maine

The least stressful states for Thanksgiving travel

Our index revealed that Thanksgiving travelers in Alaska find moving around during the holiday season the least stressful, with flight delays, travel guilt and separation anxiety from pets not even reaching a stress score of 1. This easy breezy state was closely followed by Hawaii, where the biggest pain point was feeling guilty for leaving pets behind.

The US states where travelers feel the least stress over Thanksgiving are:

• Alaska
• Hawaii
• New York
• Montana
• Minnesota

What makes travel to these states so stressful for pet owners?

So why is travel such a cause of stress for pet parents across the US? Let’s dig into those key pain points we mentioned earlier in a little more detail.

Flight delays

There’s no denying that flight delays cause a logistical nightmare - especially with excited crowds to contend with. 

Our research* revealed Pennsylvania in fact experienced 3326 delays - that’s over 360% - last November, leaving no question as to why Pennsylvania was the state where the stress caused by flight delays was felt the most. New Jersey closely followed, with over 350% of flights delayed last November, which is almost 3000 flights in real terms.

Thanksgiving travel crowds

There is nothing like a Thanksgiving airport crowd, so it’s no wonder that the chaos adds an extra layer of stress for US pet parents. 

The TrustedHousesitters Thanksgiving Travel Stress Index revealed the additional crowds to be a key stressor when traveling over the holidays - with Mississippi, South Carolina, Arkansas, Alabama and Louisiana all revealing stress scores of over 20/25 for Thanksgiving travel crowds.

Despite holiday crowds being a clear pain point across US states, it’s clear that travelers will face them either way - with over 73% of the population in each US state still traveling over the Thanksgiving period.

Separation anxiety from pets

Flying across the country can often mean leaving pets behind, which naturally leaves pet parents feeling worried and anxious about their furry family members. In fact, 89% of New Hampshire pet parents felt that travel separation anxiety was a key stressor - closely followed by South Dakota with 77% and Maine with 66%.

Feeling guilty for leaving pets behind

Leaving furry family members behind is never easy - and The TrustedHousesitters Thanksgiving Travel Stress Index revealed that the guilt of jetting away from pets for the holidays is a key stressor for US pet parents. 

It’s no surprise that New Hampshire came out tops, with 91% of pet parents agreeing with the statement, “My pet impacts my travel plans because I feel like I’m a bad pet parent if I leave them for too long.” 

New Hampshire was closely followed by South Dakota, with 80% of pet owners agreeing with the statement, followed up by Vermont with 67% and Maine with 64%.

How to travel guilt-free this Thanksgiving

While we can’t quite magic away the flight delays or swarming airport crowds, we can certainly help to soften some of that Thanksgiving travel guilt and pet separation anxiety.

With TrustedHousesitters, pet parents connect with verified, loving pet sitters who look after pets in the place vets agree they’re happiest - home. 

Pet owners part of this platform wave goodbye to lonely kennels and neighbor drop-ins, and instead say hello to true pet lovers whose passions include traveling the world and looking after the pets in it. 

Want to find out how connecting with pet sitters works, or how it works for our house sitters? Click below to explore our membership plans - and you’ll soon be enjoying a guilt-free Thanksgiving.

Data sources*:

• TrustedHousesitters 2025 survey conducted by Opinion Matters.
• U.S. Department of Transportation.
• Bureau of Transportation Statistics.
• Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).