Guide · Tennessee · 12 min read

How to start a dog walking business in Tennessee (2026)

Tennessee has no income tax on wages, which makes it look like an easy state to run a small business. The catch is the LLC. Tennessee charges $300 to form one, $300 a year for the annual report, and a separate franchise and excise tax with a $100 minimum, so an LLC costs at least $400 a year before you earn anything. Tennessee also taxes a few pet services most states leave alone: a dog bath is taxable, while walking and boarding are not. This guide covers the costs and the rules so you can price accordingly from the start.

Last checked October 2026. Government fees and tax rules change. Each section links to the canonical state source — verify current numbers there before filing anything.

1Why Tennessee is a strong market

About 62% of Tennessee households own at least one pet. Roughly 62% of Tennessee households own a pet, above the national average. Dog ownership is especially high in suburban and rural counties. Middle Tennessee's fast population growth keeps adding new households who don't have family nearby to watch their pets.

The four metros that drive most of the state's dog walking demand:

Nashville — The strongest market in the state, driven by steady in-migration and young professionals in apartments. East Nashville, 12 South, Sylvan Park, and Germantown fill walkable routes fast. Touring music-industry clients book long overnight stretches. Typical 30-min walk: $22–$35.
Franklin / Brentwood (Williamson County) — One of the highest-income counties in the South. Large subdivisions like Westhaven in Franklin mean longer drives between homes, but owners pay top rates for reliable midday visits and holiday overnights. Typical 30-min walk: $24–$36.
Memphis — Lower prices, less competition. Midtown (Cooper-Young, Central Gardens), East Memphis, Germantown, and Collierville are the core. Hospital and logistics shift workers need visits at unusual hours. Typical 30-min walk: $16–$26.
Knoxville / Chattanooga — Two outdoorsy East Tennessee cities with high dog ownership. Sequoyah Hills, Fourth and Gill, and Farragut in Knoxville, and North Shore and St. Elmo in Chattanooga, support recurring routes and weekend sits for hikers. Typical 30-min walk: $16–$27.

2Set up your business in Tennessee

The legal-entity setup is the cheapest part of starting in Tennessee. Here's the order of operations:

File an LLC. $300 one-time filing with the Tennessee Secretary of State (Business Services). Separates your personal assets from business liability — worth doing before you take your first client.
Recurring entity cost: $400/year — $300 Secretary of State annual report fee (for up to six members; $50 more per member above six, capped at $3,000) plus the $100 minimum franchise tax owed to the Department of Revenue.
Get an EIN from the IRS (free, takes about 10 minutes online).
City or county business license — Tennessee has no dog walker license, but it does have a gross-receipts business license. If you gross more than $3,000 and less than $100,000 a year, get a $15 minimal activity license each year from your county clerk (and your city clerk if your city has a business tax). At $100,000 or more you register with the Department of Revenue and file business tax returns. Home boarding is governed by city and county zoning, and some Tennessee cities require a kennel or boarding permit above a set number of dogs, so check locally before you host.

Heads up — Tennessee-specific: Unlike most states, Tennessee taxes a single-member LLC owned by a person as its own entity for state purposes. Every LLC files a franchise and excise tax return: franchise tax is 0.25% of net worth (minimum $100, even if the LLC is inactive) and excise tax is 6.5% of the LLC's Tennessee taxable income. Sole proprietors don't owe franchise and excise tax, so some new walkers start as a sole proprietor with good insurance and form the LLC once revenue justifies the cost. Ask an accountant which makes sense for you.

3Taxes you'll actually owe in Tennessee

Sales tax on dog walking: No. Tennessee taxes only the services listed in its sales tax law, and dog walking and pet sitting are not on that list. The Department of Revenue says pet boarding is not subject to sales tax, and grooming on its own is not either. The surprise is bathing: Tennessee taxes animal bathing as cleaning of property, so a bath is taxed at the state 7% plus the local rate (up to 2.75%). If you sell a bath and grooming together for one price, the whole charge is taxable, so list them separately. Check with the Department of Revenue if you add baths to walks or boarding stays.

State income tax: None — meaningful take-home advantage over progressive-tax states.

Other taxes worth knowing: No income tax on wages or self-employment income (the Hall tax on interest and dividends ended in 2021). But LLCs owe franchise and excise tax every year, and once gross receipts reach $100,000 you register for and pay the state business tax (plus city business tax in cities that have one). The Department of Revenue confirms pet grooming, bathing and boarding are subject to business tax.

Canonical source: Tennessee Department of Revenue Notice 18-03 (animal bathing and grooming) →

4Insurance in Tennessee

Tennessee premiums are moderate. Pet Sitters International and Pet Sitters Associates both write Tennessee policies; expect roughly $200-350/year for a solo operator with $1M general liability plus care, custody, and control (bailee) coverage. Because workers' comp isn't required until five employees, many small Tennessee teams skip it. If you hire your first walkers, price a policy anyway, since an uninsured injury claim lands on you.

The standard coverage stack for any state:

$1M general liability + pet bailee — third-party injury, property damage, and harm to pets in your care.
Key / lost-property bond — small ($10-25/year), reassures clients handing you a key.

Workers' comp in Tennessee: Outside construction, Tennessee requires workers' compensation once you have five or more employees. Part-time workers, minors, and family members who work in the business all count toward the five, but you (as a sole proprietor or LLC member) do not. Below five it is optional, though one injured walker without coverage can cost more than years of premiums. The Bureau uses a seven-factor test, mostly about who controls the work, so paying someone on a 1099 does not keep them out of your count. Tennessee Bureau of Workers' Compensation →

5Pricing for Tennessee

The biggest mistake is undercharging. Don't start at $15 for a 30-minute walk because “you're new” — you cannot survive on those prices and you'll train clients to expect them.

Use our free pricing calculator for a defensible starting range. Typical Tennessee bands for 2026:

30-min walk: $16–$36
Drop-in visit: $18–$30
Overnight in client's home: $55–$95/night
Additional pet: +$5-10 per visit

Tennessee pricing context: Tennessee prices are split: Nashville and Williamson County are close to big-city rates, while Memphis, Knoxville, and Chattanooga sit at the low end of the national range. Build the $400+ a year in fixed LLC costs into your rates, and if you offer baths, remember that the bath line is taxable.

Set your Tennessee prices in Nuzzo

Enter your walk price ($16 to $36 in Tennessee), your drop-ins and your overnights once. Nuzzo adds the extra-pet charge for you, keeps recurring walks on the calendar, and sends invoices with Venmo, Zelle, PayPal and Cash App buttons.

Start free, no card →Plans from $29/mo

6Get your first 10 clients in Tennessee

You don't need ads. You need ten people who already trust you, plus a few channels that send the right kind of warm referral. The strongest channels in Tennessee:

Nextdoor in East Nashville, Sylvan Park, and 12 South, plus HOA newsletters in Franklin and Brentwood subdivisions
Relocation Facebook groups for people moving to Nashville and Williamson County (newcomers ask for pet sitter recommendations constantly)
Off-leash areas with regulars, like the dog park at Shelby Farms Park in Memphis and the dog parks in Nashville's Shelby Park and Centennial Park
Vet clinics and groomers in Green Hills, Brentwood, Germantown, and Farragut (trade referrals: they send walk and sit clients, you send grooming and bath clients)
Google Business Profile (essential; Nashville search demand for pet sitting peaks around holidays and big event weekends)

Cross-platform tactics that work everywhere: post in your personal Facebook clearly stating you're a professional insured walker (expect 1-2 bites), get listed on Rover/Wag to seed reviews, ask for Google reviews from day one. How walkers outgrow Rover →

7Hire walkers in Tennessee without getting in trouble

Since January 1, 2020, Tennessee uses the IRS 20-factor test for unemployment, wage and hour, and OSHA purposes, replacing the stricter ABC test. Workers' comp uses its own seven-factor test focused on control. The 20-factor test is easier to pass than ABC, but a walker whose schedule, route, and rate you set is still likely an employee. A 1099 alone settles nothing.

If the Department of Labor reclassifies your 1099 walkers under the 20-factor test, you owe back unemployment premiums plus penalties and interest. Reclassification can also push your headcount to five, which means you needed workers' comp all along, and an injured walker's claim would be yours to pay.

8Software for a Tennessee dog walker

Tennessee has several tax lines to track at once: franchise and excise tax for the LLC, a gross-receipts business license that changes at $100,000, and sales tax on baths but not on walks or boarding. Software that keeps taxable and non-taxable services on separate invoice lines, and shows your yearly gross at a glance, makes the Department of Revenue filings simple. In Nashville, overnight bookings for touring and traveling clients can run for weeks, so you need a calendar that handles long sits next to daily walks.

Whatever you pick, it needs to handle:

Scheduling so you stop forgetting visits
Photo report cards — the #1 retention driver in pet care
Recurring invoices with pay buttons — stop chasing Venmo
Pet profiles for gate codes, feeding notes, and vet info

That's what we built Nuzzo for. See how our dog walking software handles it. 14-day free trial, no credit card.

9FAQ

Do I need a license to walk dogs in Tennessee?

There's no dog walker license, but Tennessee does have a business license based on gross receipts. If you gross more than $3,000 and under $100,000 a year, you get a $15 minimal activity license each year from your county clerk, plus your city clerk if your city has a business tax. At $100,000 or more, you register with the Department of Revenue and file business tax returns.

Do I have to charge sales tax on dog walking in Tennessee?

No. Dog walking and pet sitting are not on Tennessee's list of taxable services, and the Department of Revenue says pet boarding and grooming on their own are not taxable. Animal bathing is taxable, though, at 7% state plus your local rate. If you sell a bath and grooming together for one price, the whole charge is taxable, so put the bath on its own line. Check with the Department of Revenue if you add baths.

How much does an LLC cost in Tennessee?

$300 to file the Articles of Organization (for up to six members), then $300 a year for the annual report. On top of that, every Tennessee LLC owes franchise and excise tax: at least $100 a year in franchise tax, plus 6.5% excise tax on the LLC's taxable income. That applies even to a one-person LLC. Plan on at least $400 a year in fixed costs.

Do I need workers' comp for my dog walking business in Tennessee?

Not until you have five employees, unless you work in construction. Part-time walkers count toward the five, and 1099 walkers you control may count too, since the Bureau looks at who controls the work rather than the tax form. You as the owner don't count. Many owners buy a policy with their first hire anyway because one injury claim can be costly.

How much can a dog walker make in Nashville?

A solo walker doing 5 walks a day at $27, 5 days a week, grosses about $35,000 a year, and no Tennessee income tax comes out of that. Adding overnights at $70-95 a night for touring and traveling clients, or growing into a small team across East Nashville and Williamson County, can push revenue to $80,000-$150,000. Watch the $100,000 line, where state business tax filing starts.

Should I buy a dog walking business in Tennessee or start my own?

Starting your own costs a few hundred dollars, so you are mainly paying for time. Buying an existing business means paying for its client list, and clients are loyal to the walker more than the business name, so ask for a handover period where the seller introduces you to every client, and get the client agreements and contact details transferred in writing. Franchises add brand and systems but usually charge an upfront fee in the tens of thousands of dollars plus an ongoing royalty. Have a local accountant or attorney review any purchase or franchise agreement before you sign.

Other state guides

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