From 6f1fda5ef1cfe7ee40ccd1ddefc3861c2718d920 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: AlenkaF <frim.alenka@gmail.com>
Date: Wed, 11 Feb 2026 20:59:32 +0100
Subject: [PATCH] Initial commit

---
 python/pyarrow/array.pxi            |  7 +++++++
 python/pyarrow/tests/test_pandas.py | 23 +++++++++++++++++++++++
 2 files changed, 30 insertions(+)

diff --git a/python/pyarrow/array.pxi b/python/pyarrow/array.pxi
index ec58ac727e5..6480d015de8 100644
--- a/python/pyarrow/array.pxi
+++ b/python/pyarrow/array.pxi
@@ -2308,6 +2308,13 @@ cdef _array_like_to_pandas(obj, options, types_mapper):
         dtype = "object"
     elif types_mapper:
         dtype = types_mapper(original_type)
+    elif _pandas_api.uses_string_dtype() and (
+        original_type.id == _Type_STRING or
+        original_type.id == _Type_LARGE_STRING or
+        original_type.id == _Type_STRING_VIEW
+    ):
+        # for pandas 3.0+, use pandas' new default string dtype
+        dtype = _pandas_api.pd.StringDtype(na_value=np.nan)
     else:
         dtype = None
 
diff --git a/python/pyarrow/tests/test_pandas.py b/python/pyarrow/tests/test_pandas.py
index cecf10f2165..8afe93d4e00 100644
--- a/python/pyarrow/tests/test_pandas.py
+++ b/python/pyarrow/tests/test_pandas.py
@@ -4651,6 +4651,29 @@ def test_chunked_array_to_pandas_types_mapper():
     assert result.dtype == np.dtype("int64")
 
 
+@pytest.mark.parametrize(
+    "string_type", [pa.string(), pa.large_string(), pa.string_view()]
+)
+@pytest.mark.parametrize("data", [[], [None]])
+def test_array_to_pandas_string_dtype(string_type, data):
+    # GH-49002
+    if Version(pd.__version__) < Version("3.0.0"):
+        pytest.skip("PyArrow backed string dtype missing")
+
+    arr = pa.array(data, type=string_type)
+    result = arr.to_pandas()
+    assert result.dtype == pd.StringDtype(na_value=np.nan)
+
+    arr = pa.chunked_array([data], type=string_type)
+    result = arr.to_pandas()
+    assert result.dtype == pd.StringDtype(na_value=np.nan)
+
+    # Test types_mapper takes precedence
+    types_mapper = {string_type: None}.get
+    result = arr.to_pandas(types_mapper=types_mapper)
+    assert result.dtype == np.dtype("object")
+
+
 # ----------------------------------------------------------------------
 # Legacy metadata compatibility tests