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Sharing the benefits of physical activity

Everyday, health clubs and fitness businesses are at the forefront of the movement to encourage—and deliver—healthier, more active lives. IHRSA leads the global fitness industry by delivering the latest research, covering club performance and consumer behavior trends, publishing industry overviews for key markets, and reporting annual data on the worldwide success of the industry.

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According to IHRSA Research:

  • There are 32,270 health clubs in the U.S. (as of July 1, 2021)
  • Before the pandemic, 64.2 million Americans belonged to at least one of the 41,370 health clubs nationwide. (2019)
  • 73.6 million Americans were health club consumers in 2019.
  • Health club/gym/studio visits totaled 6.7 billion in 2019.
  • In 2020, industry revenue dropped significantly. After 10 years of consistent revenue growth, the U.S. fitness industry lost $20.2 billion in revenue, down from $35 billion in 2019—$29.2 billion was lost in revenue from March 2020 through June 2021.
  • In 2019, global industry revenues totaled $96.7 billion worldwide, and more than 205,000 clubs served some 184.6 million members.

Total U.S. Health Club Membership by Year (including YMCA, JCC, etc):

  • 2012 – 50.2 million
  • 2013 – 52.9 million
  • 2014 – 54.1 million
  • 2015 – 55.3 million
  • 2016 – 57.3 million
  • 2017 – 60.9 million
  • 2018 – 62.5 million
  • 2019 – 64.2 million
  • 2020 – N/A*
  • 2021 - N/A*

*Data estimate not available due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Total Number of U.S. Health Clubs by Year:

As of January 1, year listed.

  • 2012 – 30,500
  • 2013 – 32,150
  • 2014 – 34,460
  • 2015 – 36,180
  • 2016 – 36,540
  • 2017 – 38,447
  • 2018 – 39,570
  • 2019 – 41,370
  • 2020 (as of December 31, 2020) - 34,337**
  • 2021 (as of July 1, 2021) – 32,269**
  • 2022 - 31,028**

**Decline in number of club locations due to the COVID-19 pandemic.