Gym Membership Statistics: US Trends and Demographics

A record 77 million Americans, 25% of people aged six and older, were members of a gym, studio or other fitness facility in 2024

From a nationally representative survey of 18,000 Americans aged 6 and older. A membership is not the same as regular attendance.

Counting non-members who also paid to use facilities, fitness-facility customers numbered nearly 96 million, 31.0% of Americans

Non-member customers include drop-in, class-pack and guest users.

Facility membership grew 20% between 2019 and 2024

The industry has more than recovered its 2020 closures in member numbers.

Studios had 23.1 million members in 2024 and fitness-only gyms 22.2 million

Studios have overtaken traditional fitness-only clubs as the largest facility type by membership.

Members' attendance has stabilized at about 1.5 visits a week, down from 2.1 in 2019

More members are visiting less often, so membership growth overstates how much exercise is happening in facilities.

US fitness-facility membership was 72.9 million in 2023, up 5.8% on the year

The previous record, set the year before the 77 million figure; total facility users grew 9.7% that year.

Nearly a quarter of members (23%) used a personal trainer in 2024

Women using personal training grew 16% year over year to 7.3 million.

Members who used personal training averaged 21 sessions a year in 2024, down from 28 in 2019

More members train with a coach, but each buys fewer sessions.

One in three members (32%) took part in small-group training in 2024

Teens and Gen X adults led the gains in small-group formats.

Yoga participation among members rose from 20% to nearly 22% year over year, and Pilates exceeded 8%

The in-club experience still centres on treadmills and free weights, according to the same report.

63% of new members of a Rio de Janeiro fitness centre quit before their third month, and fewer than 4% stayed beyond 12 months of continuous activity

Records of 5,240 members from 2005 to 2014. One centre in one city, but the steep early drop-off matches what US operators describe.

Age, previous activity level, starting BMI and motives such as weight loss or aesthetics were associated with the risk of quitting a gym

Even members with the most favourable mix of these factors still had a high risk of quitting within 12 months.

Across 2,380 adults starting exercise at nine YMCAs, a counselling protocol based on self-efficacy theory significantly reduced 6-month drop-out

Treatment cohorts from 2003-2005 were compared with a 2002 cohort in the Atlanta area; participants were not randomized.

In sedentary middle-aged adults followed for 5 months, self-efficacy predicted starting exercise, but past exercise behaviour was the strongest predictor of later participation

Path analysis through the adoption and maintenance stages of a new exercise habit.

In 2020, between 16.1% (the most rural counties) and 28.5% (the West) of US adults met both the aerobic and muscle-strengthening activity guidelines in their leisure time

Rates by county type and region; the report gives no single national figure. Large metropolitan areas and the West had the highest rates.