To UNITED STATESTHE
sports halls no longer resemble these somewhat empty places at the beginning of January. Parking lots are full all year round, courses are full and chains are fighting to open new clubs. A new report from the Health and Fitness Association shows that the country has reached a historic milestone.
In 2025, 81 million Americans will own a
subscription to a gym, studio or fitness club, or 26.1% of the population, an absolute record after years of post-Covid rebound. Including day passes and guests, 100 million people have set foot in a club, for around 7 billion visits. It remains to be understood who fills these spaces and why they return so much.
Record figures for American gym memberships
The boom didn’t happen in a day. In 2019, the United States had approximately 64 million members, then 72.9 million in 2023, 77 million in 2024, and now 81 million. The penetration rate increased from around 21% before the pandemic to 26.1%. The industry would be worth 45 to 46 billion dollars (around 41 to 42 billion euros), above its pre-crisis level.
To establish this data, the HFA surveys nearly 18,000 American residents aged 6 and over each year. For Anton Severin, vice-president of research, the observation is clear: “What this data makes clear is that fitness establishments can no longer be viewed as a niche service but as part of the core infrastructure that Americans rely on to manage their health, stress, and sense of community” said Anton Severin, vice president of research at the Health and Fitness Association (HFA), as quoted by Athletech News. “Even in an uncertain economy, people continue to go to the gym because they see real value in what these spaces offer“, he added.
Generation Z and seniors boost gym attendance
The figures show a shared enthusiasm, but certain profiles are driving the increase. The adults of the Generation Z (18-24 year olds) have the highest subscription rate: 35.5% of them are members of a club. Many choose low-cost but well-equipped chains, what players call “high value, low price” gyms like Planet Fitness, Crunch or EoS Fitness.
More discreet, the boom among those over 65 is impressive: this age group is the one that has progressed the most, with an 8.6% increase in membership in one year. Growth affects all income brackets and both sexes. In France, the movement remains less massive, even if the number of theaters has increased from 3,924 in 2020 to 5,910 today, an increase of around 50% in four years.
Better used subscriptions and new practices
Subscribers no longer pay for anything: the share of inactive members has fallen from around 10% to 4.6%. The use of free weights is exploding, yoga brings together 17.7 million people and pickleball climbs to 7.6 million practitioners.