SAN DIEGO – Denver and the state of Colorado have the highest percentage of people who belong to a health club, according to the 2007 Health Club Industry Review produced by The Active Marketing Group.
In Colorado, 21.8 percent of its population belongs to a health club. Utah is No. 2 in the United States at 20.8 percent, followed by Massachusetts (20.6 percent), Arizona (20.6 percent) and Delaware (19.0 percent). The U.S. average for state population health club membership is 15.5 percent. West Virginia has the lowest percentage at 6.3 percent. Alaska and Hawaii were not listed in the study.
Denver is ranked No. 1 among U.S. cities with 25.1 percent of its population belonging to a health club. Columbus, OH, is second at 24.9 percent, followed by San Diego (23.0 percent), Miami (21.7 percent) and Indianapolis (21.2 percent). The U.S. average for city population health club membership is 15.5 percent.
In 2005, California had by far the most health clubs of any state with 3,281, according to the report. Texas was second with 1,860, and New York was third with 1,842. Those states, plus Florida, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Illinois, Massachusetts, Michigan and Alabama, make up 52 percent of the total health club market.
From 1995 to 2005, Minnesota had the highest percentage of growth of health clubs, increasing by 253 percent. Minnesota had 167 health clubs in 1995 and 590 in 2005. Nevada had the second-highest growth over that time (219 percent), and Arizona had the third-highest growth (169 percent).