FIT TRACKER / MONTHLY CHECK-IN
July Fitness-Facility Traffic Stabilizes as Studios Continue to Lead
HFA’s first monthly FIT Tracker check-in finds record July visitation at HVLP and mid-priced gyms and broad studio growth.
HFA will begin publishing monthly FIT Tracker data check-ins to complement its quarterly reports and provide a timely view of how visitation is evolving across US commercial fitness facilities. This inaugural update covers July 2026 and draws on anonymized foot-traffic data from more than 10,000 locations.
July traffic holds slightly above last year
Across the full sample, weighted visits per location increased an estimated 0.1% from July 2025.
The gain followed declines in April and May and a stronger 2.1% rebound in June. Combined
visitation across June and July ran 1.1% above the same period last year.
Weighted visits per location, year-over-year change
Studios set the pace for six months running
Boutique studios remained the strongest-performing segment. Visits per location increased 3.3%
year over year in July, marking the sixth consecutive month in which studios led all facility types in
visitation growth. The streak began in February and continued even in May, when industry traffic
was generally softer.
Year-over-year visits per location, January through July 2026
Studio visitation grew across nearly every region
Studio momentum was also geographically broad. Year-to-date studio visitation increased across
eight of the nine US Census divisions. New England recorded the strongest growth at 6.5%,
followed by the South Atlantic at 4.5%.
Studio visits per location, year-to-date change versus 2025
HVLP and mid-priced visitation holds at record levels
HVLP and mid-priced gyms also demonstrated resilience. The HVLP visitation index reached 124 in July, meaning visits per location were 24% above July 2019. The mid-priced index reached 107, placing visitation 7% above its July 2019 level. Both segments were effectively unchanged from last year but remained at their highest July readings in the series.
Average July visits per location, indexed to July 2019
