Groundwork

Fitness and classes · Metro area · Alabama

Gyms in the Florence-Muscle Shoals, AL metro area

How the Florence-Muscle Shoals, AL metro area compares with other metro areas and the U.S. for gyms: competitors, household spending, official counts and growth.

Groundwork market score · out of 100

Score 32 out of 100: Lower middle

Ranked #343 of 387 scored metro areas
#9 of 12 scored metro areas based in Alabama

Listings
49
13 chain locations (27%)
Official establishments
16
All fitness and recreational sports centers
Household spending a year
$38.3M
On memberships, classes and admissions · $603 a household
Spending per listing
$783K
40% below the U.S.
Listings per 10k households
7.7
In line with the U.S.
Population, 2025
156,609
+3.5% since 2020

See the gyms around any address in the Florence-Muscle Shoals metro area

The site report maps the gyms on map listings near the address, by name and distance, and sizes the households and spending around it. Or open the report at the center of the Florence-Muscle Shoals metro area. Signed out, you see a blurred preview; on an account, each report is one action.

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Survey estimates 2020–2024 · population estimates 2025 · official business counts 2023 · map listings September 2026 · Data credits · How we measure

What this means

The Groundwork market score for gyms in the Florence-Muscle Shoals metro area is 32 (lower middle), #343 of 387 scored metro areas and #9 of 12 scored metro areas based in Alabama. That puts it in the bottom quarter of metro areas.

Household spending on memberships, classes and admissions in the Florence-Muscle Shoals metro area comes to about $38.3M a year: $603 per household, 39% below the U.S. average. That works out to $783K per gym, 40% below the U.S. figure of $1.3M. The spending figure covers all memberships, classes and admissions, not only gyms.

The Florence-Muscle Shoals metro area has 49 gyms on map listings as of September 2026. Chain locations make up 27% of them, against 28% across the U.S. That comes to 7.7 for every 10,000 households, in line with the U.S. rate of 7.6.

In 2023, official counts showed 16 businesses with payroll in the Florence-Muscle Shoals metro area classed as fitness and recreational sports centers. That is one for every 3,972 households, against one for every 3,109 across the U.S. That count covers all fitness and recreational sports centers (yoga, Pilates and fitness studios included), not only gyms. Between 2020 and 2025, the population of the Florence-Muscle Shoals metro area grew 3.5%, in step with the U.S. (+3.1%).

How the Florence-Muscle Shoals metro area compares

The same measures for Alabama and the whole U.S. Spending per listing divides a year of household spending on all memberships, classes and admissions by the gyms counted, so it measures the demand for each competitor, not any business’s revenue. Households per establishment does the same with the official count.

Gyms in Florence-Muscle Shoals, AL metro area compared with Alabama and the U.S.
MeasureFlorence-Muscle Shoals metro areaAlabamaU.S.
Listings per 10k households7.77.07.6
Spending per listing$783K$936K$1.3M
Households per official establishment (all fitness and recreational sports centers)3,9724,0353,109
Official establishment growth, 2019–2023n/a+10.7%+5.8%
Population growth, 2020–2025+3.5%+3.2%+3.1%
Spending per household on memberships, classes and admissions$603$656$983
Median household income$61,891$63,999$80,734
Groundwork market score3239

Official counts and lending

Businesses

Official establishments, 2019 to 2023
16All fitness and recreational sports centers
Employees, 2023
239
Annual payroll, 2023
$2.6M
One-person businesses, 2023
Not publishedNot published for this business type
Map listings, September 2026
4913 chain locations
Listings at the U.S. rate for this spending
30The U.S. ratio of listings to household spending, applied here

SBA-backed loans since fiscal 2022

Loans
0
Amount
$0

SBA-backed loans to businesses classed as fitness and recreational sports centers in the Florence-Muscle Shoals metro area, through June 2026, placed by the borrower’s ZIP code. Official establishments are businesses with payroll; the official counts leave out places with fewer than 3. These official figures cover all fitness and recreational sports centers, not only gyms.

Population and households in the Florence-Muscle Shoals metro area

Population, 2025 estimate
156,609+3.5% since 2020
Households
63,559
Median age
41.7
Homes lived in by their owners
70%
Vehicles per household
2.0
Land area
1,261 sq. mi.
People per square mile
122
Median household income
$61,891+28.7% vs. 2015–2019, before inflation
Average household income
$81,683
Median home value
$187,400
Jobs located here
54,714
Daytime population
149,641Residents who don’t work, plus everyone whose job is here

Looking at a specific site in the Florence-Muscle Shoals metro area?

These figures cover the whole metro area. A site report draws rings around one address and counts what’s inside them: households, spending, jobs, and the gyms on map listings by name and distance.

Or open the report at the center of the Florence-Muscle Shoals metro area. Signed out, you see a blurred preview; on an account, each report is one action.

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The highest-scoring metro areas in Alabama for gyms, numbered among those based in Alabama, with the Florence-Muscle Shoals metro area marked.

Top metro areas in Alabama

Metro areas in Alabama ranked for gyms by Groundwork market score
MarketScoreListingsPer 10k householdsSpending per listingPopulation growthU.S. rank
1Huntsville, AL521547.5$1.1M+12.5%#172 of 387
2Decatur, AL51386.1$1.1M+2.5%#185 of 387
3Tuscaloosa, AL50565.3$1.2M+2.9%#192 of 387
4Auburn-Opelika, AL41476.1$1.1M+7.1%#272 of 387
5Daphne-Fairhope-Foley, AL4110710.9$703K+14.8%#276 of 387
6Gadsden, AL36205.1$1M+0.4%#315 of 387
7Dothan, AL36386.2$933K+3.4%#317 of 387
8Anniston-Oxford, AL32286.2$859K−0.3%#342 of 387
9Florence-Muscle Shoals, AL32497.7$783K+3.5%#343 of 387
10Birmingham, AL303738.0$918K+1.4%#348 of 387

Other business types in the Florence-Muscle Shoals metro area

Each with its Groundwork market score here, out of 100, where it has one.

Questions

How many gyms are in the Florence-Muscle Shoals, AL metro area?

Map listings as of September 2026 show 49 gyms in the Florence-Muscle Shoals metro area. 13 of them (27%) are chain locations. The listings count gyms and fitness centers. Official counts show 16 businesses with payroll classed as fitness and recreational sports centers in 2023. The official count takes in all fitness and recreational sports centers, not only gyms: yoga, Pilates and fitness studios are counted too.

How much do households in the Florence-Muscle Shoals, AL metro area spend on memberships, classes and admissions?

About $38.3M a year, or $603 per household. That is 39% below the U.S. average (an index of 61, where 100 is the U.S. average). Spread across the 49 gyms on map listings, it comes to $783K per gym. That spending covers all memberships, classes and admissions, which gyms share with other businesses in the trade. It is estimated from the incomes of the 63,559 households in the Florence-Muscle Shoals metro area and national spending patterns by income.

How does the Florence-Muscle Shoals, AL metro area compare with the U.S. for gyms?

The Florence-Muscle Shoals metro area has 7.7 gyms per 10,000 households, in line with the U.S. rate of 7.6. Spending per gym is $783K, 40% below the U.S. figure of $1.3M. At the U.S. ratio of gyms to household spending, the Florence-Muscle Shoals metro area would have about 30, against 49 on map listings. There is one business with payroll in the industry for every 3,972 households, against one for every 3,109 across the U.S.

How fast is the Florence-Muscle Shoals, AL metro area growing?

Population estimates put the Florence-Muscle Shoals metro area at 156,609 people in 2025, up 3.5% since 2020, in step with the U.S. (+3.1%). It has 63,559 households. Median household income in the Florence-Muscle Shoals metro area is $61,891, 23% below the U.S. median of $80,734. Against the 2015–2019 survey, the median rose 28.7%, before inflation.

What is the Groundwork market score?

The Groundwork market score runs from 0 to 100 and compares a market with others of its kind for one business type: states with states, metro areas with metro areas, small-town markets and counties with their own. It weighs household spending per competitor (35%), households per business with payroll (25%), population growth (20%) and spending power (20%), each ranked against those peers. A higher score means that, taken together, the market has more household spending and more households for each business already there, faster population growth and more spending per household than similar markets. It describes a market, not any one site or deal. The Florence-Muscle Shoals metro area scores 32 for gyms (lower middle), #343 of 387 scored metro areas.

How can I see the market around a specific site?

Run a Groundwork site report on an address in the Florence-Muscle Shoals metro area. It maps the gyms on map listings near the site and sizes the households and spending within the distance you choose. New accounts get 10 actions over 3 days, no card.

How the score works · Top markets for gyms · All 56 business types in the Florence-Muscle Shoals metro area

Screening a site or an acquisition in the Florence-Muscle Shoals metro area?

A site report maps the competitors on map listings near an address and sizes the households and spending around it.

The button opens the report at the center of the Florence-Muscle Shoals metro area. Signed out, you see a blurred preview; on an account, each report is one action.

This product uses the Census Bureau Data API but is not endorsed or certified by the Census Bureau.

Figures are estimates for research only. Not investment or real estate advice.