Groundwork

Fitness and classes · Metro area · Missouri

Gyms in the Kansas City, MO-KS metro area

How the Kansas City, MO-KS 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 61 out of 100: Upper middle

Ranked #94 of 387 scored metro areas
#2 of 8 scored metro areas based in Missouri

Listings
692
222 chain locations (32%)
Official establishments
288
All fitness and recreational sports centers · +6.0% since 2019
Household spending a year
$911.8M
On memberships, classes and admissions · $1,018 a household
Spending per listing
$1.3M
In line with the U.S.
Listings per 10k households
7.7
In line with the U.S.
Population, 2025
2,270,682
+3.4% since 2020

See the gyms around any address in the Kansas City 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 Kansas City 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

At $1,018 per household (4% above the U.S. average), households in the Kansas City metro area spend about $911.8M a year on memberships, classes and admissions. That works out to $1.3M per gym, in line with the U.S. figure of $1.3M. The spending figure covers all memberships, classes and admissions, not only gyms.

The Kansas City metro area has 692 gyms on map listings as of September 2026. Chain locations make up 32% of them, against 28% across the U.S. That is 7.7 per 10,000 households, in line with the U.S. rate of 7.6.

Official counts show 288 businesses with payroll classed as fitness and recreational sports centers in the Kansas City metro area in 2023, up 6.0% from 2019. That is one for every 3,109 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. Since fiscal 2022, 62 SBA-backed loans worth $31.6M have gone to businesses classed as fitness and recreational sports centers in the Kansas City metro area.

Between 2020 and 2025, the population of the Kansas City metro area grew 3.4%, in step with the U.S. (+3.1%). The Groundwork market score for gyms in the Kansas City metro area is 61 (upper middle), #94 of 387 scored metro areas and #2 of 8 scored metro areas based in Missouri. That puts it in the top quarter of metro areas.

How the Kansas City metro area compares

The same measures for Missouri 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 Kansas City, MO-KS metro area compared with Missouri and the U.S.
MeasureKansas City metro areaMissouriU.S.
Listings per 10k households7.77.07.6
Spending per listing$1.3M$1.2M$1.3M
Households per official establishment (all fitness and recreational sports centers)3,1093,5993,109
Official establishment growth, 2019–2023+6.0%+11.3%+5.8%
Population growth, 2020–2025+3.4%+1.9%+3.1%
Spending per household on memberships, classes and admissions$1,018$869$983
Median household income$83,460$70,702$80,734
Groundwork market score6150

Official counts and lending

Businesses

Official establishments, 2019 to 2023
288All fitness and recreational sports centers · +6.0% over the period
Employees, 2023
4,909
Annual payroll, 2023
$78.9M
One-person businesses, 2023
Not publishedNot published for this business type
Map listings, September 2026
692222 chain locations
Listings at the U.S. rate for this spending
701The U.S. ratio of listings to household spending, applied here

SBA-backed loans since fiscal 2022

Loans
62
Amount
$31.6M

SBA-backed loans to businesses classed as fitness and recreational sports centers in the Kansas City 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 Kansas City metro area

Population, 2025 estimate
2,270,682+3.4% since 2020
Households
895,368
Median age
39.1
Homes lived in by their owners
66%
Vehicles per household
1.8
Land area
7,257 sq. mi.
People per square mile
306
Median household income
$83,460+25.3% vs. 2015–2019, before inflation
Average household income
$111,261
Median home value
$287,300
Jobs located here
1,123,972
Daytime population
2,247,861Residents who don’t work, plus everyone whose job is here

Looking at a specific site in the Kansas City 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 Kansas City 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 Missouri for gyms, numbered among those based in Missouri, with the Kansas City metro area marked.

Top metro areas in Missouri

Metro areas in Missouri ranked for gyms by Groundwork market score
MarketScoreListingsPer 10k householdsSpending per listingPopulation growthU.S. rank
1Jefferson City, MO64315.3$1.6M+2.2%#67 of 387
2Kansas City, MO-KS616927.7$1.3M+3.4%#94 of 387
3Cape Girardeau, MO-IL59256.5$1.2M+1.7%#112 of 387
4Joplin, MO-KS52567.0$1M+3.9%#175 of 387
5St. Louis, MO-IL508917.7$1.3M−0.2%#191 of 387
6Columbia, MO47637.3$1.2M+3.9%#224 of 387
7Springfield, MO451678.4$922K+5.1%#249 of 387
8St. Joseph, MO-KS39316.6$1.1M−2.0%#291 of 387

Other business types in the Kansas City metro area

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

Questions

How many gyms are in the Kansas City, MO-KS metro area?

Map listings as of September 2026 show 692 gyms in the Kansas City metro area. 222 of them (32%) are chain locations. The listings count gyms and fitness centers. Official counts show 288 businesses with payroll classed as fitness and recreational sports centers in 2023, up 6.0% from 2019. 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 Kansas City, MO-KS metro area spend on memberships, classes and admissions?

About $911.8M a year, or $1,018 per household. That is 4% above the U.S. average (an index of 104, where 100 is the U.S. average). Spread across the 692 gyms on map listings, it comes to $1.3M 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 895,368 households in the Kansas City metro area and national spending patterns by income.

How does the Kansas City, MO-KS metro area compare with the U.S. for gyms?

The Kansas City metro area has 7.7 gyms per 10,000 households, in line with the U.S. rate of 7.6. Spending per gym is $1.3M, in line with the U.S. figure of $1.3M. At the U.S. ratio of gyms to household spending, the Kansas City metro area would have about 701, against 692 on map listings. There is one business with payroll in the industry for every 3,109 households, against one for every 3,109 across the U.S. The official count rose 6.0% from 2019 to 2023, against +5.8% for the U.S.

How fast is the Kansas City, MO-KS metro area growing?

Population estimates put the Kansas City metro area at 2,270,682 people in 2025, up 3.4% since 2020, in step with the U.S. (+3.1%). It has 895,368 households. Median household income in the Kansas City metro area is $83,460, 3% above the U.S. median of $80,734. Against the 2015–2019 survey, the median rose 25.3%, 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 Kansas City metro area scores 61 for gyms (upper middle), #94 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 Kansas City 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 Kansas City metro area

Screening a site or an acquisition in the Kansas City 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 Kansas City 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.