Groundwork

Fitness and classes · Metro area · Wisconsin

Gyms in the La Crosse-Onalaska, WI-MN metro area

Competitor counts, household spending and official business counts for gyms in the La Crosse-Onalaska, WI-MN metro area, set against other metro areas and the U.S.

Groundwork market score · out of 100

Score 29 out of 100: Lower middle

Ranked #351 of 387 scored metro areas
#13 of 13 scored metro areas based in Wisconsin

Listings
65
24 chain locations (37%)
Official establishments
29
All fitness and recreational sports centers · +8.0% since 2019
Household spending a year
$62.7M
On memberships, classes and admissions · $870 a household
Spending per listing
$964K
26% below the U.S.
Listings per 10k households
9.0
18% above the U.S.
Population, 2025
171,182
+0.4% since 2020

See the gyms around any address in the La Crosse-Onalaska 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 La Crosse-Onalaska 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

For gyms, the La Crosse-Onalaska metro area has a Groundwork market score of 29 (lower middle): #351 of 387 scored metro areas and #13 of 13 scored metro areas based in Wisconsin. That puts it in the bottom quarter of metro areas.

Map listings as of September 2026 show 65 gyms in the La Crosse-Onalaska metro area. Chain locations make up 37% of them, against 28% across the U.S. Per 10,000 households, that is 9.0, 18% above the U.S. rate of 7.6.

Households in the La Crosse-Onalaska metro area spend about $62.7M a year on memberships, classes and admissions, or $870 per household, 12% below the U.S. average. Spread across 65 gyms, that is $964K per gym, 26% below the U.S. figure of $1.3M. That spending covers all memberships, classes and admissions, which gyms share with other businesses in the trade.

The official count of businesses with payroll classed as fitness and recreational sports centers in the La Crosse-Onalaska metro area was 29 in 2023, up 8.0% from 2019. That is one for every 2,485 households, against one for every 3,109 across the U.S. The official count takes in all fitness and recreational sports centers, not only gyms: yoga, Pilates and fitness studios are counted too. Since fiscal 2022, 5 SBA-backed loans worth $377K have gone to businesses classed as fitness and recreational sports centers in the La Crosse-Onalaska metro area. Between 2020 and 2025, the population of the La Crosse-Onalaska metro area grew 0.4%, slower than the U.S. (+3.1%).

How the La Crosse-Onalaska metro area compares

The same measures for Wisconsin 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 La Crosse-Onalaska, WI-MN metro area compared with Wisconsin and the U.S.
MeasureLa Crosse-Onalaska metro areaWisconsinU.S.
Listings per 10k households9.07.47.6
Spending per listing$964K$1.2M$1.3M
Households per official establishment (all fitness and recreational sports centers)2,4852,9663,109
Official establishment growth, 2019–2023+8.0%+9.1%+5.8%
Population growth, 2020–2025+0.4%+1.3%+3.1%
Spending per household on memberships, classes and admissions$870$921$983
Median household income$73,340$77,485$80,734
Groundwork market score2941

Official counts and lending

Businesses

Official establishments, 2019 to 2023
29All fitness and recreational sports centers · +8.0% over the period
Employees, 2023
639
Annual payroll, 2023
$9.8M
One-person businesses, 2023
Not publishedNot published for this business type
Map listings, September 2026
6524 chain locations
Listings at the U.S. rate for this spending
48The U.S. ratio of listings to household spending, applied here

SBA-backed loans since fiscal 2022

Loans
5
Amount
$377K

SBA-backed loans to businesses classed as fitness and recreational sports centers in the La Crosse-Onalaska 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 La Crosse-Onalaska metro area

Population, 2025 estimate
171,182+0.4% since 2020
Households
72,055
Median age
40.6
Homes lived in by their owners
68%
Vehicles per household
1.8
Land area
1,796 sq. mi.
People per square mile
95
Median household income
$73,340
Average household income
$96,598
Median home value
$247,400
Jobs located here
86,774
Daytime population
175,958Residents who don’t work, plus everyone whose job is here

Looking at a specific site in the La Crosse-Onalaska 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.

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The highest-scoring metro areas in Wisconsin for gyms, numbered among those based in Wisconsin (a market based in another state is listed without a number), with the La Crosse-Onalaska metro area marked.

Top metro areas in Wisconsin

Metro areas in Wisconsin ranked for gyms by Groundwork market score
MarketScoreListingsPer 10k householdsSpending per listingPopulation growthU.S. rank
1Wausau, WI67366.2$1.4M+1.0%#56 of 387
2Racine-Mount Pleasant, WI64435.3$1.7M+0.4%#66 of 387
Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI601,2588.5$1.4M+2.6%#101 of 387
3Kenosha, WI59497.1$1.3M−0.4%#108 of 387
4Sheboygan, WI58285.6$1.5M0.0%#116 of 387
5Oshkosh-Neenah, WI57405.5$1.6M+1.4%#122 of 387
6Janesville-Beloit, WI57477.0$1.2M+1.7%#125 of 387
7Appleton, WI55676.7$1.5M+2.7%#137 of 387
8Madison, WI542538.4$1.3M+4.1%#149 of 387
9Green Bay, WI53916.7$1.4M+2.5%#157 of 387
13La Crosse-Onalaska, WI-MN29659.0$964K+0.4%#351 of 387

Other business types in the La Crosse-Onalaska metro area

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

Questions

How many gyms are in the La Crosse-Onalaska, WI-MN metro area?

There are 65 gyms on map listings in the La Crosse-Onalaska metro area as of September 2026. 24 of them (37%) are chain locations. The listings count gyms and fitness centers. Official counts show 29 businesses with payroll classed as fitness and recreational sports centers in 2023, up 8.0% from 2019. That count covers all fitness and recreational sports centers (yoga, Pilates and fitness studios included), not only gyms.

How much do households in the La Crosse-Onalaska, WI-MN metro area spend on memberships, classes and admissions?

About $62.7M a year, or $870 per household. That is 12% below the U.S. average (an index of 88, where 100 is the U.S. average). Spread across the 65 gyms on map listings, it comes to $964K per gym. The spending figure covers all memberships, classes and admissions, not only gyms. It is estimated from the incomes of the 72,055 households in the La Crosse-Onalaska metro area and national spending patterns by income.

How does the La Crosse-Onalaska, WI-MN metro area compare with the U.S. for gyms?

The La Crosse-Onalaska metro area has 9.0 gyms per 10,000 households, 18% above the U.S. rate of 7.6. Spending per gym is $964K, 26% below the U.S. figure of $1.3M. At the national ratio of gyms to household spending, the La Crosse-Onalaska metro area would have about 48, against 65 on map listings. There is one business with payroll in the industry for every 2,485 households, against one for every 3,109 across the U.S. The official count rose 8.0% from 2019 to 2023, against +5.8% for the U.S.

How fast is the La Crosse-Onalaska, WI-MN metro area growing?

Population estimates put the La Crosse-Onalaska metro area at 171,182 people in 2025, up 0.4% since 2020, slower than the U.S. (+3.1%). It has 72,055 households. The median household income in the La Crosse-Onalaska metro area is $73,340 a year, 9% below the U.S. median of $80,734.

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 La Crosse-Onalaska metro area scores 29 for gyms (lower middle), #351 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 La Crosse-Onalaska 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 La Crosse-Onalaska metro area

Screening a site or an acquisition in the La Crosse-Onalaska 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 La Crosse-Onalaska 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.