Salt Lake has no shortage of gyms
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Salt Lakers have few excuses to skip leg day.
By the numbers: The Salt Lake metro had 16 gyms per 100,000 residents in Q3 2024, outpacing the national average of to 13.6, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Why it matters: Gyms offer city dwellers a way to stay fit, and can serve as "third places" outside home or work.
How it works: These figures represent "fitness and recreational sports centers" in the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages dat.
- Axios looked at metro areas with at least 500,000 residents, for which BLS had sufficient data.
The big picture: Utah ranks among the healthiest states in the nation thanks to its active residents and low rates of smoking and heavy drinking.
Between the lines: Gyms aren't just about fitness in Utah.
- The state is well-known for its image-centric culture.
- Salt Lake City contains more plastic surgeons per capita than Los Angeles, according a 2024 Utah Women & Leadership Project study.
What we're watching: Popular gym chains, like Planet Fitness and Crunch Fitness, are swapping out cardio equipment to make room for more weights — reflecting our "increasingly muscle-obsessed population," as Bloomberg put it