Curious about which cities in the United States have the most health club members? According to the International Health, Racquet & Sportsclub Association (IHRSA), the honors go to Denver for the year 2002.

IHRSA reports that U.S. health club memberships grew to a record 36.3 million members in 2002, up from 33.8 million the previous year. The largest increase was in the over-55 age group, which increased by 23 percent and in 2002 numbered 6.9 million strong.

“I am very encouraged by these findings, and know that the club industry is committed to helping more Americans experience the tremendous benefits of an active lifestyle,” said executive director John McCarthy in a press release announcing these figures.

Here’s the 2002 countdown for the top 10 cities with the highest percentages of residents who are health club members:


Rank City

1 Denver, Colorado

2 San Diego, California

3 Boston, Massachusetts

4 Orlando, Florida

5 Phoenix, Arizona

6 Indianapolis, Minnesota

7 Sacramento, California

8 Los Angeles, California

9 Las Vegas, Nevada

10 Chicago, Illinois

For the complete list and additional information about the data collected in the 2002 IHRSA/American Sports Data Health Club Trend Report, contact www.ihrsa.org.