How Many People Have a Home Gym? (2026 Statistics)

The home gym went from pandemic improvisation to permanent fixture. Spare bedrooms turned into squat racks, garages got rubber flooring, and the question shifted from whether people would keep training at home to how many already are.

Top Home Gym Ownership Statistics (Editor’s Picks)

Home Fitness Equipment Market Growth Over Time

The home fitness equipment market nearly doubled in a year when COVID-19 closed gyms worldwide in 2020, jumping from $6.76 billion to $9.49 billion. 

What made the story unusual was what came next: the market didn't retrace. Rather than returning to its pre-COVID baseline after gyms reopened, it climbed further, reaching $12.81 billion by 2022 and $12.88 billion in 2025, figures from two separate research firms with comparable but not identical market scope. 

The pandemic pulled millions of people into home training for the first time, and most of them stayed, turning a temporary spike into a structural shift. The category is still riding toward a projected $22.99 billion by 2034.

How Many People Have a Home Gym

21% of fitness enthusiasts have a designated home workout space (CivicScience)

21% of Americans reported having a home gym, 3 points higher than those with a traditional gym membership at 18%. The gap reflects a post-pandemic shift toward at-home training, driven primarily by convenience. Free fitness options are still the most common choice, suggesting home gym ownership still sits at an early-adoption stage rather than a majority behavior.

Home Gym Ownership by Age and Housing

Homeowners are far more likely than renters to own home gym equipment, 43% vs. 31% (CivicScience)

Space drives the gap. A garage, basement, or spare room makes a rack feasible in a way a 600-square-foot apartment usually doesn't, and the 12-point spread between owners and renters tracks square footage almost as closely as it tracks income, pointing to housing access as the single biggest barrier to home gym adoption.

63% of 18- to 29-year-olds plan to buy home fitness equipment (CivicScience)

Nearly 2/3 of under-30s expect to add equipment, and their buying intent is running well ahead of older age groups. Brands targeting this cohort keep launching modular, apartment-friendly product lines for exactly this reason, and with this group aging into peak earning years, the demand pipeline behind home gym growth looks durable well past 2026.

The Home Fitness Equipment Market

The global home fitness equipment market is worth $12.88 billion (Fortune Business Insights)

The category is on track to nearly double by 2034, hitting $22.99 billion at a 6.81% annual growth rate. The pandemic spike pulled forward a lot of demand, and the industry spent the years since digesting it without collapsing, a sign that the behavioral shift toward home training has enough staying power to sustain a decade of steady growth.

North America holds 37.46% of the global home fitness equipment market (Fortune Business Insights)

More than a third of every dollar spent on home fitness equipment worldwide is spent in North America. Larger homes, higher disposable incomes, and a fitness culture that runs deep into the suburbs all feed the share, and Asia-Pacific is now the fastest-growing region, meaning the next leg of global growth is coming from consumers who are earlier in the home gym adoption curve.

What a Home Gym Costs

A foundational home gym setup costs $2,530 on average

That covers a bench, a set of weights, and one machine. Strip it back to dumbbells and a pull-up bar, and the bill drops under $400, add a smart cardio piece, and it climbs past $4,000, so the $2,530 average reflects what most people actually buy when they commit rather than the floor or the ceiling.

Average U.S. monthly gym dues hit $69 in 2024, up from $60 (Health & Fitness Association)

At $69 a month, a commercial membership runs $828 a year. The $2,530 home setup pays for itself in roughly 3 1/2 years for a single user and faster for couples or families sharing the space, which is the math most households do before pulling the trigger on their first rack.

Most Popular Home Gym Equipment

Cardio equipment makes up 58.72% of the home fitness equipment market (Fortune Business Insights)

Treadmills, exercise bikes, ellipticals, and rowers account for nearly 6 in 10 dollars spent on home fitness gear. Strength equipment is growing faster, but cardio dominates because the machines carry higher price tags and because most casual buyers start with a treadmill or bike long before they ever touch a barbell.

Home Gyms vs. Commercial Gym Memberships

A record 77 million Americans belonged to a gym in 2024, 25% of those aged 6 and up (Health & Fitness Association)

Commercial gym membership hit an all-time high in 2024, with 1 in 4 Americans aged 6 and older holding a card. Home gyms didn't kill commercial fitness, they sit alongside it, and the record membership number is the clearest evidence that most people treating home training as a replacement are the exception, not the rule.

54% of regular exercisers prefer working out at home (WiFiTalents)

A slim majority say home is their preferred training environment, but preference and behavior don't always match. Plenty still pay for a commercial membership for the equipment variety, the social pull, or the discipline of leaving the house, and that tension between what people prefer and what they actually do explains why both markets keep growing at the same time.

Smart and Connected Home Gym Technology

22% of U.S. households own at least one piece of smart home gym equipment (CivicScience)

1 in 5 American households now owns a connected fitness device, whether that's a smart bike, mirror, rower, or app-linked strength machine. The category moved past early-adopter status, and streaming classes and on-demand coaching turned a one-time hardware purchase into a recurring content subscription that keeps people coming back to the equipment they already own.

Conclusion

The home gym is no longer a pandemic story. 6 in 10 fitness enthusiasts have a dedicated space, 22% of households own smart equipment, and the global market is on track to grow from $12.88 billion to nearly $23 billion by 2034.

The demographic split is the most telling number. 7 in 10 18- to 24-year-olds want their own home gym, and 63% of under-30s plan to buy more equipment. The next decade of home fitness ownership tilts younger, not older.

Commercial gyms aren't losing. They hit a record 77 million US members in 2024. The real shift is that home and commercial training now coexist, with most regular exercisers preferring home but plenty paying for both.

For anyone building or upgrading a setup in Canada, Fitness Avenue stocks the racks, treadmills, weights, and accessories that make up most of the $2,530 average build, with options across every budget tier in this article.

FAQ

What percentage of people have a home gym?

About 21% of Americans have a home gym. Among under-30s, 63% plan to add home fitness equipment in the near term, and homeowners are significantly more likely to own equipment than renters, 43% vs. 31%.

Are home gyms becoming more popular?

Yes. The global home fitness equipment market is forecast to grow from $12.88 billion in 2025 to $22.99 billion by 2034 at a 6.81% annual rate. Buyer intent among under-30s reinforces that trajectory, with 63% of that cohort planning to add home fitness equipment in the near term.

What is the 3-3-3 rule at the gym?

The 3-3-3 rule is a beginner structure: 3 workouts per week, 3 exercises per session, 3 sets per exercise. It keeps volume within what new lifters can recover from and reduces the form breakdowns that drive most early-career injuries, making it a practical starting point for anyone building a routine around a home setup.

What is the 70/30 rule in the gym?

The 70/30 rule says fitness results come 70% from diet and 30% from training. The exact split is more rule of thumb than science, but the underlying point holds: no amount of home gym equipment or commercial gym access will compensate for consistently poor nutrition.