The holiday season is in the rearview mirror and New Year’s resolutions are near to mind. An overwhelmingly popular resolve is to be more active, with gym memberships recently reaching a record-breaking 77 million in the U.S.1 In Idaho, the fitness industry has grown by 85% over the past decade — increasing from 175 to 324 establishments — and has been directly tied to the state’s notable population growth.2
About one in four Americans participate in the fitness and recreational sports center industry (commonly referred to as the “fitness industry”) which includes gyms, sports clubs, swimming complexes, yoga and Pilates studios, skating rinks and hot springs along with indoor soccer, tennis and pickleball courts.3
Industry seasonality and consumer demographics
It is easy to assume that after the New Year, or during Q1 (January-March), Idaho’s gyms must be in high demand due to an abundance of health-related resolutions. However, when looking at seasonal employment levels, this does not appear to be the case.
As shown in Figure 1 below, apart from 2020, employment levels are most frequently the highest in Q3 (July – September), and lowest in Q1, indicating less consumer demand around New Year’s.2
Figure 1. Idaho’s fitness industry, average employment by quarter
Source: Idaho Department of Labor, Quarterly Census of Employment & Wages (QCEW), 2015-2025.
Note: this only includes data through 2025 Q3. Employers have yet to submit Q4 2025 QCEW which is due the month after quarter ends.
The seasonality of the fitness industry’s employment levels could be partially explained by consumer age. When looking at the U.S. overall, people 25 and younger have comprised the largest growth in gym membership usage since 2015, increasing from 22.9% of members to 30.8% in 2024, as shown in Figure 2.4
Figure 2. Share of health and fitness club members in the U.S. from 2015-2024, by age
Source: Statista 2025, published November 2025.
Since the share of younger gym-goers continues to grow and impact the fitness industry, this could explain the decrease in demand for employees post-New Year’s. This is because the youngest age bracket is less likely to have disposable income after the holiday season, thus limiting their ability to join a club around that time and decreasing the need for more employees.
Lower employment levels around winter could also be explained by more people choosing to forego their gym memberships in favor of popular seasonal sports in Idaho like snow shoeing, cross country skiing, back country skiing and downhill skiing.
Industry employment over the past decade
Despite employment per establishment falling from 16 workers in 2015 to 15 workers in 2025, the average employment in Idaho’s fitness industry overall has grown by 75% over the past decade. In 2015, the fitness industry employed an average of approximately 2,800 people. In the first three quarters of 2025, this average increased to just over 4,900 people, an uptick of 5.8% on an average annualized basis.2
As can be seen in Figure 3, from 2015-2019, gym employment levels were growing rather steadily. Then, from 2019-2020, the pandemic resulted in a decrease in employment levels due to fewer people attending gyms.2
The leveling off of employment levels seen after the pandemic, especially from 2023-2025, could be a result of people adopting different exercise approaches. For example, the pandemic created a need for video classes that have since stuck around. Now, a gym member might concurrently subscribe to a digital platform or own home equipment. This dual approach didn’t really exist at scale pre-2020.1
Figure 3 – Idaho’s fitness industry, covered annual average employment levels and change
Source: Idaho Department of Labor, Quarterly Census of Employment & Wages
Average wages and job postings
Over the past decade, average annual wages for the fitness and recreational sports center industry have significantly increased — going from approximately $13,500 in 2015 to just over $25,000 in 2024. In 2023 specifically, the average wage grew over the year by a substantial $3,400 or 16%.2
The most popular occupation within the industry is exercise trainers and group fitness instructors — responsible for 36% of all fitness jobs5 and an estimated 1,370 employees statewide. These positions have a median wage of $22 an hour, which is the same as the state’s average median wage.6
Overall, the industry does not have a lot of large employers and the occupations in its staffing pattern are typically part time, therefore better suited as side-gigs or training for entrepreneurs who plan to open gyms in the future.
Generally, online job postings are low for the fitness industry compared with the state’s overall number of job postings. For example, there were 162 unique postings for exercise trainers and group fitness instructors in 2025 out of the 191,000 job postings in the state overall.7
Low job posting numbers may be due to the word-of-mouth nature of hiring in the fitness industry — job seekers may be familiar with a facility and apply as a walk in while employers also use referrals to bring in new applicants, particularly for positions such as receptionists and customer service representatives.
Conclusion
Nationally, Gen Z and Millennials have been identified as strongly valuing their health with an estimated 7 out of 10 using fitness facilities.1 This could be why New Year’s resolutions do not seem to carry the same impact as year-round implementation of goals and habit changes, especially with the younger generations.
In summary, the fitness industry is expected to continue its growth trajectory in Idaho but will not likely gain a larger share of total jobs growing in tangent with the economy.
Jan.Roeser@labor.idaho.gov, regional economist
Idaho Department of Labor
208-696-2172
Citations
- “The U.S. Fitness Industry: Membership, Revenue, and Trends in the Post-Pandemic Era, MMCG INVEST, last modified October 2025, https://www.mmcginvest.com/post/the-u-s-fitness-industry-membership-revenue-and-trends-in-the-post-pandemic-era.
- “Quarterly Census of Employment and Wage by Industry, 2015-2025,” Idaho Department of Labor, accessed December 2025, https://lmi.idaho.gov/data-tools/industry-wages/.
- “North American Industry Classification System,” U.S. Census Bureau, last modified January 2026, https://www.census.gov/naics/?input=71&chart=2022&details=71.
- “Share of health and fitness club members in the United States from 2015 to 2024, by age,” Statista, published August 2025, https://www.statista.com/statistics/1244812/gym-member-share-age/?srsltid=AfmBOop6RV2Zu1yTuTIcojUdA48sAP0jr3_QbKrKKb0vWklojqnaHltT.
- “Staffing Patterns,” Lightcast, accessed December 2025, https://lightcast.io/.
- “Occupational Employment and Wage Survey, 2024 released August 2025,” Idaho Department of Labor https://lmi.idaho.gov/data-tools/oews/
- “Help Wanted Online Job Posting Analytics,” Lightcast, accessed December 2025, https://lightcast.io/.
This Idaho Department of Labor project is funded by the U.S. Department of Labor for SFY26 as part of a Workforce Information grant (41%) and state/nonfederal funds (59%) totaling $860,595.
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