.svg)
Final Four weekend capped off the NCAA “March Madness” basketball tournaments with a full schedule of fan experiences on both the men’s and women’s sides of the ball.
The Women’s Final Four took place between April 4th and 7th, 2024 in Cleveland, Ohio with on-court action at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. “Tourney Town” – an interactive basketball exhibition – ran concurrently at the Huntington Convention Center.
The Men’s Final Four commenced on April 5th at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona, culminating with the championship game on April 8th. The multi-day exhibition “Final Four Fan Fest” took place at the Phoenix Convention Center.
We dove into the location analytics and audience segmentation for visitors to several Final Four events to better understand the fans in attendance throughout the tournament weekend.
The men and women’s Final Four weekend attracted spectators from near and far, with each event attracting a unique mix of out of town tourists and locals.
Both men and women’s championship games attracted a relatively large share of out-of-town guests, likely due to the excitement surrounding a national title game. Analysis of visitors by home location revealed that the men and women’s championship games had the smallest share of visitors from less than 100 miles away – 29.8% and 33.3% respectively. In other words, these two events had the largest share of visitors that lived more than 100 miles from the venues.
The men’s open practice appeared to be more popular with long-distance travelers than the women’s, perhaps because all four men’s teams participated – as opposed to just two at the women’s open practice. The men’s practice was also followed by an all-star game which likely increased its appeal for visitors traveling from afar in the hopes of spotting their favorite players. The data revealed that more than half of the spectators traveled over 250 miles to watch the men’s practice, as opposed to under a quarter of spectators for the women’s practice.
Meanwhile, the women’s experiential exhibition at Huntington Convention Center drew more out-of-towners than the men’s exhibition at Phoenix Convention Center – only 23.3% of visitors to the women’s exhibition came from under 30 miles away, compared to almost half (48.3%) of the men’s exhibition visitors. The larger share of out-of-town visitors to the women’s exhibition may be because the event was close to the arena, making it a more convenient stop for non-local fans. On the other hand, the distance between the men’s exhibition in downtown Phoenix and the stadium in Glendale meant that the off-court experience was more out-of-the-way for tourists who had traveled specifically for the on-court action.
Analysis of Final Four visitors by income level provides further insight into the differences between each event’s fan base. According to the STI: Popstats dataset, the women’s events generally drew visitors from areas with a lower median household income (HHI) compared to the men’s events, although the gaps between the men and women’s visitor bases varied from event to event. Some of the difference in trade area HHI may be due to regional variance and the mix of locals and tourists at each event.
The visitor bases of the men and women’s championship games exhibited the widest disparity, with the men’s championship spectator base coming from areas with a median HHI of $99.9K, compared to $74.6K for the women’s championship’s trade area. The difference may be due to the relatively higher face value of tickets to the men’s championship game – even though the star-power of Iowa’s Caitlin Clark drove up the price of women’s tickets on the secondary market. In contrast, both the men’s and women’s practices and exhibitions were free or nearly free events and drove traffic from relatively lower-income areas – even though visitors to the men’s practice still came from more affluent areas than the trade area of the women’s championship match.
Visitors to the men and women’s convention center exhibition displayed the smallest income differences, with respective trade area median HHI of $80.0K and $76.6K. The data also reveals that visitors to the women’s exhibition came from a trade area with a median HHI that was higher than the median HHI for both the championship game and the open practice, perhaps because the exhibition drew a relatively large share of tourists who could afford to be in town for a slightly longer stay.
Further demographic analysis indicates that a greater share of singles – who tend to be on the younger side – attended the women’s Final Four events than the men’s. During the women’s championship, 41.0% of households in the trade area of the Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse were made up of one-person households. This segment also made up 34.2% and 36.3% of the households in the trade areas of the venues for the women’s practice and exhibition, respectively. On the men’s side, singles comprised just 29.3% of the championship’s trade area, 28.4% of the practice’s, and 27.0% of the exhibition’s.
This reflects the growing popularity of women’s college basketball players on social media which is bringing more viewership to the sport.
Want more data-driven visitor insights for sporting events? Visit Placer.ai.
This blog includes data from Placer.ai Data Version 2.0, which implements improvements to our extrapolation capabilities, adds short visit monitoring, and enhances visit detection.
During last week’s solar eclipse, people from all over the country converged on cities within the path of totality to witness the excitement first hand. And for municipalities and local businesses, the influx of tourists was expected to generate a boon.
But just how did the celestial event impact business activity on the ground? Which sectors benefited from the hype – and which geographic areas saw the biggest visit spikes?
We dove into the data to find out.
On April 8th, 2024, hotels in CBSAs where the eclipse could be viewed in all its glory (or close to it) experienced major visit boosts. And mapping hotel visits on the big day to CBSAs nationwide – compared to year-to-date daily averages – shows just how significant the cosmic alignment was for areas lucky enough to be located along or near the path of totality.
Within metropolitan CBSAs (CBSAs with at least 50,000 residents), Danville, IL – where visitors could either view a near-total eclipse or drive to a nearby location with 100% totality – experienced the biggest jump in Hotel visits, with visits to the category up 111.3%. But urban centers from north to south – including in New York, Indiana, Ohio, Arkansas, and Missouri – also experienced substantial hotel visit spikes.
.avif)
Hotels weren’t the only locations to reap the rewards of the solar eclipse. Fast Food & QSR chains in and around the path of totality enjoyed meaningful April 8th visit spikes of their own. And while the Hotel visit increases were more closely concentrated in prime viewing areas, Fast Food & QSR visits increased along a wider radius as people likely grabbed a bite to eat while making their way to a sun-gazing hotspot.
And the impact of the solar eclipse wasn’t limited to locations located in or near the path of totality. Retailers and dining chains nationwide got in on the action with special deals and limited-time offers meant to make the most of the unique interstellar opportunity.
In the week leading up to April 8th, 2024, Warby Parker drew crowds with the promise of free solar eclipse glasses. And while a burger joint may not be the first place people associate with eyewear, fast food favorite SONIC Drive In also attracted astronomy aficionados with a limited-time Blackout Slush Float that came with free eclipse viewing gear.
Krispy Kreme Doughnuts, for its part, marked the occasion with a limited-edition Total Solar Eclipse Doughnut. And though Mondays aren’t typically busy days for the chain, the special offering produced a clear visit uptick nationwide. In states along the path of totality, Krispy Kreme visits were up 55.5% on April 8th when compared to an average Monday this year, and in the rest of the country they were up 33.9%.
.avif)
For retailers across categories, landmark events from movie launches to cosmic occurrences have the potential to drive visit spikes and generate business. What other big opportunities lie in store for retailers this year?
Follow Placer.ai’s data-driven retail analyses to find out.
This blog includes data from Placer.ai Data Version 2.0, which implements improvements to our extrapolation capabilities, adds short visit monitoring, and enhances visit detection.
This year’s March Madness really lived up to its name, buoyed by the star power of Caitlin Clark, Angel Reese, Paige Bueckers, and Juju Watkins driving viewership to new heights. For the first time in history, the NCAA women’s basketball title drew more viewers than the men’s at 18.9M for the women’s and 14.8M for the men’s, per Nielsen.
Tickets to the Final Four cost $532 on average, an 82% increase over last year, and for the championship game, Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse Stadium in Cleveland, OH was packed to the gills.
In the days leading up to the women’s final, nearby hotels saw visits increase as well.
Last week, we took a look at where the retail sector stood after Q1 2024, with a focus on superstores, home improvement, athletic footwear and apparel, and beauty. This week, to mark the release of short visit data with Placer’s Data Version 2.0 (which better captures visits that lasted 1 minute or longer for QSR/drive-thru locations) and the publishing of our latest dining whitepaper (The QSR Dining Advantage), we thought we’d take closer look at where the restaurant sector stands after Q1 2024.
When we looked at the restaurant category in January, most chains were reporting that visits were down on a year-over-year basis (which was partly a byproduct of inclement weather across much of the country) but that there was a sense of optimism about 2024. Looking at trends by category, we see that operators were justified in this optimism, as visit trends have increased on a year-over-year basis for most categories since late January. After adjusting for calendar shifts for both Valentine’s Day and Easter, we also see strong fine dining visits for these holidays, indicating that consumers remain motivated by holiday and events (a theme we called out several times last year).
We’ve also been fielding several questions about daypart shifts given that the Placer.ai Nationwide Office Building Index (an index of data from some 1,000 office buildings across the country) continued to show an uptick in visits during March 2024 and now stands at about 67.3% of March 2019 visits. Below, we show the percentage of visits by daypart for quick-service restaurant (QSR) and full-service restaurant chains. Given the lift in office visits, it’s not surprising that we continue to see improvement in early morning (6:00 AM-9:00 AM) visits, but it’s notable that we continue to see strength in late morning (9:00 AM-12:00 PM) and afternoon (3:00 PM-6:00 PM) visits. We’ve already seen many QSR chains test new menu items that better address consumer preferences in these dayparts–McDonald's CosMc’s is just one example--and we’d expect more in the months ahead. We also continue to see strength in late night QSR visits, something that we’ve called out in the past. On the full-service dining front, we see 2023 visits still down compared to 2019 levels, but with improvement versus 2021 in most cases. Here, it’s interesting that the afternoon visits to full-service dining chains in 2023 is down only slightly compared to 2019, while the gap during the evening daypart is much wider. This reinforces some of our previous analyses on earlier dining times
With our Data Version 2.0 update, we can now more accurately monitor dwell time by restaurant channel. After bottoming-out in Q2 2020 as most chains shifted to a largely takeout model, we’ve seen dwell time steadily increase across most restaurant channels the past several years. The QSR and fast casual categories remain below pre-pandemic levels, which isn’t a surprise given an increase in drive-thru and takeout orders compared to 2019 levels. Still, some of the operators we’ve spoken to have indicated that drive-thru bottlenecks have become more of an issue in recent quarters, which may reflect in the increase in dwell times for the QSR category the past 4-5 quarters. On the other side of the spectrum, dwell time for casual dining chains has fully recovered. We believe this has been helped by the continued popularity of eatertainment concepts, which have almost twice the average dwell time as most casual dining chains. We also see that fine dining dwell time now exceeds pre-pandemic levels, which may be the result of consumers’ aforementioned focus on holiday/event dining, which tends to drive dwell times higher.
Restaurant chains still face obstacles–the spread between food at home (grocery prices) and food away from home (restaurant prices) remains high and the $20 minimum wage for QSR workers recently went into effect in California (our data does not indicate major visit changes going into effect as it may be too recent for behavioral changes to be noticeable). However, March and early April visitation trends help the optimism that many restaurant operators felt at the beginning of the year. With Panera (and other chains) evaluating a possible IPO and many other brands finally accelerating growth plans (with an increased emphasis on higher-growth markets in the Southern/Southeastern U.S.), we’d expect visitation trends to remain positive on a year-over-year basis in the months to come.
Say the word New Mexico and one might picture the stunning cliff dwellings at Bandelier Monument, rich troves of Native American Pueblo culture, or the stunning artworks of Georgia O’Keefe. This vibrant state’s largest city is Albuquerque, but Santa Fe also lays claim to fame by being the oldest state capital in the United States.
In Albuquerque, a large development is taking place centered around the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center. While one may be a bit surprised at its location, which is within an outdoor shopping center, it serves as a perfect anchoring point for a convention or a leisure trip. The museum features insights into 19 Pueblo cultures, and also hosts an authentic Indian kitchen where one can try indigenous favorites such as red chile beef stew, calabacitas, and assorted fruit pies. There is a Holiday Inn Express & Suites and a Towneplace Suites by Marriott just across the street for those who need accommodations. Meetings, parties, and events can be held onsite with particularly memorable experiences to be had in the outdoor arena and fire pit. One can even hold a wedding at the venue. And in a sign of the convenience store trend we are seeing towards localization, Four Winds offers a walk-in humidor with cigar selection, the ability to fill a growler with local craft beers, and an assortment of food, beer, wine, liquor, and tobacco.
Further afield, an hour away in Santa Fe, visitors flock to the galleries galore, restaurants and bars like Coyote Cantina, or simply enjoy an ice cream while people watching at Santa Fe Plaza. One of the highlights for opera lovers around the world is coming to Santa Fe Opera House during its season, which runs from the end of June to the end of August. Here, one can enjoy the unique open-air aspect of the opera house while sobbing along to the sad fate of Violetta in La Traviata.
Junior Rangers might enjoy exploring Carlsbad Caverns, Aztec Ruins National Monument, or venture to Petroglyph National Monument. Adults seeking R&R can ski the day away in Taos or opt for a therapeutic visit to Ojo Caliente Mineral Springs Resort & Spa. A review of the resort describes it as “Just you, the blue New Mexico sky, peace and quiet.” Add to that a massage or spa treatment, and it sounds like just what the doctor ordered.
One of the major employers in New Mexico is Los Alamos National Laboratory. A visit to the National Historic Park there will take you on an intriguing journey of key sites that were relevant to the Manhattan Project. Between last summer’s Oppenheimer blockbuster and current global sensation The Three-Body Problem fanning interest in cutting-edge science, this is a must-see location.
Albertsons Companies is one of the largest grocers in the country, with around 20 grocery banners in its portfolio boasting around 2,200 stores in 34 states. Aside from its eponymous brand, Albertsons, the company owns major chains like Safeway and Vons, as well as smaller regional banners.
With Q1 2024 under wraps, we take a closer look at visit trends to some of Albertsons Companies’ main banners, examine the top-performing chains by state, and dive into the demographics in the company’s two largest markets.
Diving into 2023’s visits shows that the company’s eight major banners – Albertsons, Safeway, Vons, Jewel-Osco, ACME Markets, Shaw's Supermarket, United Supermarkets, and Tom Thumb – enjoyed year-over-year (YoY) visit growth during every quarters of the year. Visits to Jewel-Osco, and Shaw’s Supermarket were particularly elevated, with Q4 2023 visits YoY up 5.8%, and 5.9%, respectively.
.avif)
Albertsons Companies’ positive performance has continued in 2024. Visits to most of the chains remained positive YoY in January despite the chilling retail impact of early 2024’s arctic blast, and all banners saw significant growth in February and March.
.avif)
Albertsons Companies is headquartered in Boise, Idaho, and its eponymous banner is highly popular in the western United States. But the company has also gained a foothold in the South, Midwest, Mid-Atlantic, and Northeast – and solidified its dominance in the West – through several successful mergers.
The company’s strategy of acquiring regional channels means that most states now have an Albertsons Companies’ banner catering to local grocery shoppers. Nationwide, the company’s most visited chains are Albertsons and Safeway – likely due to the sheer number of locations – but regional chains like Tom Thumb in Texas and Jewel-Osco in the Midwest are still the reigning Albertsons Companies banners in their areas.
California and Texas, the country's two most populous states, also boast the highest number of Albertsons Companies-owned grocery chains. Analyzing the demographic differences between the trade areas of the top three Albertsons Companies banners in each of the two states shows how the company leverages its banner variety to reach a larger audience.
According to the STI:Popstats 2023 dataset, the median household income (HHI) in Texas is $75.9K. Two of the top three Albertsons Companies’ banners in the state had a trade area median HHI below the Texas statewide median – United Supermarkets at $58.7K/year, and Albertsons at $68.3K/year – while Tom Thumb drew visitors from neighborhoods with a median HHI of $99.5K. And in California, although all three most visited Albertsons Companies banners drew visitors from neighborhoods with a median income above the statewide median, the trade area HHI also exhibited a range – from $99.2K/year for Albertsons to $115.0K/year for Safeway.
The variance in median HHI by banner and state highlights the benefit of operating grocery banners that can attract a range of shoppers from all along the income scale. By offering shopping options that cater to shoppers of all kinds, Albertsons Companies can hope to maximize its market reach and attract a diverse array of consumers.
.png)
Albertsons Companies has set up shop across the country and offers a wide range of shoppers multiple grocery experiences across regions and price points. Will its grocery banners continue to see elevated foot traffic into 2024?
Visit placer.ai to stay on top of the latest grocery developments.
This blog includes data from Placer.ai Data Version 2.0, which implements improvements to our extrapolation capabilities, adds short visit monitoring, and enhances visit detection.
1. Shoppers are taking more, shorter trips to grocery stores. Over the past 12 months, grocery stores have experienced nearly uniform YoY visit growth. And since COVID, the segment has steadily increased both overall visits and average visits per location – even as average dwell times have consistently declined.
2. Grocery stores are holding ground against fierce competition. Despite growing inroads by discount and dollar stores, wholesale clubs, and general mass retailers like Walmart and Target, grocery stores have maintained their share of the overall food-at-home visit pie over the past several years.
3. Grocery visit share is most pronounced on the coasts. In Q1 2025, grocery stores claimed the majority of food-at-home visits on the West Coast, in parts of the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic, and Mountain Regions, and in Florida and Michigan.
4. Fresh-format, value, and ethnic grocery visit shares are growing at the expense of traditional chains. And in Q1 2025, fresh-format and value grocers outperformed the other sub-segments with positive YoY visit and average visit-per-location growth.
5. Hispanic markets are on the rise. Though the broader ethnic grocery sub-segment was essentially flat YoY in Q1 2025, Hispanic-focused stores recorded increases in both visits and visits per location – and have been steadily growing visits since 2021.
6. Smaller formats for the win. In Q1 2025, smaller-format grocery store locations outpaced mid-sized and larger-format ones, underscoring the power of compact spaces to deliver significant foot traffic gains.
Brick-and-mortar grocery stores face an uncertain market in 2025. Rising food-at-home prices (eggs, anyone?), declining consumer confidence, and increased competition from discounters, superstores, and online shopping channels all present the segment with significant headwinds. Yet even in the face of these challenges, the sector has demonstrated remarkable resilience – growing its foot traffic and holding onto visit share.
What strategies have helped the segment navigate today’s tough market? And how can industry stakeholders make the most of the opportunities in the current market? This report draws on the latest location intelligence to uncover the trends shaping grocery retail in early 2025 – highlighting insights to help key players make informed, data-driven decisions on store formats, product offerings, and more.
The grocery segment has experienced nearly uniform positive year-over-year (YoY) growth over the last 12 months. This sustained performance in the face of inflation and other headwinds highlights the underlying strength of the category.
What is driving this growth? Since 2022, the grocery segment has seen consistent overall visit growth that has outpaced increases in visits per location – a sign that chain expansion has played a key role in the category’s success. But the average number of visits to each grocery store has also been on the rise, indicating that the segment continues to expand without cannibalizing existing store traffic.
At the same time, visitor dwell times have been steadily dropping since 2021. This shift appears to reflect a trend towards multiple, shorter trips by inflation-wary consumers eager to avoid large, costly carts or cherry pick deals across various retailers. Many shoppers may also be placing more bulk orders online and supplementing those deliveries with brief in-store stops for additional items as needed.
The bottom line: Shoppers are taking more grocery trips overall each year, but spending less time in-store during each visit. Operators can respond to this trend by optimizing layouts and promoting “grab-and-go” areas for an even more efficient quick-trip experience.
Visit share data also shows that despite fierce competition from discount and dollar stores, wholesalers, and general mass retailers, the grocery segment has steadfastly preserved its share of the overall food-at-home visit pie.
Between Q1 2019 and Q1 2025, wholesale clubs and discount and dollar stores increased their share of total food-at-home visits, gains that have come primarily at the expense of Walmart and Target. Meanwhile, grocery outlets have held firm – despite some fluctuations over the years, their Q1 2019 visit share remained essentially unchanged in Q1 2025.
So even as consumers flock to alternative food purveyors in search of lower prices, grocery stores aren’t losing ground – and on a nationwide level, they remain the biggest player by far in the food-at-home shopping space.
Still, grocery store visit share varies significantly by region. On the West Coast, in parts of the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic, and Mountain regions, and in Florida and Michigan, grocery stores accounted for the majority of food-at-home visits in Q1 2025. Oregon (61.6%) and Washington (59.6%) led the pack, followed by Massachusetts (59.2%), Vermont (58.5%), and California (57.9%). Meanwhile, in West Virginia, Arkansas, South Dakota, Oklahoma, North Dakota, and Mississippi, less than 30% of food-at-home traffic went to grocery stores, with more shoppers in these regions turning to general mass retailers or discounters.
Grocery store operators in lower-grocery-share regions may choose to focus on price competitiveness and convenient store locations to capture more foot traffic from competitors in the space.
Which types of grocery stores are thriving the most? The grocery segment is diverse, encompassing traditional grocery chains like Kroger, Safeway, and H-E-B; budget-oriented value chains such as Aldi, WinCo Foods, Grocery Outlet Bargain Market, and Market Basket; fresh-format specialty brands like Trader Joe’s, Whole Foods, and Sprouts Farmers Market; and numerous ethnic grocers.
Examining shifts in visit share among these various grocery store segments shows that traditional grocery still dominates, commanding over 70.0% of total grocery store foot traffic.
Still, over the past several years, traditional grocers have gradually ceded ground to other segments – especially value chains. Budget grocers saw a temporary surge in visits during the panic-buying days of early 2020 – and have been more gradually gaining visit share since Q1 2023. . Fresh-format banners, which lost ground in 2021 after a Q1 2020 bump, in the wake of COVID, have also been on the upswing and appear poised to capture additional visit share in the coming months and years. And though ethnic grocers still account for a relatively small portion of the overall market, they have slightly increased their visit share, reflecting heightened consumer interest in these specialized offerings.
Recent performance metrics point to a bifurcation in the grocery market similar to that observed in other retail categories. In Q1 2025, fresh-format and value retailers – which appeal, respectively, to the most and least affluent visitor bases – saw the greatest growth in both overall visits and average visits per location.
This trend highlights the power of both value and health-focused quality to motivate consumers in 2025. And grocery players that can meet these needs will be well-positioned for success in the months ahead.
One factor fueling fresh-format’s success may be its role as a convenient, relatively affordable midday lunch destination for the remote work crowd.
In Q1 2025, consumers working from home accounted for 20.2% of fresh-format grocery stores’ captured market – a significantly higher share than any other analyzed grocery segment. These stores also tended to be busier midday than the other segments. Remote workers may be stopping by to grab a quick bite – and some may be choosing to do their grocery shopping during their lunch break when stores are less crowded.
This finding suggests an opportunity for grocery operators across all segments to develop or enhance in-store salad bars and quick-serve sections to tap into the lunch rush. Likewise, CPG companies may benefit from developing more ready-made, nutritious meal options that align with these midday dining habits.
Though the broader ethnic grocery category remained essentially flat in Q1 2025, Hispanic-focused grocers emerged as a sub-segment to watch. Both overall visits and average visits per location to these stores have been on the rise since 2021.
This robust demand presents an opportunity for CPG brands and grocers across segments to expand Hispanic-focused offerings, capturing a slice of this growing market.
Finally, store size matters more than ever in 2025. During the first quarter of the year, smaller format grocery store locations (locations under 30K square feet, across different chains) outpaced larger stores with a 3.2% YoY jump in visits, showing that bigger isn’t always better in the grocery store space.
This pattern aligns with the decrease in dwell times noted above – shoppers may be making shorter trips to smaller, more convenient grocery store locations. These quick errands are ideal for picking up a few items to supplement online orders, shopping multiple deals, or sourcing specialty products unavailable at larger grocery destinations. And to lean into this trend, grocery operators might consider testing neighborhood “micro-store” concepts, focusing on curated selections, and offering convenient parking or pickup to match consumer preferences for targeted purchases and quicker trips.
Location intelligence reveals a growing, dynamic grocery landscape which is holding its ground in the face of increased competition. Shorter trips, busier lifestyles, and changing work routines are reshaping in-store experiences. And grocery players that refine their store formats, target both lunch and on-the-go shoppers, and adapt to shifting demographics can position themselves to thrive in this competitive sector. As the market continues to evolve, continuous attention to these changing patterns will be key to maintaining and expanding market share.
1. Elevated visitor frequency could mean that gym-goers are getting more value out of their memberships and are therefore more likely to stay signed up. Between January and March 2025, all of the gym chains analyzed had a higher share of frequent visitors (those who visited about once a week) than in the equivalent month of 2024.
2. Fitness chains at all price tiers need to be strategic about the value they offer and the amenities that can engage budget-conscious consumers. Between Q1 2022 and Q1 2025, the captured trade area median HHI increased for all fitness subsegments – value-priced, mid-range, and high-end – suggesting that consumers swapped pricier gym memberships for more affordable options.
3. Close attention should be paid to how long visitors spend at fitness chains in order to reduce crowding and bottlenecks. Between Q1 2022 and Q1 2025, the average visit length increased at value-priced, mid-range, and high-end gyms. Floorplan and equipment improvements could be considered, as well as having trainers available to help gym-goers streamline workouts.
4. Gyms can use hourly visit data to better serve their members or use promotions to stabilize facility usage throughout the day. In Q1 2025, high-end chains received a larger share of morning visits while value-priced and mid-range fitness chains received larger shares of evening visits.
Like many industries in recent years, the fitness sector has experienced significant shifts in consumer behavior. From the rise in home workouts during the pandemic to the strain of hyper-inflation, foot traffic trends to gyms and health clubs have been as dynamic as the consumers they serve.
This report leverages location analytics to explore the consumer trends driving visitation in the fitness space and provides actionable insights for industry stakeholders.
The pandemic drove several shifts in the fitness space. Widespread gym closures led consumers to embrace home-based workouts, while demand for all things fitness increased due to an emphasis on overall health and wellness. This subsequently drove a renewed interest in gym-based workouts as restrictions lifted – even as some consumers remained committed to their home workout routines.
In Q1 2023, visits to fitness chains surpassed Q1 2019 levels for the first time since the onset of the pandemic, a sign that consumers had recommitted to out-of-home fitness. And in Q1 2024 and Q1 2025, fitness chains saw further growth, climbing to 12.8% and 15.5% above the Q1 2019 baseline, respectively.
Several factors have likely driven consumers’ return to gyms and health clubs, including the desire for both social connection and professional-grade facilities difficult to replicate at home. The steep increase in cost of living has likely also played a role, since consumers cutting back on discretionary spending can enjoy multiple outings and a range of recreational activities at the gym for one monthly fee.
Zooming in on weekly visits to the fitness space in Q1 2025 reveals the industry’s exceptional strength and resilience in the early part of the year.
The fitness industry experienced YoY visit growth nearly every week of Q1 2025 (and 2.4% YoY visit growth overall) with only minor visit gaps the weeks of January 20th, 2025 and February 17th, 2025 – likely due to extreme weather that prevented many Americans from hitting the gym.
And the fitness industry’s weekly visit growth appeared to strengthen throughout the quarter, defying the typical waning of New Year's resolutions. This could indicate that gym visits haven't plateaued and that consumers are demonstrating greater commitment to their fitness routines compared to last year.
Diving into visitation patterns for leading fitness chains highlights how increased visitor frequency drove foot traffic growth in Q1 2025.
Fitness chains tend to receive the most visits during the first months of the year as consumers recommit to health and wellness in their post-holidays New Year’s resolutions. And not only do more people hit the gym – analyzing the data reveals that gym-goers also typically work out more frequently during this period. Zooming in on 2025 so far suggests that consumers are especially committed to their fitness routines this year: Leading gyms saw an increase in the proportion of frequent visitors (4+ times a month) in Q1 2025 compared to the already significant percentage of frequent visitors in the first quarter of 2024.
Elevated visitor frequency could mean that gym-goers are getting more value out of their memberships than last year, and are therefore more likely to stay signed up throughout the year.
At the same time, the data also reveals that – contrary to what may be expected – a fitness chain’s share of frequent visitors appears to be independent of the cost of membership associated with the club: Life Time, a high-end club, and EōS Fitness, a value-priced gym, had the highest shares of frequent visitors between January 2024 and March 2025. This suggests that factors other than cost, such as location convenience, class offerings, community, or individual motivation, might be more influential in driving frequent gym attendance.
Segmenting the fitness industry by membership price tiers – value-priced, mid-range, and high-end – can reveal further insights on current consumer behavior around out-of-home fitness.
In Q1 2025, the captured market* median household income (HHI) was higher than the nationwide median HHI ($79.6K/year) across all price tiers – suggesting that even value-priced fitness chains are attracting a relatively affluent audience. This could indicate that gym memberships are somewhat of a luxury and that consumers from lower-income households gave up their gym memberships altogether as they tightened their purse strings.
Analyzing the historical data since Q1 2022 also reveals that the captured market median HHI has risen consistently over the past couple of years with the largest median HHI increase observed in the captured trade areas of high-end fitness chains. This suggests that middle-income households – that are more sensitive to the rising cost of living – likely swapped pricier gym memberships for more affordable options in recent years.
These metrics indicate that fitness chains at all price tiers need to think strategically about the value they offer and the amenities that can engage budget-conscious consumers who are carefully weighing every expenditure.
*Captured trade area is obtained by weighting the census block groups (CBGs) from which the chain draws its visitors according to their share of visits to the chain and thus reflects the population that visits the chain in practice.
Fitness clubs of all types need to manage their capacity to ensure health and safety standards and a positive experience for members. And understanding the average amount of time visitors spend at the gym can help fitness chains at every price point keep their finger on the pulse of their facilities.
Between Q1 2022 and Q1 2025, the average visit length increased at value-priced, mid-range, and high-end gyms. Value-priced gyms experienced the largest increase in average visit length – from 72.4 minutes in Q1 2022 to 74.0 minutes in Q1 2025 – perhaps due to their relatively lower-income visitors spending more time enjoying club amenities after cutting back on other forms of recreation. Meanwhile, mid-range and high-end gyms experienced relatively modest increases in average visit length, which were higher to begin with – likely due to their ample class and spa offerings and overall inviting, upscale spaces.
Elevated average visit length could mean that visitors are well-engaged and less likely to cancel their memberships. But as overall gym visits are on the rise, fitness chains may want to pay close attention to how long visitors spend at the facility. Floorplan and equipment improvements could be considered in order to reduce bottlenecks, and having trainers available to instruct on equipment usage and workout technique could help gym-goers streamline workouts.
Along with average visit length, understanding the daypart in which they receive the most visits is another way that fitness chains can improve efficiency and prevent overcrowding. And analysis of the hourly visits to fitness sub-segments revealed that some fitness segments receive more morning visits while others are more popular in the evenings.
In Q1 2025, high-end chains received a larger share of visits between 6 a.m. and 9 a.m. (19.7%) than value-priced and mid-range fitness chains (11.6% and 11.8%, respectively). Meanwhile, value-priced and mid-range fitness chains received larger shares of visits between 6 p.m. and 9 p.m. (21.9% and 22.2%) than high-end chains (16.5%).
Gyms can leverage this data to better serve members, for instance by scheduling more classes during peak hours. Value-priced and mid-range gyms, which saw a larger disparity between shares of morning and evening visits in Q1 2025, might also consider incentivizing off-peak usage through discounted morning memberships or early-bird snack bar deals.
The fitness space appears to be in good shape in 2025. Visits have made a full recovery from the pandemic era and still continue to grow, indicating strong consumer demand for out-of-home workouts. And using location intelligence to analyze the behavior and demographics of visitors to gyms at different price points can help identify opportunities for driving even greater success.
1. Idaho and South Carolina have emerged as significant domestic migration magnets over the past four years. Between January 2021 and 2025, both states gained over 3.0% of their populations through domestic migration. Other Mountain and Sun Belt states – including Nevada, Montana, and Florida – also drew significant inflow, while California, New York, and Illinois experienced the greatest outmigration.
2. Interstate migration cooled noticeably in 2024. During the 12-month period ending January 2025, California, New York and Illinois saw their outflows slow dramatically, while domestic migration hotspots like Georgia, Texas, and Florida saw inflows flatten to zero. A similar cooling trend emerged on a CBSA level.
3. Still, some states continued to see notable relocation activity over the past year. In 2024, Idaho, South Carolina, and North Dakota drew the most relocators relative to their populations. And among the nation’s ten largest states, North Carolina led with an inflow of 0.4%.
4. Phoenix remained a rare bright spot among the nation’s ten largest metro areas. The CBSA was the only major analyzed hub to maintain positive net domestic migration through 2024.
Over the past several years, the United States has experienced significant domestic migration shifts, driven by factors like remote work, housing affordability, and regional economic opportunities. As some areas reap the benefits of population inflows, others grapple with outflows tied to higher living costs and evolving workplace dynamics.
This report dives into the location analytics to explore where Americans have moved since 2021 – and how these patterns began to change in 2024.
Since 2021, Americans have flocked toward warmer climates, expansive natural scenery, and more affordable housing options – particularly in the Mountain and Sun Belt states.
Between January 2021 and January 2025, South Carolina led the nation in positive net domestic migration – drawing an influx of newcomers equivalent to 3.6% of its January 2025 population. (This metric is referred to as a state’s “net migrated percent of population.”) Next in line was Idaho with a 3.4% net migrated percent of population, followed by Nevada, (2.8%), Montana (2.8%), Florida (2.1%), South Dakota (2.1%), Wyoming (2.0%), North Carolina (2.0%), and Tennessee (1.9%). Texas saw positive net migration of just 0.9% during the same period. However, the Lone Star State’s large overall population means a substantial number of newcomers in absolute terms.
Meanwhile, California (-2.2%), New York (-2.1%), and Illinois (-1.9%) experienced the greatest outflows relative to their populations. This exodus was driven largely by soaring housing costs and the rise of remote work, which lowered barriers to moving out of high-priced areas.
Between January 2024 and January 2025, many of the same broad patterns persisted, but at a more moderate clip – suggesting a stabilization of domestic migration nationwide. This leveling off could reflect factors such as rising mortgage interest rates, which dampened home buying and selling, as well as the increased push for employees to return to the office.
Still, South Carolina (+0.6%) and Idaho (+0.6%) remained among the top inflow states. The two hotspots were joined – and slightly surpassed – by North Dakota (+0.8%), where even modest waves of newcomers make a big impact due to the state’s lower population base. A wealth of affordable housing and a strong job market have positioned North Dakota as a particularly attractive destination for U.S. relocators in recent years. And Microsoft and Amazon’s establishment of major presences around Fargo has strengthened the region’s economy.
Meanwhile, California (-0.3%), New York (-0.2%), and Illinois (-0.1%) continued to post negative net migration, but at a markedly slower rate than in prior years. And notably, several states that had been struggling with outflow, such as Michigan, Minnesota, Virginia, Ohio, and Oregon, began showing minor positive inflow during the same 12-month window. As home affordability erodes in pandemic-era hot spots like the Mountain states and Sun Belt, these areas may emerge as new destinations for Americans seeking lower costs of living.
Zooming in on the ten most populous U.S. states offers an even clearer picture of how domestic migration patterns have stabilized over the past year. The graph below shows a side-by-side comparison of domestic migration patterns during the 36-month period ending January 2024 and the 12-month period ending January 2025.
California, New York, and Illinois saw population outflows slow dramatically during the 12 months ending January 2025 – while domestic migration magnets such as Georgia, Texas, and Florida saw inflow flatten to zero. Meanwhile, Ohio, Michigan, and Pennsylvania flipped from slightly negative to slightly positive net migration – incremental upticks that could signal a possible turnaround.
The only “Big Ten” pandemic-era migration magnet to maintain strong inflow in 2024 was North Carolina – which saw a 0.4% influx in 2024 as a result of interstate moves.
A closer look at the top four states receiving outmigration from California and New York (October 2020 to October 2024) reveals that residents leaving both states tended to settle in nearby areas or in Florida.
Among those leaving New York, 37.4% ended up in neighboring states – 21.1% moved to New Jersey, 9.2% to Pennsylvania, and 7.1% to Connecticut. But an astonishing 28.8% decamped all the way to the Sunshine State, trading the Northeast’s colder climate for Florida sunshine.
Similarly, 20.1% of California leavers chose to stay nearby, moving to Nevada (11.5%) or Arizona (8.6%). Another 19.1% moved to Texas, and 8.0% moved to Florida, making it the fourth-largest destination for Californians.
Zooming in on CBSA-level data – focusing on the nation’s ten largest metropolitan areas, all with over five million people – reveals a similar picture of slowing domestic migration over the last year.
Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, and Washington, D.C. – four cities that experienced notable population outflows between January 2021 and January 2024 – saw those outflows flatten considerably. For these metros, this leveling-off may serve as a promising sign that the waves of departures seen in recent years may have begun to subside. Conversely, Houston and Dallas, which both welcomed positive net migration between January 2021 and January 2024, registered zero-net domestic migration in 2024. Atlanta, for its part, remained flat in both of the analyzed periods.
In Miami, however, outmigration persisted at a substantial rate. Despite Florida’s overall status as a domestic migration magnet, Miami lost 2.6% of its population to domestic net migration between January 2020 and January 2024 – and another 1.0% between January 2024 and January 2025. As one of Florida’s most expensive housing markets, Miami may be losing some residents to other parts of the state or elsewhere in the region. Meanwhile, Philadelphia, which lost 0.3% of its population to net domestic migration between January 2021 and January 2024, continued losing residents at a slightly faster pace in 2024 – another 0.3% just last year.
Of the ten biggest CBSAs nationwide, only Phoenix continued to see a net domestic migration gain through 2024 (+0.2%). This highlights the CBSA’s continued draw as a (relative) relocation hotspot even in 2024’s cooling market.
Who are the domestic relocators heading to Phoenix?
From October 2020 to October 2024, the top five metro areas sending residents to the Phoenix CBSA each registered median household incomes (HHIs) of $73K to $98K – surpassing Phoenix’s own median of $72K. This suggests that many of those moving in are arriving from wealthier, often more expensive metro areas – for whom even Phoenix’s high-priced market may offer more affordable living.
Overall, domestic migration patterns appear to have cooled in 2024, reflecting economic and societal trends that have slowed the rush from pricey coastal hubs to more affordable regions. Yet states like South Carolina, Idaho, and North Dakota – as well as metro areas like Phoenix – continue to attract new arrivals, paving the way for evolving regional demographics in the years to come.
