US gym membershipsU.S. sneaker/athletic footwear market revenue
US gym memberships and US sneaker market revenue have, between 2015 and 2023, risen together at a correlation of 0.905. The implication that Americans join gyms in order to justify buying sneakers is, in a certain deeply American sense, accurate. Whether the sneaker causes the gym or the gym justifies the sneaker is not a question the spreadsheet is prepared to answer.
US gym memberships grew from around 55 million in 2015 to over 66 million by 2023, driven by boutique fitness expansion, pandemic-driven health consciousness, and the continued mainstreaming of fitness as identity. US sneaker market revenue climbed from about $27 billion to over $88 billion in the same window, propelled by streetwear culture and athleisure's dominance. Both trends reflect the same adjacent consumer ecosystem: fitness-as-lifestyle as a cultural and commercial category, where the shoes and the membership function as complementary purchases. The treadmill and the pair of 97s are in the same household.
Nine years of two lines rising together can describe one cultural phenomenon expressed in two complementary markets. The gym and the sneaker grew up together. Both are sold as aspiration.
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Want to learn more about why correlations like “US gym memberships” vs “U.S. sneaker/athletic footwear market revenue” don't prove causation? Read our guide to statistical thinking.
