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Pickleball statistics
Last reviewed August 2026 · refreshed each spring when SFIA publishes new participation data
24.3 million Americans played pickleball in 2025, up 22.8% from 2024 and more than five times the 4.2 million who played in 2020, according to the Sports & Fitness Industry Association (SFIA). About 7.5 million are core players who play eight or more times a year. SFIA has named pickleball the fastest-growing sport in the United States for five consecutive years. Women make up 42.9% of players. USA Pickleball counts 82,613 known courts at 18,258 locations.
How many people play pickleball?
24.3 million people in the United States, aged 6 and older, played pickleball at least once in 2025. That figure comes from SFIA's 2026 Topline Participation Report, published March 12, 2026, which is the survey most news stories and industry reports rely on. It is based on about 18,000 online interviews a year, weighted to match the US population.
SFIA splits that total into two groups. Core players, who played eight or more times in the year, numbered 7.48 million in 2025. Casual players, who played one to seven times, numbered 16.8 million. So about seven in ten pickleball players are occasional players, which matters when you read any "number of players" claim.
| Year | US players (millions) | Change from prior year |
|---|---|---|
| 2019 | 3.46 | (base year) |
| 2020 | 4.20 | +21.4% |
| 2021 | 4.82 | +14.8% |
| 2022 | 8.95 | +85.7% |
| 2023 | 13.58 | +51.8% |
| 2024 | 19.81 | +45.8% |
| 2025 | 24.30 | +22.8% |
Source for the table: SFIA Topline Participation Reports, 2023 through 2026 editions, each covering the previous calendar year. Participants are people aged 6 and older who played at least once.
How fast is pickleball growing?
Growth is still large but slowing. The 2025 increase of 22.8% is the smallest since 2021, after three years of 85.7%, 51.8%, and 45.8%. In absolute terms 2025 still added about 4.5 million players, after about 6.2 million were added in 2024.
Over longer windows the numbers are striking. SFIA reports 171.8% growth from 2022 to 2025, and 479% from 2020 to 2025. Core players grew from 1.4 million in 2020 to 7.5 million in 2025, so the committed base grew about as fast as the casual one.
For scale, tennis remains the largest racquet sport in the US. The same SFIA report counted 27.3 million tennis players in 2025, up 6.2%, as reported by The Dink on March 12, 2026. Pickleball is now within about 3 million players of tennis. Padel, the sport pickleball is most often compared with, had about 1.07 million US participants in 2025 according to SFIA's participation research page.
Who plays pickleball?
The stereotype of a retirees' game does not survive the data. SFIA's 2026 Pickleball Single Sport Report, published June 4, 2026, found that players aged 13 to 24 have the highest participation rate of any age group.
- Gender: women were 42.9% of all players in 2025, up from 38.6% in 2020 (SFIA, June 2026).
- Average age: about 35, per the SFIA and Pickleheads 2023 State of Pickleball report (August 10, 2023). The APP's YouGov survey of the same period put the average age of frequent adult players at 34.8 (March 29, 2023).
- Largest age group: 25 to 34, with 2.3 million players in 2023. Players under 18 grew by more than 1 million between 2022 and 2023 (SFIA and Pickleheads, November 14, 2024).
- Region: the South Atlantic (the coast from Delaware to Florida) led with 2.8 million players in 2023, up 50% in a year. Every US region grew (same report).
- Why people play: nearly 94% of players name exercise as a reason, ahead of fun, competition, and socializing (SFIA participation research page, read August 22, 2026).
Two cautions. The age and regional breakdowns above are from the most recent report that published them, so some describe 2023 rather than 2025. And "highest participation rate" means the share of that age group who play, not the largest number of players.
How many pickleball courts are there?
82,613 known courts at 18,258 locations across the United States, per USA Pickleball's 2025 Annual Growth Report (published October 5, 2025, updated January 30, 2026). USA Pickleball uses the Pickleheads database as its official court finder, and the count grows as players report new courts, so it is a floor rather than a census.
| USA Pickleball figure | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|
| Known courts | 68,458 | 82,613 |
| Locations with courts | 15,910 | 18,258 |
| USA Pickleball members | 62,260 | 104,828 |
| Sanctioned tournaments | 142 | 144 |
| Paddles approved for play | 1,225 | 718 |
| Balls approved for play | 81 | 72 |
| Ambassadors | 2,051 | 1,864 |
Source: USA Pickleball Annual Growth Reports for 2024 and 2025. The 2025 report labels its 14,155 new courts as added "in 2024"; that number is the difference between the two years' totals, so this page treats it as the 2025 increase.
Court supply still lags demand. SFIA and Pickleheads estimated in November 2024 that the US needs about $855 million of new court construction over the next five to seven years, and that New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago sit 92% below the national average for dedicated courts per 10,000 residents even after doubling their supply. Their 2023 report found that more than 70% of courts were temporary lines on tennis or gym courts.
Why do the player numbers disagree?
You will see two very different totals quoted: SFIA's 24.3 million and the Association of Pickleball Players' (APP) 48.3 million. Both are real survey results. They measure different things.
SFIA counts people aged 6 and older, uses about 18,000 interviews a year, and asks about calendar-year play. The APP's figure, from a YouGov survey of about 2,500 adults published March 29, 2023, counts adults aged 18 and older who said they had played at least once in the previous 12 months, and grosses that share (nearly 19%) up to the adult population. A smaller sample, a different question, and a different base population produce a bigger number. No newer APP national total had been published as of August 2026.
You are writing an article and need one number for how many Americans play pickleball.
It depends on what you are claiming. For "how many people play," use SFIA's 24.3 million (2025): it is the annual series, it is the number USA Pickleball itself cites, and it can be compared year to year. For "how many adults have ever tried it," the APP's 48.3 million is the only published estimate, but it dates from early 2023 and comes from a much smaller sample. Whichever you use, name the source and the year.
How to cite these numbers
Each line below is complete on its own and names the original report, so you can quote it directly.
- 24.3 million Americans aged 6 and older played pickleball in 2025, up 22.8% from 2024 (SFIA 2026 Topline Participation Report, March 2026).
- Pickleball has been the fastest-growing sport in the US for five straight years, 2021 to 2025 (SFIA, March 2026).
- 7.5 million Americans played pickleball eight or more times in 2025, up from 1.4 million in 2020 (SFIA 2026 Pickleball Single Sport Report, June 2026).
- Women were 42.9% of US pickleball players in 2025 (SFIA, June 2026).
- The US has 82,613 known pickleball courts at 18,258 locations (USA Pickleball 2025 Annual Growth Report).
- USA Pickleball membership passed 100,000 in 2025, reaching 104,828 (USA Pickleball 2025 Annual Growth Report).
If you cite this page, a link to it is appreciated, but the numbers belong to the organizations that collected them and should be credited to them.
Where this comes from
Every figure on this page was read from the publishing organization's own site on August 22, 2026:
- Total, casual, and core players for 2025, the 22.8% and 171.8% growth rates, and the five-year fastest-growing streak: SFIA's 2026 Topline Participation Report release, March 12, 2026, with the player splits as reported from that report by The Dink the same day.
- The 2020 baseline, the 479% five-year growth, core players 2020 to 2025, the 42.9% share of women, and the 13 to 24 age finding: SFIA's 2026 Pickleball Single Sport Report release, June 4, 2026.
- Year-by-year totals for 2019 to 2024 and the 2024 core and casual split: SFIA's 2025 Topline Participation Report (February 27, 2025), as tabulated by The Dink on March 18, 2025 and checked against the growth rates in SFIA's own 2023, 2024, and 2025 releases.
- Survey method, the 94% exercise figure, and the padel count: SFIA's US pickleball participation research page.
- 2023 age, region, and court-need figures: the SFIA and Pickleheads 2024 State of Pickleball report release, November 14, 2024, and the 2023 edition's release, August 10, 2023.
- Courts, locations, members, tournaments, equipment, and ambassadors: USA Pickleball's Annual Growth Reports for 2024 and 2025.
- The 48.3 million adult figure and the 34.8 average age: the APP's research release, March 29, 2023, with the YouGov sample size from its January 4, 2023 release.
Left off on purpose: market-size and revenue projections from research resellers, injury-cost estimates from bank analysts, and player counts published by rating platforms. None of them is a measured figure from a named survey, so none meets the bar for this page.
Related questions
How many people play pickleball in the US?
24.3 million Americans aged 6 and older played pickleball at least once in 2025, according to the Sports & Fitness Industry Association. About 7.5 million of them played eight or more times, which SFIA calls a core player.
Is pickleball the fastest growing sport in America?
Yes, by SFIA’s count. Its Topline Participation Report has named pickleball the fastest-growing sport in the United States for five consecutive years, 2021 through 2025, measured by year-over-year growth in participants.
How many pickleball courts are there in the US?
USA Pickleball’s 2025 Annual Growth Report lists 82,613 known courts at 18,258 locations, using the Pickleheads database it adopted as its court finder. The count only includes courts someone has reported, so the true number is higher.
What is the average age of a pickleball player?
About 35. SFIA and Pickleheads put the average at 35 in their 2023 report, and the APP’s 2023 survey found an average of 34.8 among frequent players. SFIA’s 2026 report says players aged 13 to 24 now have the highest participation rate of any age group.
How many women play pickleball?
Women were 42.9% of all US pickleball players in 2025, up from 38.6% in 2020, according to SFIA’s 2026 Pickleball Single Sport Report. Applied to the 24.3 million total, that is roughly 10.4 million women and girls.