The Cities with the Most Gyms per Capita in the UK
Regular exercise, along with a balanced diet and good motivation is key to maintaining a healthy lifestyle, but the place where you live may also play a part. Some cities offer access to many more gyms, swimming pools and sports clubs than others. The team at money saving website DealsDaddy looked at the number of fitness facilities across 55 major cities in the UK in order to discover the places where staying in shape is most accessible.
We picked the most populous cities and towns in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, and checked the number of registered fitness businesses via the Companies House register. We also took into account the population of the respective towns and cities, and calculated the number of gyms per capita in order to identify the most health-conscious cities in the UK.
The Cities with the Most Gyms per Capita in the UK
We marked the 55 places in our research on a map and colour-coded them based on their gym density per capita for a better outlook on the big picture:
London is the only megacity in the UK and, as expected, it is home to the largest number of gyms – 1,165 in total. However, with a population several times that of the second most populous city in the country, this number does not measure up to the 98 facilities found in Leeds, for example. So, in order to identify the “fittest” cities, we calculated how many gyms there are per 100,000 residents, and found that London is not even in the top 30.
The Greater Manchester area is represented by more than one entry in the top 10, namely Manchester and Bolton, which are among the best places in the UK for a truly fitness conscious lifestyle. Regionally, the North West of England has the most cities with gyms per capita within the top 10 – Preston, Manchester, Bolton, and Liverpool.
1. Preston, Lancashire
Population: 136,239
Gyms: 49
Gyms per 100,000: 36
Granted city status in 2002, Preston is one of the UK’s newest cities and has an interesting sports history. Back in the 1880s, the local Preston North End F.C. was one of the founding members of the English Football Club and became the first team to be crowned English football champions. Currently, the city has 49 registered fitness facilities for a population of a little over 136K residents. This makes Preston the most fitness friendly city in the UK with 36 gyms per 100K people.
2. Glasgow
Population: 632,350
Gyms: 182
Gyms per 100,000: 29
Sports and fitness play a large role in the culture and lifestyle of Glasgow, Scotland’s largest city. It is not only home to a vast array of sports centres, but also to 182 active businesses registered as fitness facilities. This means that Glasgow is the second-most fitness conscious city in the UK, with approximately 29 gyms per 100,000 residents.
3. Manchester, Greater Manchester
Population: 566,896
Gyms: 149
Gyms per 100,000: 26
As one of the largest cities in the UK, Manchester has a large number of sports complexes and gyms. Of course, this is where the home stadium of Premier League club Manchester City is located. Along with the Etihad Stadium, there are several other stadiums, swimming pools and leisure centres. According to the public register, there are 149 gyms or 36 facilities per 100,000K residents in the City of Manchester.
4. Nottingham, Nottinghamshire
Population: 320,536
Gyms: 80
Gyms per 100,000: 25
Famous as an ice skating and ice hockey hub, Nottingham is a great city for staying fit. It is home to National league club Notts County, which is the oldest professional football club in the world (est. 1862) along with Premier League club Nottingham Forest. Fitness enthusiasts can also enjoy the 80 gyms across the city, making Nottingham the 4th best city in the UK for gym facilities.
5. Bolton, Greater Manchester
Population: 180,945
Gyms: 42
Gyms per 100,000: 23
Bolton, a town in the Greater Manchester area, is one of the smallest localities included in this survey. Still, with its 42 fitness facilities listed in the public register, it ranks 5th for gyms per capita in the UK.
Methodology
In order to find the most fitness-friendly cities in the UK, we selected the 55 largest cities in terms of population according to official data by the Office for National Statistics, the National Records of Scotland, and the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency. Finding the number of fitness facilities in certain locations in the United Kingdom is tricky, since there are no localised official statistics, with government-published data available only for the entirety of the UK.
This is why our team looked at currently active businesses registered under the 93130 Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) code, which is used to identify the nature of business of a certain company. The code in question is used by fitness facilities. For this, we checked the public register maintained by the Companies House, a government-run organisation that incorporates and dissolves limited companies in the United Kingdom. Only businesses using this SIC code exclusively were taken into account, whereas firms registered under several codes were left out, as many in fact deal with health food, dietary supplements, fitness equipment, and other related products.
When conducting our research, we excluded company names that contain the following – health, wellness, wear, gym clothes, personal, food, leisure, train, cycle, pilates, clinic, yoga, boxing, nutrition, coach, coaching, priа сvate, weight, MMA, taekwondo, dance, tanning, diet, wrestling, and martial arts. We also omitted companies that included the word “flat” within their registered office address since these are often personal trainers rather than gym facilities.
Please note that for this comparison, we counted the number of businesses that are registered as fitness facilities. However, companies are responsible for submitting accurate information and House Companies do not necessarily verify this, meaning that some of these gyms may not be fitness facilities at all. Another thing to keep in mind is that while some gyms are described as “active” in the register, they may not be operational.
Raw Data
| The Cities with the Most Gyms per Capita in the UK | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| City | Population | County | Region/Country | Fitness Facilities | Gyms per 100K Residents |
| Preston | 136239 | Lancashire | North West | 49 | 35.97 |
| Glasgow | 632350 | Glasgow | Scotland | 182 | 28.78 |
| Manchester | 566896 | Greater Manchester | North West | 149 | 26.28 |
| Nottingham | 320536 | Nottinghamshire | East Midlands | 80 | 24.96 |
| Bolton | 180945 | Greater Manchester | North West | 42 | 23.21 |
| Ipswich | 147851 | Suffolk | East | 34 | 23 |
| Belfast | 345418 | County Antrim/ County Down | Northern Ireland | 77 | 22.29 |
| Newport | 137563 | Newport | Scotland | 29 | 21.08 |
| Liverpool | 589774 | Merseyside | North West | 124 | 21.03 |
| Newcastle upon Tyne | 290688 | Tyne and Wear | North East | 60 | 20.64 |
| Leeds | 516298 | West Yorkshire | Yorkshire and the Humber | 98 | 18.98 |
| Swansea | 185033 | Swansea | Swansea Bay City Region | 35 | 18.92 |
| Milton Keynes | 185408 | Buckinghamshire | South East | 35 | 18.88 |
| York | 164934 | North Yorkshire | Yorkshire and the Humber | 29 | 17.58 |
| Reading | 257653 | Berkshire | South East | 45 | 17.47 |
| Exeter | 127709 | Devon | South West | 22 | 17.23 |
| Colchester | 140027 | Essex | East | 24 | 17.14 |
| Cardiff | 356425 | Cardiff | Scotland | 61 | 17.11 |
| Bristol | 580199 | Bristol | South West | 99 | 17.06 |
| Derby | 264430 | Derbyshire | East Midlands | 44 | 16.64 |
| Huddersfield | 172607 | West Yorkshire | Yorkshire and the Humber | 28 | 16.22 |
| Luton | 222043 | Bedfordshire | East | 36 | 16.21 |
| Gloucester | 148167 | Gloucestershire | South West | 24 | 16.2 |
| Norwich | 199245 | Norfolk | East | 32 | 16.06 |
| Peterborough | 179349 | Cambridgeshire | East | 28 | 15.61 |
| Poole | 159759 | Dorset | South West | 24 | 15.02 |
| Leicester | 415584 | Leicestershire | East Midlands | 62 | 14.92 |
| Bradford | 358573 | West Yorkshire | Yorkshire and the Humber | 53 | 14.78 |
| Cambridge | 149155 | Cambridgeshire | East | 22 | 14.75 |
| Northampton | 230070 | Northamptonshire | East Midlands | 31 | 13.47 |
| Watford | 141731 | Hertfordshire | East | 19 | 13.41 |
| Southampton | 270333 | Hampshire | South East | 36 | 13.32 |
| London | 8960924 | London | Greater London | 1165 | 13 |
| Swindon | 192923 | Wiltshire | South West | 25 | 12.96 |
| Dundee City | 148210 | Dundee | Scotland | 19 | 12.82 |
| Slough | 158149 | Berkshire | South East | 20 | 12.65 |
| Gateshead | 122239 | Tyne and Wear | North East | 15 | 12.27 |
| Warrington | 172330 | Cheshire | North West | 20 | 11.61 |
| Edinburgh | 506520 | Edinburgh | Scotland | 56 | 11.06 |
| Wolverhampton | 247055 | West Midlands | West Midlands | 27 | 10.93 |
| Kingston upon Hull | 287705 | East Riding of Yorkshire | Yorkshire and the Humber | 31 | 10.77 |
| Sheffield | 557039 | South Yorkshire | Yorkshire and the Humber | 59 | 10.59 |
| Plymouth | 266552 | Devon | South West | 28 | 10.5 |
| Birmingham | 1159888 | West Midlands | West Midlands | 121 | 10.43 |
| Coventry | 388793 | Warwickshire | West Midlands | 38 | 9.77 |
| Sunderland | 174869 | Tyne and Wear | North East | 17 | 9.72 |
| Aberdeen | 198590 | Aberdeen | Scotland | 19 | 9.57 |
| Telford | 153143 | Shropshire | West Midlands | 14 | 9.14 |
| Bournemouth | 198582 | Dorset | South West | 18 | 9.06 |
| Portsmouth | 229669 | Hampshire | South East | 19 | 8.27 |
| Middlesbrough | 177609 | North Yorkshire | North East | 14 | 7.88 |
| Stoke-on-Trent | 278365 | Staffordshire | West Midlands | 21 | 7.54 |
| Oxford | 161662 | Oxfordshire | South East | 12 | 7.42 |
| Blackpool | 145007 | Lancashire | North West | 10 | 6.9 |
| Southend-on-Sea | 184708 | Essex | East | 11 | 5.96 |