Pickleball Statistics (2026): Players, Growth, Courts, Injuries and Money

Pickleball statistics are easy to find and hard to trust. The same question, “how many people play?”, gets answers from 4 million to almost 50 million depending on who’s counting and how. This page collects the numbers that matter, gives each one’s source and year, and explains why the big ones disagree.

How many people play pickleball?

The most-cited figure is from the Sports & Fitness Industry Association (SFIA): 24.3 million Americans played pickleball in 2025, up 22.8% from 2024 (Pickleball.com on the SFIA 2026 report; SFIA). Of those, about 16.8 million were casual players (1–7 times a year) and 7.48 million were “core” players (8 or more times).

Other estimates are much higher:

Sources: SFIA pickleball participation research; Pickleball.com summary of SFIA's 2026 report; APP, March 2023.

Why the numbers differ

The APP, a pro tour, put the count at 48.3 million in 2023. SFIA put it at under 20 million a year later. Both can be honest, because they measure different things:

• Different surveys. SFIA’s figures come from its annual research with the Physical Activity Council, which surveys about 18,000 people a year age 6 and up with monthly data collection (SFIA). The APP figures come from the APP’s own commissioned research. Its announcement doesn’t describe the method or sample size.
• Different people. SFIA counts everyone 6 and older. The APP counted adults only.
• Different thresholds for “played.” Both count anyone who played at least once. A single game at a friend’s backyard court counts, so both totals include a lot of people who tried it once.
• Different motives. SFIA is an industry trade body that tracks 126 activities the same way every year. The APP is a pro tour with an interest in a big headline. That doesn’t make its number wrong, but it’s a reason to weigh it carefully.

Which to use? For year-over-year trends, use SFIA. Its method is consistent and published every year. For “how many people have tried it,” the APP’s higher figure is a reasonable upper bound. For “how many people really play,” SFIA’s 7.5 million core players is the most useful number on this page.

Growth: from 4.2 million to 24.3 million

SFIA counted about 4.2 million players in 2020 and 24.3 million in 2025, a 479% increase. Core players grew from 1.4 million to 7.5 million over the same period. Participation was up 171.8% over the last three years, and pickleball was SFIA’s fastest-growing sport for five years running (SFIA).

Growth is slowing. SFIA’s mid-year data, released in August 2026, showed pickleball participation up only 1.3% in the first half of 2026. SFIA called it the sport’s first sign of moderation (SFIA, August 2026). That’s a different measurement window from the annual figures, so don’t compare it directly to the 22.8%. But the direction is clear: the sport is still growing, just much more slowly.

For the reasons behind the boom, see why pickleball is exploding.

Who plays: age and gender

The “retirees’ sport” image is out of date.

Sources: SFIA 2026 Pickleball Single Sport Report release; SFIA participation research; APP, March 2023 ("avid" = plays at least monthly).

Older players still matter a great deal, especially among the most frequent players and in injury data (below). But by both sources’ measures, the typical new player is young.

Courts and places to play

Sources: USA Pickleball 2024 Annual Growth Report (Jan 14, 2025); Pickleheads pickleball statistics (updated Feb 2025). USA Pickleball uses the Pickleheads database for its court counts.

That’s roughly 24.3 million players for about 70,000 courts, or more than 300 players per court. It’s why courts are crowded, why cities are converting tennis courts, and why indoor clubs keep opening. Pickleheads estimates the US needs $855 million in court construction over the next 5–7 years.

Only 62,260 USA Pickleball members against 24 million players also tells you something. Most people play for fun and never join a governing body or enter a sanctioned event.

Where pickleball is most popular

The raw court count follows population: Florida, California and Texas lead. Adjust for population and the map flips. Vermont, Utah and Maine have the most courts per resident, and Texas, despite the third-most courts in the country, ranks 50th of 51.

Source: Pickleheads court directory, October 9, 2026, and US Census Bureau 2024 population estimates. A place to play can be a 12-court club or a single lined tennis court. Across all states the directory works out to about 26 courts per 100,000 residents (our calculation).

What about players per state? Nobody publishes that. SFIA reports players by region only: the South Atlantic states had 2.8 million players in 2023, the most of any region (SFIA). So court counts are the best state-level measure available.

Why Texas ranks so low per resident. Texas has 5,521 courts for more than 31 million people, about 17.6 per 100,000 against roughly 26 nationally. Add summers that push play indoors, and court time is tighter here than the big statewide total suggests.

For metro areas rather than states, the APP’s 2023 research found the top 10 TV markets accounted for 45% of participation. The top five were New York (5.5 million players), Los Angeles (4.7 million), Dallas–Fort Worth (2.5 million), Miami–Fort Lauderdale (1.5 million) and San Francisco–Oakland–San Jose (1.4 million) (APP). Texas shows up in both lists. For the state-by-state story and international hotspots, see where pickleball is most popular.

Injuries

Pickleball is low-impact, but it isn’t injury-free, and the injury numbers have grown along with the player numbers. Most of the peer-reviewed research uses NEISS, the US Consumer Product Safety Commission’s sample of hospital emergency departments, which is scaled up to national estimates.

Sources: McMillan et al. 2026; Cheng et al. 2024; Ghattas et al. 2024; Weiss et al. 2021.

Two caveats. First, NEISS only sees injuries treated in emergency departments, so it misses everything treated at urgent care, physical therapy or the doctor’s office. The true number is higher. Second, injuries rising alongside a fivefold jump in players doesn’t by itself mean the sport got more dangerous. These studies count injuries; they don’t calculate a rate per player or per hour played.

The pattern across studies is consistent. Falls cause most serious injuries, and older women are at the highest risk of fracture, often in the wrist and forearm from a fall onto an outstretched hand. Our guide to preventing pickleball injuries covers what helps. The health benefits are real too, and for most players they outweigh the risk.

Money and economics

Sources: Front Office Sports on the UBS estimate; CNBC via NBC Boston; Pickleball.com; Pickleheads.

Market-size reports vary widely in method, so treat the $4.4 billion as one firm’s forecast, not a measurement. The UBS figure is also an estimate built on injury studies, not a count of actual claims. For who earns what on the pro tours, see how much pickleball players make.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many people play pickleball in 2026?

The latest full-year figure is 24.3 million Americans in 2025, from SFIA. Participation grew 1.3% in the first half of 2026, so the 2026 total will likely be slightly higher. The full-year number won’t be published until 2027.

Is pickleball still the fastest-growing sport?

It was SFIA’s fastest-growing sport for five years running through 2025. SFIA’s mid-2026 data shows growth slowing to 1.3%, while team sports grew faster in that window.

What is the average age of a pickleball player?

The APP’s 2023 research put it at 34.8. SFIA reports that ages 13–24 have the highest participation rate of any age group.

How many pickleball courts are there in the US?

USA Pickleball’s 2024 report counted 68,458 known courts at the end of 2024. Pickleheads counted more than 70,641 at the start of 2025, including temporary lines on tennis courts.

Which state has the most pickleball courts?

By court count, Florida (7,781) leads California (7,461), with Texas third (5,521), according to the Pickleheads directory in October 2026. Per resident, Vermont, Utah and Maine lead.

How common are pickleball injuries?

An estimated 24,461 pickleball injuries were treated in US emergency departments in 2023, according to a 2026 Sports Health study. Most involved people aged 60–79, and falls cause most fractures.

Play where the numbers are going

Texas is third in the country for places to play. Pickleland in Pflugerville has 9 climate-controlled indoor courts, so heat and rain don’t cancel your game. Try a free intro class or book a court.

Keep going

• Why Is Pickleball Exploding?
• Where Is Pickleball Most Popular?
• Health Benefits of Playing Pickleball
• How Much Do Pickleball Players Make?