When was the last time you saw anything grow by 650% (besides inflation)? Good news: that's the unbelievable statistic which represents the increase in public outdoor pickleball courts in U.S. cities over the last seven years.
According to the Trust for Public Land, the number of outdoor pickleball courts in the 100 most populous American cities skyrocketed from 420 in 2017 to 3,182 in 2024.
Even within the last year, the number of total courts available increased by 14%, according to their findings.
In 2017, less than half of those cities even had any dedicated courts. Now, it's hard to find a major city which isn't struggling to meet demand.
Any guesses as to which three U.S. cities have the most pickleball courts per capita?
If any of your guesses were cities in Florida, Texas, or California, you...would be wrong.
The cities with the most courts per capita are Louisville, Kentucky, Madison, Wisconsin, and Honolulu, Hawaii.
Top Pickleball Cities - Full List
Clearly, the above three cities' parks and recreation departments have worked extra hard to provide for the increased pickleball court demand.
But there are some expected cities in this list if we expand our view to the top 10 cities...
Top 10 cities with the most courts per 10,000 people:
- Louisville, KY (3.8)
- Madison, WI (2.3)
- Honolulu, HI (1.9)
- St. Petersburg, FL (1.8)
- Port St. Lucie, FL (1.6)
- Bakersfield, CA (1.6)
- Boise, ID (1.5)
- Albuquerque, NM (1.4)
- Virginia Beach, VA (1.2)
- St. Louis, MO (1.2)
We're a little surprised not to see cities in either Utah or Arizona on this list, but again, this is just evident of great investment by these cities, not necessarily reflective of the overall demand for pickleball anywhere else.
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If you're a pickleball fan who's considering a move, you could do far worse for yourself than any of the above locations!
