How Many People Play Pickleball? What Each Survey Counts
How many people play pickleball? About 24.3 million Americans aged 6 and up played it in 2025, according to the Sports & Fitness Industry Association (SFIA). The Association of Pickleball Professionals (APP) reported 48.3 million adults who played at least once in 12 months in 2023. The numbers answer different questions.
The surveys side by side
Each figure is the publisher's own, with its year.
| Who | Data from | Number | Who is counted | What counts as playing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SFIA | 2025 | 24.3 million (4.2 million in 2020) | Americans aged 6 and up. About 18,000 survey respondents a year, more than 120 activities | Played pickleball in 2025. Core players, 8 or more times a year, were 7.5 million, up from 1.4 million in 2020 (SFIA's 4 June 2026 release) |
| APP | The year to its release of 29 March 2023 | 48.3 million, nearly 19 percent of US adults (36.5 million in August 2022) | US adults | At least once in 12 months. "Avid" means at least once a month, "casual" at least once a year |
| USA Pickleball | 2025 (updated 30 January 2026) | 104,828 members; 18,258 locations; 82,613 courts in the Pickleheads database | Members of USA Pickleball, and places to play | Not a count of players |
Why 24.3 million and 48.3 million are different
They ask different questions. SFIA counts Americans aged 6 and up who played in 2025. APP counted adults who played at least once in the 12 months to early 2023. The two also have different publishers, and the APP release doesn't say how many people were surveyed or how.
So neither one is wrong, and 48.3 isn't bigger because the sport grew between the two. They aren't the same measure. A survey of "played at least once" will always be larger than a count of regular players.
What each is good for: SFIA for a yearly trend, its core players for people who play regularly, and APP for the widest "tried it once" count.
Is pickleball growing?
SFIA's own numbers say yes. It reports about 4.2 million players in 2020 and 24.3 million in 2025. That's 24.3 / 4.2 = 5.79 times as many, which is the 479 percent increase SFIA reports. It also reports 171.8 percent growth from 2022 to 2025.
On "fastest-growing sport": SFIA's 2026 release calls pickleball the fastest-growing sport for five consecutive years. USA Pickleball's 2024 report said it for the fourth year in a row.
How many play regularly?
SFIA counts 7.5 million core players, those who play 8 or more times a year. That's about 31 percent of the 24.3 million.
Three things to watch
USA Pickleball's 104,828 is membership, not players. APP's release calls its 2023 figure "a 35% increase" on 36.5 million, but 48.3 / 36.5 is 32.3 percent, so we give only the two raw numbers. And we found no worldwide player count from a named publisher with a date, so we give none.
When you see a player count, find the age range and what "played" means. For the story behind the numbers, read the history of pickleball, is pickleball a real sport, what is pickleball or how to play pickleball. The rules page has the full rules. The free game lets you try it in the browser, singles or doubles against the computer.
Sources
- SFIA, U.S. pickleball participation: 24.3 million players in 2025, 4.2 million in 2020, the survey base.
- SFIA, 2026 pickleball single sport report release (4 June 2026): 7.5 million core players in 2025 against 1.4 million in 2020, fastest-growing sport for five consecutive years.
- Association of Pickleball Professionals, nearly 50 million adult Americans have played pickleball: 48.3 million adults who played at least once in 12 months.
- USA Pickleball, Annual Growth Report: USA Pickleball's growth figures and its fastest-growing-sport claim.