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Thurston County, WA — Gyms Saturation

How many gyms exist per person present — residents plus daytime workers — by ZIP code, compared with the U.S. average. Establishment data: Census ZBP 2023. Population: ACS 2024 5-year. 18 ZIP codes analyzed.

Includes: Gyms & fitness centers · CrossFit boxes · Boxing, martial arts & dance studios · Recreational sports centers. Counted together because official statistics use one 713940 code.

Measured density: Range spans bands — 0.52× the U.S. rate (between 0.52× and 1.09× once withheld ZIP cells are counted)

Why a range: Census does not publish a ZIP-by-industry count when that ZIP has 0–2 businesses. 15 ZIP cells in this county are withheld, 10 of them with residents. Each could hold 0, 1, or 2 businesses: counting them all as 0 gives the low end, counting them all as 2 gives the high end — the data cannot say where the truth sits. The density range uses only the populated cells, since ZIPs without residents are excluded from per-person rates. How ranges work

Range spans the U.S. rate   Thurston County gyms — 52–109% of the U.S. rate

18 gyms are counted in Thurston County — 0.5 per 10,000 people present (residents + daytime workers), 52% of the U.S. rate of 1.0.

On the comparable ZIP set (ZIPs with a published count in every year), the total has stayed roughly flat between 2015 and 2023 (14 → 14).

Measured supply density is highest in 98503 (Lacey), 98501 (Olympia), 98502 (Olympia) — well above the national rate. On measured density alone, the lowest-density residential ZIPs with a published count are 98502 (Olympia), 98501 (Olympia), 98503 (Lacey).

BLS QCEW puts the latest county-wide count (2026 Q1) at 36 establishments, the freshest available signal.

Measured density: Thurston County sits at 52% of the U.S. rate for gyms. 10 ZIPs with population have no published count (each 0–2 businesses), so the true per-capita rate is between 52% and 109% of the U.S. rate. Why. The highest measured density is in 98503 and 98501; the lowest measured density is in 98502 and 98501.

This is a supply-side read: it counts existing gyms and the people present, not foot traffic, income, rent, or whether locals want more. Treat low density as a question to check, not an answer.

Gyms
18–48
published count; upper bound counts each withheld ZIP cell as 2 (15 cells) (2023)
Per 10,000 present
0.5
residents + daytime workers
U.S. average
1.0
per 10,000 present
County index
0.52×
vs. U.S.
Latest quarter (QCEW)
36
2026 Q1 — county total
Residents
296,357
13 ZIPs with data
Workers
85,525
jobs located in county

Is the area growing?

Population
302,912
Census PEP, July 1 2024
Change since 2020
+2.3%
+6,894 people
Net migration 2024
+3,236
international +1,102, domestic +2,134
Jobs located here
128,936
LODES 2022, +7.0% since 2019

Thurston County had an estimated 302,912 residents on July 1, 2024 — 2.3% more than in 2020 (+6,894). In the latest year it gained 3,393 people: births minus deaths +150, international migration +1,102, domestic migration +2,134. Components are published separately and may not sum exactly.

128,936 jobs were located in the county in 2022 (+7.0% since 2019), and 120,181 employed residents lived there (+1.5% since 2019). LODES counts wage and salary jobs covered by unemployment insurance plus federal jobs; it excludes the self-employed and military, and counts jobs rather than unique people. 2019→2022 spans the pandemic, so read it as one change, not a trend.

Population and migration say whether the customer base is growing. They do not say whether people want another business of this type. Definitions and limits →  ·  Full county detail →

ZIP gaining residents
2015–19 → 2020–24
Change
98516 Olympia
+13.2%
98501 Olympia
+12.1%
ZIP losing residents
2015–19 → 2020–24
Change

No ZIP had a statistically significant decrease.

ACS 5-year estimates for 2015–2019 and 2020–2024. Only ZIPs with at least 2,000 residents in both windows and a change larger than the survey margin of error (90%) are listed — small ZIPs move a lot on paper without a real signal.

Nonemployer businesses

Not shown. NES 2024 does not publish fitness and recreational sports centers (NAICS 71394); only the broader recreation group (7139) is available.

Census Nonemployer Statistics 2024 (NAICS 2022). We do not approximate this figure.

Saturation map

Each ZIP area is shaded by its density of this business type per person present (residents + workers) vs. the U.S. average. Click any ZIP to zoom to its boundary, see its numbers, and switch to aerial imagery. Individual mapped shops appear as dots at street level — Show locations zooms you in to them (scroll or double-click to zoom).

Basemap:
Under 50% 50–100% 100–150% 150–250% 250%+ 0–2 (not published) / no data ZIP total (dot size) Mapped shop (OpenStreetMap, street level)

Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors, tiles by OpenFreeMap.

White dots are ZIP totals from the official Census count — the bigger the dot, the more gyms in that ZIP. They are aggregated, not individual shops. Turquoise dots are individual locations mapped in OpenStreetMap, shown only at street level; they are crowd-sourced and indicative, may be incomplete, and do not equal the official counts. Only the official ZIP totals feed the saturation index.

Market trend — up 0% since 2015

Number of gyms in Thurston County across 2015–2023, on a consistent set of ZIP codes present in every year — so changes are real, not ZIP-boundary artifacts. 2015/2018 are pre-pandemic baselines; 2020/2021 are COVID-distorted.

14
2015
15
2018
15
2020
15
2021
16
2022
14
2023

Highest measured density

ZIP
vs. U.S. average
Index
98503 Lacey
155%
98501 Olympia
104%
98502 Olympia
93%

Lowest measured density

ZIP
vs. U.S. average
Index
98502 Olympia
93%
98501 Olympia
104%
98503 Lacey
155%
Low measured density is not evidence of opportunity. A ZIP with few gyms may simply lack foot traffic, retail space, or demand. We rank only residential and mixed ZIPs here; employment hubs and visitor destinations are listed separately below. ZIPs where Census did not publish a count (0–2 businesses) are not ranked: they may be the least served of all, but the data cannot tell 0 from 1 or 2. Verify those locally.

All ZIP codes

Click a column header to sort. Index = gyms per 10,000 people present (residents + 0.5×workers) ÷ the U.S. average. 100% = exactly average.

ZIPNeighborhood ResidentsWorkersGyms Per 10kIndexStatus
98503Lacey 41,65617,356 8 1.6 155% High density
98501Olympia 48,06716,532 6 1.1 104% Above average
98502Olympia 35,39813,319 4 1.0 93% Below average
98504Olympia —167 0–2 — — Not published
98506Olympia 18,4979,373 0–2 — — Not published
98507Olympia —126 0–2 — — Not published
98508Olympia —107 0–2 — — Not published
98509Lacey —58 0–2 — — Not published
98511Tumwater —99 0–2 — — Not published
98512Olympia 31,8647,603 0–2 — — Not published
98513Olympia 38,0171,910 0–2 — — Not published
98516Olympia 29,17712,603 0–2 — — Not published
98530Bucoda 6198 0–2 — — Not published
98556Littlerock 35048 0–2 — — Not published
98576Rainier 4,985340 0–2 — — Not published
98579Rochester 14,0481,956 0–2 — — Not published
98589Tenino 7,010823 0–2 — — Not published
98597Yelm 26,6693,654 0–2 — — Not published

Scroll the table sideways to see all columns.

Find an actual space in Lacey

The numbers above tell you how the market looks. To find a specific storefront, these marketplaces list available retail space for lease.

LoopNet
Largest commercial marketplace
Browse Lacey retail space →
Crexi
Free listings + market data
Browse Lacey retail space →
CityFeet
Retail space for lease
Browse Lacey retail space →

Open vacancy data (actual empty units) is only published by some cities; where it exists we show it directly. Listings above are third-party.

Census withholds some ZIP-by-industry cells to protect small businesses. 0–2 means the cell was not published (Census publishes industry counts only at 3+ per ZIP), so the ZIP is left unranked rather than counted as zero. ~ means the count is estimated from the broader industry group and can be off by a business or two.

Follow Thurston County and gyms

When a data vintage changes or a section of this report is revised, we post it to a public update feed. No email address, no account, no tracking — and nothing is sent unless something actually changed.

Subscribe to updates (RSS) How these numbers are built →

Methodology & sources

Establishments. U.S. Census ZIP Code Business Patterns (ZBP 2023), NAICS 713940 — fitness & recreational sports centers (gyms). Counts establishments with paid employees. ZBP is published annually with a ~2-year lag.

Fresh county signal. BLS QCEW (quarterly) is newer than ZBP — 2026 Q1 shows 36 establishments county-wide for this industry. It cannot be broken down by ZIP.

Population. U.S. Census American Community Survey 2024 5-year ZCTA population (table B01003). Workers are the ZIP's total employment from the same 2023 ZBP file.

Demand ("people present"). Demand comes from residents and daytime workers: residents + 0.5 × workers. This is the single documented assumption in the model and can be tuned.

Index. index = (ZIP establishments ÷ ZIP demand × 10,000) ÷ the U.S. average for this industry (1.03 per 10,000 present). It is a supply-side density measure; it does not capture income, rent, tourism, or whether locals actually want more.

Read the full methodology →  ·  Data sources & vintages →

BizGapMap — free, no-login small-business saturation reports for major U.S. counties. Built entirely from public U.S. Census, BLS, and IRS data (ZBP 2023, ACS 2024 5-year, PEP 2024, LODES, QCEW, IRS SOI). No forecasts, no revenue guesses — withheld cells are marked, and the few derived counts are labelled as estimates.