State of the Industry 2026

How big is the martial arts school industry, really? Martial Arts Professional’s State of the Industry reports count the physical martial arts schools, BJJ academies and MMA gyms in five countries, using business-listing data and government statistics rather than repeated estimates. Together the five countries have about 48,500 schools. The United States alone has about 30,000, not the 76,000 so often quoted.

The 2026 reports

Country	Best estimate of physical schools	Range	“Martial arts school” listings	Listings per 100,000 people
United States	~30,000	26,000 – 35,000	26,110	7.6
United Kingdom	~9,500	8,000 – 12,000	8,765 (England 6,319)	10.7 (England)
Australia	~4,500	3,200 – 5,500	3,247	11.6
Canada	~4,000	3,200 – 5,000	3,196	7.6
New Zealand	~450	300 – 600	283	5.4
Total	~48,500

Listings: Google business listings via SmartScraper (April 1, 2026); UK total via PoiData (August 2025). Population: U.S. Census Bureau, Statistics Canada, Australian Bureau of Statistics, Stats NZ and the Office for National Statistics. Each report gives full sources.

Key findings

The “76,000 schools” figure is a business count, not a school count. It includes independent instructors with no facility of their own. Read why.
Australia and the UK are the most saturated markets, with 40% to 50% more schools per person than the U.S.
Canada mirrors the U.S. at 7.6 listings per 100,000 people.
New Zealand is the least saturated, and half its schools are in Auckland.
The industry is overwhelmingly independent. In the U.S., the six major brands we checked account for about 3% of locations.
Combat sports carry more weight outside the U.S. Australia has 493 Muay Thai gyms; the UK has 1,364 kickboxing listings.

Read each report

United States: about 30,000 schools — why the 76,000 figure is wrong, every state ranked, styles, school size and franchise share
Canada: about 4,000 schools — by province and style
Australia: about 4,500 schools — by state and territory and style
New Zealand: about 450 schools — by region and style
United Kingdom: about 9,500 schools — by nation, city and style

How we count

No government or industry body publishes a count of martial arts schools as physical places. We compare independent business-listing providers, add style and club categories after allowing for overlap, and set the result against national statistics. Every report states its sources, its confidence ranges and what we could not confirm. If you hold better data, such as an association membership count, a software platform’s active-school count or a licensing list, please write to the editor and we will update the reports.

Frequently asked questions

How many martial arts schools are there in the United States?

About 30,000 physical locations. The often-quoted 76,000 is IBISWorld’s count of martial arts businesses, including instructors with no school of their own.

How many martial arts schools are there in Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the UK?

About 4,000 in Canada, 4,500 in Australia, 450 in New Zealand and 9,500 in the United Kingdom, based on business listings as of 2025 and 2026.

Which country has the most martial arts schools per person?

Australia, with 11.6 martial arts school listings per 100,000 people, followed by England at 10.7. The United States and Canada both have 7.6, and New Zealand 5.4.