Fun Freetime - Best Cities for Pickleball Lovers

 

Which cities are making a racket in the scene of pickleball, the fastest-growing sport in America? To mark National Pickleball Day on Aug. 8 and the upcoming debut of the first-ever pickleball reality show, Lawn Love ranked 2023's Best Cities for Pickleball Lovers. We compared the 200 biggest U.S. cities based on three categories. We factored in access to pickleball courts and tournaments, the size of the pickleball community, and local interest in the sport, among 11 total metrics. See the 10 best (and 10 worst) cities for picklers below, followed by key stats from our report.

Best Cities for Picklers Rank City 1 New York, NY 2 Austin, TX 3 Las Vegas, NV 4 Chicago, IL 5 Orlando, FL 6 St. Louis, MO 7 Mesa, AZ 8 Charlotte, NC 9 Tucson, AZ 10 Cincinnati, OH Worst Cities for Picklers Rank City 1 Paterson, NJ 2 Laredo, TX 3 Joliet, IL 4 Miramar, FL 5 Oxnard, CA 6 Pasadena, TX 7 Hampton, VA 8 Bridgeport, CT 9 Kansas City, KS 10 Rancho Cucamonga, CA

Key insights: Unmatched: The Big Pickle: New York impressively places first — overall and in every single category. The city boasts the most pickleball facilities, 75, and courts, 279. NYC also offers the most free-to-play courts, increasing public access to the game. Otherwise, court reservation costs can add up, especially with prices like $80–$120 per hour in Central Park.  Midwestern slam: St. Louis (No. 6) boasts the 2nd-highest number of pickleball facilities, 52, and 3rd-highest number of courts, 216. Cincinnati (No. 10) bests St. Louis, however, in number of pickleball courts, 224, the 2nd-highest in our ranking.  Committed courts: Pickleball courts can be few and far between, so picklers often resort to alternate surfaces like tennis courts and hockey rinks. Mesa, Arizona (No. 7), enjoys the most dedicated courts, 166, designed just for pickleball. That makes it easy for Mesa to host the most pickleball tournaments, including a Major League Pickleball event. Home state serve: Three Washington State cities — Seattle (No. 20), Spokane (No. 52), and Vancouver (No. 67) — place in the better half of our ranking. That’s no surprise, considering pickleball was invented just outside of Seattle, which boasts the 3rd-highest number of pickleball facilities.   Paddling with pals: In the world of Major League Pickleball, avid players can aspire to play on one of 12 Premier-Level teams and 12 Challenger-Level teams. Residents can easily level up by first joining a local team in Los Angeles (No. 12), which offers the most pickleball clubs listed on USA Pickleball, or Philadelphia (No. 31), boasting the most pickleball Meetup groups. Pickling potential: Boston (No. 110) claims the 15th-highest Popularity rank but fails to meet demand with low Access to courts. Nashville, Tennessee (No. 97), and Detroit (No. 107) share similarly high Popularity and low Access scores. Nashville recently celebrated its 2nd annual Pickleball Festival, and picklers are currently advocating for more courts in the city.   Helpful links: See where your city ranks Full study article Expert insights Methodology. Want pickleball in your own court? Hire a local Lawn Love pro to help with cleanup so you can transform your backyard into a pickler’s dream.   More from Lawn Love: Best Cities for Running Cities With the Most Green Space Best States for Horse Lovers Best and Worst States for Fishing Best Cities for Birdwatching Best States for Beekeeping