Tampa-St. Pete among top metro areas in new wellness index

The Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater metro area ranks No. 7 among the top 50 major wellness markets in the United States, according to the MINDBODY Wellness Index.

The Tampa-St. Pete market scored high for the number of wellness businesses in the area, although a large number of smokers pulled down the overall ranking.

The  index is based on a comprehensive analysis of consumer attitudes and behaviors together with wellness business performance, according to a news release from MINDBODY Inc. (NASDAQ: MB), a San Luis Obispo, Calif.-based company with a technology platform for the fitness, beauty and wellness services industries.

MINDBODY provided St. Pete Catalyst details of the findings for the Tampa-St. Pete metro in six key areas:

Density of wellness business. The Tampa-St. Pete market has 1.5 businesses per square mile. The highest-ranking market on this factor is the San Francisco area, with 2.7 wellness businesses per square mile. The lowest-ranking market is Salt Lake City, with 0.2 businesses per square mile.

Prioritization of fitness. In Tampa-St. Pete, 29 percent rate fitness as a priority, compared to Washington, D.C., where fitness is a priority for 40 percent of residents, and Oklahoma City, where only 18 percent of residents say fitness is a priority.

Frequency of exercise. In Tampa-St. Pete, 73 percent of residents exercise at least once a week. In San Diego, it’s 78 percent, and in Louisville, Kentucky, it’s 60 percent.

Level of fitness. Twenty-four percent of Tampa-St. Pete metro residents meet the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services physical activity guidelines, compared to 37 percent in New York-Newark-Jersey City metro, and 19 percent in Buffalo, N.Y

Amount of sleep. Half of the Tampa-St. Pete residents (50 percent) get seven to eight hours of sleep a night. In the New York metro, it’s 60 percent, while in Salt Lake City, it’s just 39 percent.

Close relationships. Seventy-percent of Tampa-St. Pete residents have close relationships with family and/or friends, compared to 77 percent in New York and 61 percent in Sacramento.

The Austin, Texas metro was identified as the strongest wellness market in the United States, with Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, Calif. at the bottom of the list.

While the wellness market is strong overall, there’s plenty of room for growth, said Rick Stollmeyer, MINDBODY CEO and co-founder. “Based on our research there is clearly enormous opportunity for wellness products and services to expand in the years ahead.”