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The State of Running Retail, 2026
We mapped every running specialty store in America — 2,016 shops with 447,689 customer reviews between them. Here's where runners actually get fitted. (Journalists & bloggers: cite freely with a link.)
Running stores per million residents, by state
| # | State | Stores | Per million people |
| 1 | Massachusetts | 74 | 10.4 |
| 2 | Utah | 34 | 9.7 |
| 3 | Wisconsin | 57 | 9.6 |
| 4 | New Hampshire | 13 | 9.2 |
| 5 | South Dakota | 8 | 8.7 |
| 6 | Idaho | 17 | 8.5 |
| 7 | District of Columbia | 6 | 8.5 |
| 8 | New Mexico | 18 | 8.4 |
| 9 | Colorado | 49 | 8.2 |
| 10 | Connecticut | 30 | 8.2 |
| 11 | Vermont | 5 | 7.7 |
| 12 | Minnesota | 44 | 7.6 |
| 13 | North Dakota | 6 | 7.5 |
| 14 | Oregon | 31 | 7.3 |
| 15 | Iowa | 23 | 7.1 |
America's densest running-store cities
Running stores per 100k residents, cities over 50k population with 3+ shops.
| # | City | Stores | Per 100k |
| 1 | Duluth, MN | 6 | 6.8 |
| 2 | Greenville, SC | 5 | 6.7 |
| 3 | Appleton, WI | 5 | 6.6 |
| 4 | Fort Myers, FL | 6 | 6 |
| 5 | Alpharetta, GA | 4 | 5.9 |
| 6 | Pensacola, FL | 3 | 5.6 |
| 7 | Ogden, UT | 5 | 5.6 |
| 8 | Wake Forest, NC | 3 | 5.3 |
| 9 | Orland Park, IL | 3 | 5.2 |
| 10 | Lancaster, PA | 3 | 5.1 |
| 11 | Bowling Green, KY | 4 | 5.1 |
| 12 | Boulder, CO | 5 | 4.7 |
| 13 | Canton, OH | 3 | 4.3 |
| 14 | Grand Junction, CO | 3 | 4.3 |
| 15 | Asheville, NC | 4 | 4.2 |
The best small-town running stores in America
Shops in towns under 30,000 people that still pull 200+ reviews — destination run shops worth the drive.
- Road Runner Sports — Paramus, NJ ★ 4.6
- Running Lab — Brighton, MI ★ 5
- Road Runner Sports — Worthington, OH ★ 4.8
- SLRC: Salt Lake Running Company — Centerville, UT ★ 4.9
- Road Runner Sports — Falls Church, VA ★ 4.6
- Road Runner Sports — Wilmette, IL ★ 4.7
- Road Runner Sports — San Carlos, CA ★ 4.5
- Smith & Davis Clothing — Fayetteville, GA ★ 4.6
- Fleet Feet Jackson — Ridgeland, MS ★ 4.9
- Road Runner Sports — Tualatin, OR ★ 4.7
- Road Runner Sports — Lone Tree, CO ★ 4.7
- Fleet Feet Mechanicsburg — Mechanicsburg, PA ★ 4.9
- Fleet Feet Decatur, GA — Decatur, GA ★ 4.9
- Fleet Feet Madison — Middleton, WI ★ 4.9
- Fleet Feet Carrboro — Carrboro, NC ★ 4.9
More data
Deeper cuts from the same dataset — each with a downloadable CSV.
- America's Running-Store Capitals — the 25 best running-store cities, ranked by density × rating.
- Brand availability by state — the most-carried running-shoe brands, and where in-person selection is widest.
- America's running-store deserts — the 30 largest US cities with one running store or none.