Home › BJJ stats › Best cities

The 25 Best Cities in America for BJJ (2026)

Not the most gyms — the best training-here math. We scored every US city of 50,000+ with at least 3 BJJ gyms on two things that actually matter when you live there: how many gyms you have per 100k residents, and how good those gyms are (median Google rating across the city's gyms). Multiply the two and you get this list. Updated 2026-07-18.

The ranking

Sarasota, Florida is the best city in America for BJJ — 14 gyms for 58k people (24.2 per 100k) with a median rating of 5★, edging out Pensacola, Florida (18.6 per 100k at 5★). Notice what's missing: the megacities. Density per resident is a mid-size-city game, and quality travels with it — every city on this list beats most major metros on both dials. 11 states place at least one city.

#CityGymsPopulationPer 100kMedian ratingScore
1 Sarasota, FL 14 57,764 24.2 5★ 120
2 Pensacola, FL 10 53,898 18.6 5★ 92.8
3 Fort Myers, FL 13 99,918 13 5★ 65.1
4 Boca Raton, FL 13 102,238 12.7 5★ 63.6
5 Ocala, FL 9 70,251 12.8 4.9★ 62.8
6 Bradenton, FL 7 58,184 12 5★ 60.2
7 Alpharetta, GA 8 67,275 11.9 5★ 59.5
8 Edmond, OK 11 99,040 11.1 5★ 55.5
9 Wilmington, DE 8 73,176 10.9 5★ 54.7
10 Yucaipa, CA 6 54,465 11 4.9★ 54
11 Olympia, WA 6 56,271 10.7 5★ 53.3
12 Orland Park, IL 6 58,020 10.3 5★ 51.2
13 Jacksonville, NC 7 70,840 9.9 5★ 49.4
14 Ocoee, FL 5 51,269 9.8 5★ 48.8
15 Santa Fe, NM 9 90,551 9.9 4.9★ 48.7
16 La Mesa, CA 6 60,767 9.9 4.9★ 48.4
17 Mooresville, NC 5 52,884 9.5 5★ 47.3
18 Marietta, GA 6 63,122 9.5 5★ 47.1
19 Conroe, TX 11 114,581 9.6 4.9★ 47
20 Santa Cruz, CA 6 62,581 9.6 4.9★ 47
21 Pleasanton, CA 7 75,664 9.3 5★ 46.3
22 Fulshear, TX 5 54,629 9.2 5★ 45.8
23 Parker, CO 6 65,473 9.2 5★ 45.8
24 Murrieta, CA 10 112,539 8.9 5★ 44.4
25 Torrance, CA 12 139,576 8.6 5★ 43

Local angle for every row: "Sarasota ranks #1 nationally for BJJ" is a data-backed sentence, and so is every other rank on the list. Click any city for its full gym lineup.

Cite this data

Suggested attribution: “The 25 Best Cities in America for BJJ” — BJJGyms.net, 2026, linked to https://www.bjjgyms.net/bjj-stats/best-cities/. The tables are CC BY 4.0: chart them, quote them, publish them — just link back. Want a custom cut (by state, metro, or discipline)? Email us.

Download the full CSV Data updated 2026-07-18

Methodology: gym counts and Google ratings from our continuously maintained national directory (6,639 BJJ gyms, 382,945 customer reviews; only genuine BJJ gyms with jiu-jitsu on their schedule). Eligibility: city population ≥ 50,000 (US Census 2024 estimates) and ≥ 3 gyms. Score = (gyms ÷ population × 100,000) × median Google rating of the city's gyms. Cities are rolled up by the city name gyms list on their address, so suburbs score separately from their metro anchor. More lenses: America's BJJ capitals (raw counts and per-capita), the state stats hub, and the best-rated gyms by state.