Yoga therapy statistics at a glance
Yoga is no longer a niche wellness habit. The supplied statistics show a practice that moved from broad adoption into a more defined health behavior, with clear differences by age, sex, income, and intended use.
Big number: 16.9% of U.S. adults age 18 and older practiced yoga in 2022, according to CDC NCHS Data Brief 501, June 2024.
That single figure matters because the rest of the dataset shows what yoga means to the adults who practice it: mostly overall health, often meditation, and sometimes pain management. The same source set also shows how those motives shift across demographic groups.
Contents
- Fast facts
- Yoga therapy and overall use trends
- Demographic patterns in yoga use
- Why adults practice yoga
- Time series and long-run growth
- What the research literature suggests
- Reading the numbers carefully
Fast facts
Here is the shortest useful version of the data.
- 16.9% of U.S. adults age 18 and older practiced yoga in 2022 (CDC NCHS Data Brief 501, June 2024).
- 80.0% of adults who practiced yoga in 2022 did so to restore overall health (CDC NCHS Data Brief 501, June 2024).
- 57.4% practiced meditation as part of yoga (CDC NCHS Data Brief 501, June 2024).
- 28.8% used yoga to treat or manage pain (CDC NCHS Data Brief 501, June 2024).
- In 2022, yoga was used by 55.78 million adults and had a prevalence of 16.8% in one national trend analysis (Prevalence and 20-year trends in meditation, yoga, guided imagery and progressive relaxation use among US adults from 2002 to 2022).
- Meditation was slightly more common than yoga in that same 2022 analysis at 18.3% and 60.53 million adults (Prevalence and 20-year trends in meditation, yoga, guided imagery and progressive relaxation use among US adults from 2002 to 2022).
- In a 2024 meta-analysis of major depressive disorder, 34 randomized controlled trials were included (Effectiveness of yoga for major depressive disorder: A systematic review and meta-analysis).
- In an older-adult yoga review, 12 randomized controlled trials representing 752 adults age 60 and older were analyzed (Yoga, Health-Related Quality of Life and Mental Well-Being: A Re-analysis of a Meta-analysis Using the Quality Effects Model).
Yoga therapy and overall use trends
The phrase “yoga therapy statistics” covers two related questions in the supplied dataset: how many adults practice yoga, and what they are trying to get from it. The answer is not just participation, but purpose.
In 2022, 16.9% of U.S. adults age 18 and older practiced yoga (CDC NCHS Data Brief 501, June 2024). A nearly identical national trend analysis put 2022 yoga prevalence at 16.8%, equal to 55.78 million people (Prevalence and 20-year trends in meditation, yoga, guided imagery and progressive relaxation use among US adults from 2002 to 2022). The small difference likely reflects the separate studies and measurement framing, but the practical reading is consistent: yoga was used by a very large share of adults.
The same trend analysis shows yoga standing just behind meditation in 2022. Meditation reached 18.3% and 60.53 million adults, while guided imagery or progressive relaxation reached 6.7% and 22.22 million adults (Prevalence and 20-year trends in meditation, yoga, guided imagery and progressive relaxation use among US adults from 2002 to 2022). That places yoga in the middle of the three practices, above guided imagery/progressive relaxation and slightly below meditation.
Why that matters
The dataset does not describe yoga as an isolated fitness trend. It sits inside a broader pattern of mind-body practices, where the practical goal is often health maintenance, symptom control, or mental quiet.
Demographic patterns in yoga use
The most useful demographic insight is not that everyone uses yoga equally. It is that the reasons for using yoga differ by age, sex, race and ethnicity, and income.
At a glance comparison
| Group | Overall health share | Meditation share | Pain management share |
|---|---|---|---|
| Women | 80.2% | 59.3% | 27.5% |
| Men | 79.6% | 52.9% | 31.8% |
| Ages 18–44 | 78.4% | 62.0% | 27.9% |
| Ages 45–64 | 83.3% | 53.9% | 31.5% |
| Ages 65+ | 79.1% | 49.1% | 27.2% |
| Under 200% FPL | 80.2% | 65.3% | 37.8% |
| 200% to under 400% FPL | 78.9% | 56.7% | 32.8% |
| 400% FPL or more | 80.5% | 55.7% | 25.4% |
All figures in this table come from CDC NCHS Data Brief 501, June 2024.
Sex differences
Women and men were both highly likely to report yoga for overall health in 2022, at 80.2% and 79.6%, respectively (CDC NCHS Data Brief 501, June 2024). That is a very small gap.
The bigger difference appears in how yoga is practiced. Women who practiced yoga were 59.3% likely to use meditation as part of yoga, compared with 52.9% for men (CDC NCHS Data Brief 501, June 2024). Men were more likely to use yoga for pain management, at 31.8%, compared with 27.5% for women (CDC NCHS Data Brief 501, June 2024).
That split suggests a practical pattern:
- Women using yoga are slightly more likely to emphasize the meditative side.
- Men using yoga are slightly more likely to emphasize symptom relief or pain management.
- Both groups still place overall health first.
Age differences
Adults ages 45–64 had the highest overall-health share at 83.3% among age groups (CDC NCHS Data Brief 501, June 2024). Adults ages 18–44 were close behind at 78.4%, and adults age 65 and older were at 79.1% (CDC NCHS Data Brief 501, June 2024).
The meditation pattern moves in the opposite direction. Adults ages 18–44 had the highest meditation-as-part-of-yoga share at 62.0%, followed by 53.9% for ages 45–64 and 49.1% for ages 65 and older (CDC NCHS Data Brief 501, June 2024).
Pain management peaks in middle age. Adults ages 45–64 had the highest pain-management share at 31.5%, compared with 27.9% for ages 18–44 and 27.2% for ages 65 and older (CDC NCHS Data Brief 501, June 2024).
That pattern is easy to read: younger adults lean more toward meditation, middle-aged adults lean more toward pain management and overall health, and older adults sit closer to the middle on the health motive while staying lower on meditation.
Race and ethnicity
Among adults who practiced yoga in 2022, White non-Hispanic adults had an overall-health share of 81.7%, Asian non-Hispanic adults 75.6%, Black non-Hispanic adults 76.7%, and Hispanic adults 75.1% (CDC NCHS Data Brief 501, June 2024).
For meditation as part of yoga, Black non-Hispanic adults had a 70.7% share and Hispanic adults had a 66.8% share (CDC NCHS Data Brief 501, June 2024). For pain management, White non-Hispanic adults had a 30.0% share and Hispanic adults had a 31.9% share (CDC NCHS Data Brief 501, June 2024).
The supplied statistics do not support a sweeping claim that one group “uses yoga more” than another across the board. They do show that the motive mix varies enough that any yoga offer, article, or service needs to avoid assuming one universal use case.
Income differences
Income is one of the clearest split points in the dataset.
Adults with family income under 200% FPL had an overall-health yoga share of 80.2%, those at 200% to under 400% FPL had 78.9%, and those at 400% FPL or more had 80.5% (CDC NCHS Data Brief 501, June 2024).
The meditation share was higher among lower-income adults: 65.3% under 200% FPL, 56.7% at 200% to under 400% FPL, and 55.7% at 400% FPL or more (CDC NCHS Data Brief 501, June 2024).
Pain management showed the biggest income gradient. Adults under 200% FPL had a 37.8% pain-management share, compared with 32.8% for 200% to under 400% FPL and 25.4% for 400% FPL or more (CDC NCHS Data Brief 501, June 2024).
That is a meaningful signal. Yoga seems to function more as a pain-management tool among lower-income adults in this dataset, while higher-income adults still report strong overall-health use but lower pain-management use.
Why adults practice yoga
The strongest single pattern in the data is motive. Most adults who practiced yoga in 2022 did so to restore overall health.
- 80.0% practiced yoga to restore overall health (CDC NCHS Data Brief 501, June 2024).
- 57.4% practiced meditation as part of yoga (CDC NCHS Data Brief 501, June 2024).
- 28.8% practiced yoga to treat or manage pain (CDC NCHS Data Brief 501, June 2024).
That ranking matters. It says yoga is first a health-maintenance practice, second a mind-body or meditative practice, and third a pain-management practice.
The practical interpretation
If you are reading these numbers as a content writer, marketer, clinician, or researcher, the hierarchy suggests three distinct audiences:
- People who want broad wellness and maintenance.
- People who want the meditation component.
- People who want a pain-management option that is not medication-first.
The dataset also shows overlap. The same adult may use yoga for overall health and meditation at the same time. The percentages are not mutually exclusive, so they describe reasons, not separate user segments.
Time series and long-run growth
The long-run data show that yoga use among U.S. adults has expanded over time, even if the year-to-year path is not perfectly smooth.
In one national trend series, yoga prevalence rose from 5.1% in 2002 to 13.7% in 2017, corresponding to 10,386,456 adults in 2002 and 32,761,194 adults in 2017 (Increasing Trend of Yoga Practice Among U.S. Adults From 2002 to 2017).
Long-run comparison
| Year | Prevalence | Adults represented | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | 5.1% | 10,386,456 | Increasing Trend of Yoga Practice Among U.S. Adults From 2002 to 2017 |
| 2017 | 13.7% | 32,761,194 | Increasing Trend of Yoga Practice Among U.S. Adults From 2002 to 2017 |
| 2022 | 16.8% | 55.78 million | Prevalence and 20-year trends in meditation, yoga, guided imagery and progressive relaxation use among US adults from 2002 to 2022 |
The change from 5.1% to 13.7% is an increase of 8.6 percentage points (Increasing Trend of Yoga Practice Among U.S. Adults From 2002 to 2017). The largest increase happened between 2012 and 2017, when prevalence rose by 4.5 percentage points (Increasing Trend of Yoga Practice Among U.S. Adults From 2002 to 2017).
The dataset also includes a workforce snapshot. In that study, yoga use among U.S. workers was 6.0% in 2002 and 11.0% in 2012, based on a survey of 85,004 U.S. adults, of whom 50,343 were employed, representing approximately 131 million workers (Prevalence of Mindfulness Practices in the US Workforce, CDC PCD).
For adults with chronic disease-related functional limitations, yoga use increased from 5.1% in 2002 to 6.6% in 2007 (Has the Use of Complementary and Alternative Medicine Therapies by U.S. Adults with Chronic Disease-Related Functional Limitations Changed from 2002 to 2007?).
The pattern across these sources is steady growth rather than a one-time spike. Yoga expanded in the general population, in the workforce, and among adults with functional limitations.
What the research literature suggests
The prevalence numbers show who practices yoga and why. The research literature in the dataset shows that yoga has also been studied as an intervention across multiple conditions and age groups.
For major depressive disorder, a 2024 systematic review and meta-analysis included 34 randomized controlled trials with 1,269 patients in the treatment group and 1,072 in the control group; 48.4% of participants were women (Effectiveness of yoga for major depressive disorder: A systematic review and meta-analysis).
For older adults, a re-analysis of a meta-analysis used 12 randomized controlled trials and 752 adults age 60 and older, with effect sizes of 0.51 for health-related quality of life and 0.39 for mental well-being (Yoga, Health-Related Quality of Life and Mental Well-Being: A Re-analysis of a Meta-analysis Using the Quality Effects Model).
A healthy-adult positive mental health meta-analysis included 17 RCTs (The Effects of Yoga on Positive Mental Health Among Healthy Adults: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis).
A review of yoga for depressive disorder included 24 studies involving 1,395 participants, with 20 studies and 1,333 participants meta-analyzed (Yoga for Depressive Disorder: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis).
For PTSD, a systematic review and meta-analysis identified 1,506 records across six databases before screening (Efficacy of yoga for posttraumatic stress disorder: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials).
A scoping review of yoga intervention components and study quality identified 465 yoga interventions; 298 interventions or 64% were prospective observational study designs, and 151 interventions or 32% were randomized controlled trials (A Systematic Scoping Review of Yoga Intervention Components and Study Quality).
A bibliometric analysis of randomized controlled yoga trials found sample sizes ranging from 8 to 410 participants, with a median sample size of 59 and an interquartile range of 31 to 93 participants (Characteristics of randomized controlled trials of yoga: a bibliometric analysis).
A 2021 bibliometric analysis of systematic reviews identified 322 systematic reviews on yoga (Evidence on yoga for health: a bibliometric analysis of systematic reviews).
The research picture is broad, but the sample sizes and study designs also suggest a field with many smaller trials and a strong interest in mental health, quality of life, and symptom management.
Reading the numbers carefully
A few cautions help keep the data honest.
- The prevalence studies use different years, populations, and wording, so a figure like 16.9% should not be treated as interchangeable with 16.8% without noting the source (CDC NCHS Data Brief 501, June 2024; Prevalence and 20-year trends in meditation, yoga, guided imagery and progressive relaxation use among US adults from 2002 to 2022).
- Motive percentages are not exclusive. An adult can practice yoga for overall health and meditation at the same time.
- The research literature includes many study types, from RCTs to scoping and bibliometric analyses, so it should be read as evidence of scientific attention, not as a single pooled outcome.
- The strongest practical signal in the dataset is not one dramatic outlier. It is the consistency of yoga as a health-related practice across age, sex, and income groups.
The numbers point in the same direction: yoga has become a mainstream wellness behavior, but the reasons people use it are not uniform. That makes the topic useful not only for health readers, but also for anyone trying to understand how mind-body practices fit into everyday life.