Detroit is the best city to start a yoga studio.

So says self-storage company SpareFoot, which teamed up with Thumbtack.com, an online service that connects consumers with skilled professionals, to do the study.

Thumbtack used marketplace data to figure out which markets had the highest demand for yoga, controlling for supply.

“Forget Motor City. Detroit could soon become Yoga City,” SpareFoot says. “Over the decades Detroit has fallen into disrepair but young creatives are flocking here and revitalizing the city. If you have a pioneering spirit launching a yoga studio here could be a great move.

Detroit beat out nine other metropolitan areas that scored high enough on the Thumbtack Opportunity Index to be considered. They are: Dallas, Seattle-Tacoma, Lancaster, Penn., Knoxville, Tenn.,

Lakeland-Winter Haven, Fla., Milwaukee-Waukesha, Wisc., Port St. Lucie, Fla., Columbus, Ohio, Cleveland-Elyria, Ohio

Thumbtack calculated the markets with the highest demand for yoga using six metrics. Here are Detroit’s scores.

• Thumbtack Average Price Per Session: $45.48
• Retail asking price per sq. ft.: $86.53
• Sessions per sq. ft. of retail space: 1.9
• Median rent: $1,119
• Median home price: $33,425
• Sessions needed to pay a month’s rent: 24.

If you’d like to see how the other cities ranked click here.

Yoga is taking hold. The SpareFoot blog points out a recent study commissioned by the Yoga Alliance shows 36.7 million Americans are practicing the discipline. That’s a 50 percent increase from just four years ago, the study says.

With more people practicing yoga, there’s also a bigger demand for yoga instructors. Detroit ranked as the second best city for yoga instructors in another Thumbtack study, so if you are so inclined, that could be a great career for you.

“The wellness economy in the U.S. is a multi-billion industry and growing fast – so it’s no surprise that there is an explosion of people seeking work in the wellness business, too,” says Thumbtack.

Editor’s note: The SpareFoot blog is starting a ‘Best Cities for Starting a ____’ series with Thumbtack. Hopefully, we will see Detroit at the top of some of those lists as well.

Photos: Paul Engstrom

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