Hot tub search interest is recovering across the country but the recent data changes the story of June.
Our analysis covered 50 designated market areas (DMAs), using weekly Google Trends data for the “Hot tub” topic across five years. The 2026 rebound is more convincing: 47 of 50 markets improved in both the first half of the year and the second quarter compared with the same periods in 2025.
June did cool compared with May, which differs from the May-to-June pattern in each of the prior four years. But that sequential cooling did not translate into a broad year-over-year decline. Across all 50 markets, June 2026 remained 3.2 index points above June 2025, and 40 markets improved.
That distinction matters. June interrupted the acceleration; it did not erase the recovery.
What this means for dealers: Search interest improved broadly in early 2026. June cooled compared with May but stayed ahead of the prior year in most markets. Plan around the seasonal pattern in your own market, launch before the local peak, and nurture the shoppers already in your pipeline when new search activity slows. Judge performance by qualified leads and sales rather than search interest alone.
The 2026 snapshot
| Period | 2025 market average | 2026 market average | Change | Markets improving |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January–June | 63.4 | 68.1 | +4.6 points | 47 of 50 |
| April–June | 63.5 | 68.6 | +5.1 points | 47 of 50 |
| June | 66.1 | 69.3 | +3.2 points | 40 of 50 |
These figures are equal-weight averages of 50 independently normalized DMA indexes. They show the direction and breadth of local search interest; they are not a national search-volume estimate.
The headline finding is unusually consistent. Search interest improved in 94% of the markets during the first half of 2026, and the same share improved during Q2. Even June, after losing a little momentum from May, remained ahead of the prior year in 80% of markets.
The five-year view: recovery, not a return to the peak
The 50-market average for the first half of each year shows a clear arc:
| Year | January–June average |
|---|---|
| 2022 | 78.2 |
| 2023 | 66.6 |
| 2024 | 62.8 |
| 2025 | 63.4 |
| 2026 | 68.1 |
Search interest fell sharply after the elevated levels of 2022, reached its first-half low in 2024, edged upward in 2025, and then made a more meaningful recovery in 2026. The 2026 first-half average was 7.3% higher than 2025 and 8.4% higher than 2024.
It is still about 13% below the 2022 first-half average. That is why “recovery” is the right description. The category has regained meaningful ground without returning to its earlier high.
The weekly data reinforces that point. In 42 of the 50 markets, the highest weekly score in the five-year dataset occurred only in 2021 or 2022. Eight markets recorded a maximum after 2022, although one of those tied an earlier peak. The pandemic-era high still dominates most local histories, but it is not the only pattern.
The rebound is broad
The strongest evidence is not the size of the average increase. It is how widely the improvement is distributed.
From January through June, 47 of 50 markets improved from 2025 to 2026. The median market gained 4.9 index points, which means the result was not created by a few unusually large increases. Forty-two markets improved by more than one point.
The largest first-half gains occurred in:
- San Francisco Bay Area: +16.9 points
- Greenville–Spartanburg–Asheville–Anderson: +12.4
- Los Angeles: +12.3
- Miami–Fort Lauderdale: +10.4
- Minneapolis–St. Paul: +10.1
Only three markets declined during the first half: Norfolk–Portsmouth–Newport News (-1.0), Indianapolis (-2.3), and Birmingham (-2.8).
Q2 was just as broad and slightly stronger. The 50-market average rose 5.1 points, the median market gained 4.8 points, and 47 markets improved. That consistency suggests a broad recovery in local search activity. Not an isolated surge in a handful of metros.
June cooled but remained ahead of 2025
June is where the expanded dataset changes the interpretation most.
Across all 50 markets, the average index moved from 69.8 in May 2026 to 69.3 in June, a 0.7% sequential decline. In each of the previous four years, the average rose from May to June. The average increase across 2022–2025 was about 3.5%.
So June did break the recent seasonal pattern: instead of gaining heading into early summer, search interest softened slightly.
But June 2026 was still stronger than June 2025. The market average increased from 66.1 to 69.3, a gain of 3.2 index points, and 40 of 50 markets improved year over year.
The correct reading is more measured than the original 27-market conclusion:
- June lost momentum compared with May.
- It remained broadly positive compared with the prior June.
- The slowdown was concentrated rather than broad across the 50 markets.
In other words, June paused the acceleration without reversing the rebound.
For dealers, that is a useful warning against treating one monthly movement as a universal change in consumer behavior. The 50-market average can cool sequentially while remaining meaningfully stronger than last year and local markets can move in different directions at the same time.
Where search interest is gaining
The biggest Q2 gains were spread across regions rather than confined to one climate or part of the country:
| Market | Q2 2026 vs. Q2 2025 |
|---|---|
| San Francisco Bay Area | +16.8 points |
| Minneapolis–St. Paul | +14.7 |
| Greenville–Spartanburg–Asheville–Anderson | +13.7 |
| Los Angeles | +12.9 |
| Austin | +10.8 |
| New York | +10.1 |
| Cincinnati | +9.9 |
| Las Vegas | +8.6 |
| Jacksonville | +8.2 |
| Detroit | +8.0 |
Only Indianapolis (-4.1), Birmingham (-3.3), and Norfolk–Portsmouth–Newport News (-3.0) declined in Q2.
June itself was more mixed. Greenville (+15.4), Minneapolis (+14.8), New Orleans (+12.8), Los Angeles (+12.6), and Albuquerque–Santa Fe (+12.0) posted the largest year-over-year gains. The largest declines were in Birmingham (-10.8), Indianapolis (-9.9), and Greensboro–High Point–Winston Salem (-6.7).
These differences are exactly why local market data is more useful than a single all-market storyline. A dealer in Minneapolis entered the summer with a very different search environment than a dealer in Indianapolis. Budget, promotions, inventory messaging, and lead expectations should reflect that local reality.
Seasonality changes by market
The four complete calendar years in the dataset, 2022 through 2025, show that hot tub search seasonality is not uniform.
After adjusting each DMA to its own average month, June was the most common peak month, leading in 23 of 50 markets. January ranked second, leading in 14 markets. Together, those two months accounted for nearly three-quarters of all local peaks.
The low point was more concentrated. September was the weakest month in 28 markets, and 39 of 50 markets reached their annual low between July and September.
But the size of the seasonal swing varied substantially:
- Orlando, Phoenix, West Palm Beach, Jacksonville, and Tampa were among the most seasonal markets.
- Minneapolis, Seattle, Milwaukee, Portland, and Greenville were among the least seasonal.
Climate alone does not explain the pattern. Warm-weather metros can peak early in the year and weaken in late summer, while some colder markets show steadier interest than expected. Local weather, homeownership patterns, promotional calendars, tourism, and regional buying habits may all contribute, but Google Trends alone cannot identify the cause.
The practical lesson is simple: do not copy a national campaign calendar without checking how your own market behaves. A January-led DMA and a June-led DMA should not have identical media pacing, content deadlines, or promotional windows.
What hot tub dealers should do with the data
With 47 of 50 markets improving in both H1 and Q2, dealers have a real opportunity to capture renewed category interest. But search activity is still below the elevated 2022 baseline, and local timing varies considerably. The goal is not to assume every market will follow the same recovery curve. It is to prepare before local interest rises, convert more of the demand that appears, and keep developing the opportunities already in the pipeline when search activity cools.
Build the calendar around your market, not the multi-market average
If local interest normally peaks in January or February, a campaign launched in April is late. Content, landing pages, paid media, email, and showroom events should be ready before interest accelerates.
The expanded data makes this even more important. June was the most common peak month, but 14 markets peaked in January and others peaked in February, March, May, July, or November. A January-led DMA and a June-led DMA should not have identical campaign calendars.
Use the local seasonal profile to work backward. If the market typically peaks in June, spring is the time to publish buying guides, model comparisons, financing information, ownership content, and local installation pages. If it peaks in January, that work should be complete before the holidays.
Use the summer trough as preparation time
Thirty-nine of the 50 markets reached their typical low between July and September. That does not make those months unimportant. It makes them useful for refreshing service and product pages, improving local search coverage, reviewing creative, fixing conversion tracking, training the sales team, nurturing open opportunities, and building the campaigns that will run into the next peak.
Dealers should still check their own market before treating summer as the default trough. Some markets bottom later in the year, and Minneapolis was the lone market in this analysis with a July low and a November peak. The operating principle is to identify the local slower period and use it deliberately and not to apply the same seasonal assumption everywhere.
Our guide to keeping pool and spa websites fresh covers why this work matters before buyers return.
Nurture the demand you have already earned
A hot tub purchase rarely happens in one visit. When search interest falls, existing prospects do not disappear. Some are comparing models, planning the installation, discussing financing, or waiting for the right time to move forward.
Use CRM, email, and SMS follow-up to keep those buyers moving. Helpful nurture content can include model comparisons, ownership and maintenance guidance, installation timelines, financing information, seasonal preparation, and invitations to schedule a private showroom appointment. Segment the follow-up by product interest, buying stage, and expected timeline so it feels useful rather than repetitive.
Lead nurturing is especially valuable during a slower search period because the business cannot rely on the same flow of new shoppers. But it should begin while interest is strong. Capturing permission, recording product preferences, and assigning a clear next step during the peak creates the audience and sales context needed for effective follow-up later.
Before the next local search peak, re-engage older leads, recent showroom visitors, and prospects who requested pricing but did not buy. The goal is not to send more messages. It is to stay relevant until the customer is ready and give the sales team a clear reason to restart the conversation.
See why first-party data matters in 2026 and how our email marketing and lead-nurturing services support that longer customer journey.
Do not confuse search interest with sales
Google Trends measures relative interest. It does not report leads, purchases, close rates, or revenue. A market can show lower search interest while a dealer improves its share of available demand. The opposite is also possible.
The 50-market data does not show a broad June year-over-year decline. It shows a slight cooling from May, alongside continued improvement from June 2025 in 40 markets. If your leads or sales fell, compare the local search trend with your own impressions, clicks, conversion rate, lead response time, financing inquiries, appointments, quoted projects, and close rate.
If local search interest rose but qualified leads did not, the likely constraint is farther down the funnel. If both search interest and leads fell, market timing or competitive pressure may be contributing. Connect organic search, paid media, calls, forms, CRM stages, showroom activity, and sales before deciding what changed. The goal is not to win a chart. It is to turn the right local interest into profitable customer relationships.
Protect visibility as search behavior changes
Traditional search is only one discovery path. Dealers also need pages that answer specific customer questions clearly enough to appear in conventional results and AI-generated answers.
That means publishing useful, specific information about models, pricing considerations, electrical and site requirements, delivery, installation, maintenance, financing, and local ownership conditions. A stronger information base supports buyers, conventional search visibility, and AI-powered discovery at the same time.
Our article on SEO, GEO, and AI-powered search for hot tub dealers explains how those pieces work together.
Judge marketing by qualified outcomes
A cooling month is not a reason to chase cheap clicks, loosen targeting, or treat every form submission as equally valuable. Review which campaigns, queries, pages, audiences, and follow-up sequences produce qualified conversations.
Google Trends should inform planning, not replace lead and sales data. The strongest operating view combines local search interest with:
- Qualified leads and showroom appointments
- Cost per qualified lead
- Lead-to-appointment and appointment-to-sale rates
- Lead response time and average days to close
- Financing applications
- Model and price-point demand
- Repeat, referral, service, and accessory revenue
That combination shows whether more people are expressing interest, whether the dealership is converting that interest, and whether the resulting opportunities are commercially valuable. If advertising is creating activity without enough serious buyers, use the diagnostic approach in our guide to improving low-quality Google Ads leads.
Methodology and limitations
This analysis uses weekly Google Trends data for the “Hot tub” topic in Web Search across 50 U.S. designated market areas. Each DMA series was downloaded separately and combined into one master dataset covering July 11, 2021, through July 12, 2026. Because July 2026 was incomplete, the year-to-date comparisons in this article end June 30, 2026.
Google Trends reports relative search interest on a scale from 0 to 100 within each export:
- 100 represents the highest-interest week in that DMA’s five-year series.
- 50 represents half the indexed interest of that peak.
- 0 indicates insufficient data or very low relative interest; it does not necessarily mean no searches occurred.
Because each DMA is normalized independently, a score of 80 in one market does not represent the same number of searches as 80 in another. The data can show whether a market is rising or falling relative to its own history. It cannot rank markets by absolute search volume.
For H1, Q2, June, and other calendar-period comparisons, each weekly observation was weighted by the number of calendar days from that week falling inside the period. This avoids giving extra influence to a month merely because five weekly observation dates landed inside it. The market-level results were then averaged with each DMA receiving equal weight. The overall figures are therefore not population-weighted national estimates.
For the seasonality analysis, we used the four complete calendar years in the dataset, 2022 through 2025. Weekly observations were allocated to months by calendar-day overlap, each market’s monthly values were averaged across the four years, and the resulting profile was rebased so that the market’s own average month equals 100. This makes the timing and size of each DMA’s seasonal swing comparable without implying equal search volume across markets.
Google Trends data is sampled, can be revised, and does not provide raw query counts. The “Hot tub” topic may also include related searches beyond the exact phrase. These findings should be interpreted as directional evidence of local search interest, not as sales, revenue, or a complete measure of category demand.
The takeaway
The expanded 50-market dataset strengthens the main conclusion: the hot tub search rebound in 2026 is broad, geographically diverse, and visible across both the first half and the second quarter.
It also changes the June story. June cooled slightly compared with May, breaking the recent pattern of early-summer acceleration. But it remained ahead of June 2025 in 40 of 50 markets. The recovery slowed; it did not reverse.
For hot tub dealers, the opportunity is not to react to a single multi-market average. It is to understand the timing of local interest, align marketing before the local peak, and connect search behavior to qualified leads and sales.
Frequently asked questions
Is hot tub search interest increasing in 2026?
Yes. Across the 50 markets analyzed, the January–June average increased by 4.6 index points from 2025 to 2026, and 47 of 50 markets improved. Q2 also improved in 47 markets, with an average gain of 5.1 points.
Did hot tub search interest fall in June 2026?
It depends on the comparison. The 50-market average fell 0.7% from May to June 2026, so momentum cooled. But June remained 3.2 index points above June 2025, and 40 of 50 markets improved year over year.
Has search interest returned to its earlier peak?
No. The first-half 2026 average was 7.3% higher than 2025 but remained about 13% below the first-half 2022 average. The data supports a recovery, not a full return to the earlier high.
When does hot tub search interest peak?
Seasonality varies by market. Across the 2022–2025 profiles, June was the most common peak month, leading in 23 of 50 markets. January was the peak in 14 markets. September was the most common low month.
Which markets had the strongest Q2 growth?
The largest Q2 year-over-year gains occurred in the San Francisco Bay Area, Minneapolis–St. Paul, Greenville–Spartanburg–Asheville–Anderson, Los Angeles, and Austin.
Can Google Trends show which market has the most hot tub searches?
Not from these exports. Each DMA is normalized independently to its own peak, so the scores can compare a market with its own history but cannot compare absolute search volume between markets.
