How rare is an audiophile

There are tons of people out there who "like" music. They want their music close by, but don’t want to be tethered by the physical or mental constraints of being an "audiophile" and/or music "lover". The diference being that the music "lover" is comfortable with prioritizing the music listening experience to the degree where it becomes (literally) front and center, and fully engulfs the senses for some period of time. Those attributes, accompanyed by a high level of appreciation for, and curiosity about, the equipment that makes it all happen completes the definition of the term "audiophile" in my opinion.

I enjoy observing people involved in other hobbies, and the parallels to audio enthusiasts. We’ve got waytoomuchstuff parked in our garages, too. We are involved in a ridiculous number of car events. Here we go: Street Rods, Muscle Cars, British Cars, European Cars, Ford Powered Cars, Shelby events and, of course, Sunbeam Tigers in particular. What’s the point here? I think we can’t ignore the element of nostalgia as a factor. in the audiphile community. Most of us (?) have a emotional connection to our (past) lives, the music, and the gear. Younger people today are living in the present and haven’t experienced the historical content in just how important music and equipment is in their lives. Just like those basic biological functions, it may be decades before they appreciate what they had.

And, one more point. Whenever I get the opportunity to snag a good example of vintage hifi gear, I like to grab them and hang on to them for my grandkids. I’m also finding that I, literally, can’t give the stuff away. Times are different now.

Interesting question from the OP. I've wondered this myself - here are a few thoughts and observations.

First, regarding a definition, I would say that someone who has an interest in audio gear beyond the music they play through it could be called an audiophile. If they thoughtfully assembled their system and could tell you the brand names of their components that's enough for me.

Regarding numbers, it's harder. There are about 70K Stereophile subscribers and about half that for TAS. I suspect that many of them, like me, subscribe to both publications. Anyone who reads these publications can certainly be called an audiophile. I suspect that the number of people who feed their hobby with the internet is larger. Michael Fremer has put out videos that have totaled several hundred thousand views. I would call anyone who watches a Michael Fremer video an audiophile. When you estimate how many people subscribe to online reviewers or participate in forums the number is surely in the six figures but there is a lot of overlap with other media.

So, I would estimate that the number of audiophiles is probably somewhere south of 500,000 world wide with maybe 300,000 of them in the US. This number makes sense to me because it would take a market like this to support the industry that we have.

Is the population of audiophiles growing or shrinking? The evidence is clear to me that our numbers are growing. One only has to look at the increasing number of manufacturers and the explosion of products to determine that this is a healthy market. New models are constantly being introduced at every price point and new types of gear is filling out the product offerings. The amount of gear available is staggering and it is only getting bigger. New audio shows are popping up across the country. I attended the first Pacific Audio Fest (Seattle) last summer and it was a huge hit. New retail stores are opening up. Yes, some have closed, but more new ones are coming on the scene and expanding the retail presence. Everything I see points to an expanding market and a growing base of people who I would call hobbyists or enthusiasts (i.e. audiophiles).

I'm 67 and I worked in senior management most of my career. I have only met one other audiophile in all that time outside of an audio show. One way to put this in perspective is to compare how many LGBTQ people I have met vs. audiophiles. Gallup estimates that 7.2% of the US population is LGBTQ. I couldn't begin to tell you how many queer people I have met or known throughout my life but it is a lot. But only one audiophile. Maybe we don't come out of the closet except at audio shows.

++++1 @bob540 To me, it's one who recognizes there is much more to enjoying music than the music itself; it's HOW the music sounds as well, regardless of how much one has invested in the equipment.

30 years from now the young people of today will be in their 50’s and "listening" to perfect music transmitted to their brains telepathically. Then they’ll say to each other: "Ah, remember the good ’ole days when we danced around and enjoyed listening to MP3s wearing those really cool-looking ear buds? I miss those times."

My guess is that its more like 1 in 100,000.  I live near Ft. Lauderdale.  While there are 2 good record stores, all the audio stores have closed or converted to smart home / home theater stores.  There is one in Palm Beach and maybe 2 in Miami.  I have tried finding people on facebook rooms such as Turntable Talk, the McIntosh page, and the VPI page to see if anyone live near Ft. Lauderdale or near Charlotte, NC and have never received a response.  Luckily a good friend of mine is an audiophile.  I just didn't know how rrare we were or how lucky I am to have a buddy who also enjoys the hobby.