The fitness industry is full of advice.
Some of it sounds good but won’t actually move the needle in your business.
Worse, some of it will hurt your business—badly.
For example, here’s one of the worst myths:
You need 300 to 500 members to be a successful gym owner.
That’s simply not true.
Most gyms can be rock solid with just 150 members—if the other parts of the business are dialed in.
This is where data comes in.
You can help every gym owner in the world run a better business by contributing to Two-Brain’s 2025 “State of the Industry” report:
If you donate five minutes to share your info, you’ll push the fitness business forward. In return, I’ll send you our updated analysis before anyone else gets it and give you access to 19 of my very best free resources for gym owners.
Truth requires numbers. And proof is in the metrics.
Instead of guessing or chasing trends, let’s look at six critical numbers that tell the real story about your gym’s health.
And then I’ll send you our updated 2025 numbers and analysis in November.
1. Average Revenue per Member (ARM)
This is how much each paying client spends every month.
The 2024 industry averages? Check them out:
If your ARM is way below those numbers, you’re likely undercharging or missing out on high-value services.
Imagine you’re about $20 under the big group average with 150 members—that’s around $3,000 lost every month, $36,000 a year, and over $100,000 in three years.
Raise your ARM by $20 and keep it steady for 10 years with 150 members, and you could add $360,000—that’s enough money for a down payment on your building.
2. Length of Engagement (LEG)
This is the average number of months a client stays with you. The U.S. industry average was about 18.6 months in 2024, but the Two-Brain average is closer to 25 months.
Better retention means less pressure to constantly find new members, and it gives you time to actually change habits and lives.
If you screw up and your LEG drops from 18 to 12 months, you lose a third of your client’s potential value.
If your ARM is $170, you’ll earn $1,020 less from each client. If you have 150 clients, you’ll lose $153,000 overall.
But I know you: You got into this business to change lives. So if clients quit after 12 months, they’re probably heading back to the couch, and that will break your heart.
Poor LEG is bad for everyone.
3. Net Owner Benefit (NOB)
This is profit plus the money you pay yourself. The median amount for gym owners was $4,000 per month in 2024, but the best gyms topped $20,000. (Two-Brain owners bring up the average figures a lot.)
Profit isn’t about greed; it’s what keeps you in the game.
If you’re only making $2,000 instead of $6,000 a month, that’s $48,000 less a year to invest in growth, staff or even your family.
Fixing pricing, controlling expenses and retaining clients can move you from average to top-tier profit in fewer than two years without doubling your workload.
4. Return on Investment (ROI)
Every dollar spent should bring a return.
In a big group gym in 2024, staff costs were about 33 percent of revenue on average, with fixed costs around 47 percent.
If you’re only paying staff 33 percent of revenue, that’s too little. And if you’re paying your landlord 47 cents on the dollar, that’s too much.
The solution? Audit your expenses. Are you running low-attendance classes? Are you paying coaches too little? Are you spending too much on space or equipment?
Audit and make changes to get better ROI.
Cutting dead weight frees money you can use to generate growth—through marketing or staff training, for example.
5. Effective Hourly Rate (EHR)
How much do you get paid per hour you work?
The median figure for the owner of a big group gym was about $25 an hour in 2024, but top gym owners hit $46+.
If you’re making $10 an hour, you’re better off coaching somewhere else. That’s obvious, right?
To get ahead and earn more as the owner, you need to focus on CEO tasks: Delegate low-value work and streamline operations.
This shift alone can boost your EHR by more than 80 percent. Think about it: What would it do for your lifestyle if you earned $46 per hour instead of $25?
6. Client Headcount
How many paying members do you have?
The median for big group gyms in 2024 was 123.
And we know you can be profitable with 150 members if your systems support them, so simply chasing 300 or 400 members is a bad plan that leads to burnout, bad service and high churn.
Revenue = ARM x Headcount
Instead of chasing mountains of members, focus on dialing in your ARM and LEG with about 150 members.
If you do that, you’ll have a solid, profitable gym—and then you can chase bigger numbers if you want to.
Stop Guessing. Start Measuring.
These six numbers—ARM, LEG, NOB, ROI, EHR and headcount—give you the clearest picture of your gym’s health.
Get them right and you will build a gym that lasts 30+ years.
Get them wrong and you’ll chase fads and gut feelings that will put you out of business.
To get the 2025 stats and insight you need to build a profitable gym, fill out our short survey. Share your data with us, and you’ll get the exact numbers you need to run your gym better—forever.
