Every year, we collect and publish the largest set of data in the world for gym owners.
And then we give it away for free.
We do it for two reasons:
First, I want us all to know the truth. I want to cut through the fake facts from “influencers” who are trying to sell us their crap. What are gyms actually charging? How many clients do they really get? How much are the coaches paid? This knowledge alone is valuable for comparison.
The second—and larger—reason is that I want us to act on the numbers. When you’re below the average, I want you to pull yourself up. When you’re ahead of the average, I want you to share what you’re doing with others. This is how we move the fitness industry forward: by strengthening gyms and making coaching a career.
You can see the averages and identify the top priorities for your gym in our 2025 “State of the Industry” guide.
Get it here (as I said, it’s free).
Draw your own conclusions and ask me questions in our Gym Owners United Group.
To give you a preview, I’ll provide quick analysis of four stats I found very interesting in 2025.
1. Revenue Is Going up in Gyms
Hallelujah!
The median revenue for Big Group gyms—CrossFit, Fit Body Boot Camp and other group-training gyms—is now US$18,750 per month, up from $17,000 last year. (Median: Half of the gyms in our report earned more than this, and half earned less.)
Small Group training gyms jumped even more— from $11,000 to $16,667 per month. These gyms almost always have lower expenses, so they’re almost always more profitable. (I explain why in the guide.)
But even 1:1 studios jumped to $16,000 from $13,000 last year. The reasons aren’t as clear. But I share some ideas in the guide, including raising rates and moving toward semi-private training.
2. Profitability Is Also Going Up
This, to me, is even more important because profit is really the measure of sustainability.
But where’s the increased profitability coming from? Well, some comes from getting more clients. Some comes from charging better rates. Some comes from keeping clients longer.
The key to a stronger gym is not “better retention” or “increased average revenue per member” or “more leads” or “minding your expenses.”
It’s all these things.
We track all these metrics in our annual report because they’re all critical. Anyone who tells you that any one thing is the key to growing your gym is trying to sell you a business pill.
The best-run gyms are getting more profitable. But even the median is going up.
I go deep on pages 60 and 61.
You can see the increase in ARM (client value) on Page 30, the increase in LEG (retention) on pages 36 and 37, and the improvement in expenses on pages 46 and 54.
3. Client Headcount Didn’t Go up Much
This is surprising: 50% of microgyms have fewer than 129 clients.
The median was 129 in 2025 vs 122.5 in 2024. Yes, a 5% swing is significant. But the most important takeaway here is that you should calculate your space, staff, equipment, pricing and marketing on 130 clients, not 300 or whatever the gurus are telling you.
I explain why that’s the case on pages 16 and 17. And I get super real on Page 18. Print that one out and stick it to your wall: It has all your targets in one place.
4. Staff Earnings Are Down for Group Classes
On Page 49, you’ll see that the cost to run a Big Group class dropped by $7.99 from 2024 to 2025. This is surprising because of increased revenue and profitability in gyms.
However, all signs point to an increase in staff pay next year:
- Gyms are more profitable in general.
- Gyms are running fewer classes (so more pay is available per class).
- Gyms have fewer staff members to pay (so each earns more).
- More gyms are moving to small-group personal training (so staff can earn more without chipping away at the gym owner’s income).
Yes, all signs point to better pay for coaches next year—except in gyms that just run big classes, have high churn, undercharge for their service and trade memberships with a dozen staff people.
Data, Discussion and Mentorship
The 2025 “State of the Industry” guide has a ton of other interesting stats. And the best numbers raise questions:
- Why does it cost more to open a big-group training gym now than it did five years ago?
- Who are the elite gym owners that pull the averages up for everyone else?
- How many people attend the average class?
- What are the best class times?
- And where’s this resurgence of under-21 clients coming from?
I give you all the answers in the guide: get it here.
And we talk about the answers, and my perspectives, in GymOwnersUnited.com.
We give you the solutions and the path to improvement in our mentorship program, Two-Brain Business. To talk about a plan for your gym, book a call here.
