State of the Industry 2022: Clients

A graphic showing the average monthly price of group training in gyms according to 2022 data: $160.

Which gyms have the most clients?

How long are those clients staying?

What are those clients worth?

At Two-Brain, our mentorship program finds the best practices for getting more clients, keeping those clients around as long as possible and maximizing their value to a gym.

That quest starts with knowing the industry averages. We publish these averages (calculated from data from over 10,000 gyms worldwide) every year in our “State of the Industry” report.

Get your free copy here.


Client Headcount


The average gym has 154 clients, according to our friends at PushPress.

This number hasn’t changed much since we started publishing this guide in 2020. But it’s a really interesting number for other reasons.

In various anthropological and historical studies, the number 150 appears over and over with regard to tribes and units of human groups. We naturally organize in groups of 15, 50 and 150.

When you reach 150 gym members, you’ll need a different plan to scale up. But building your gym plan with a target of 150 amazing clients is a fantastic way to start.

A gym with 150 clients can:

  • Pay the gym owner $100,000 per year.
  • Employ a full-time coach or two.
  • Deliver life-changing service to clients.


For three detailed paths to earning $100,000 from a gym, get our free guide here: “How to Make $100,000 Per Year With 150 Clients.”


Client Value


Most of us run a coaching business. That means we offer a personalized service (sometimes in a group setting). This is a high-value service—as long as you don’t try to industrialize your operations with free trials, big groups, streamlined intake that doesn’t include goal setting, and cookie-cutter plans that don’t help individuals accomplish specific goals.

The average gym in our State of the Industry data set is charging around $160 per month for an “unlimited” membership. But client value at the best gyms is rising dramatically: Average revenue per member (ARM) in Two-Brain gyms is over $185 now, with the top gyms all over $300 per client per month.

Imagine every client at your gym paying you $25 more every month—what difference would that make? And what if that number doubled? Could you afford to spend more time with every client? Could you actually deliver the level of service you dream of delivering?

Gym owners have many ways to increase ARM. Surprisingly, our data shows nutrition coaching isn’t moving the needle as much as it should: While 70 percent of gyms now offer the service, it accounts for only five percent of gross revenue, on average. All that work should produce a better return.

Read more about this and other surprises in the report—it’s available here.


Client Retention


If you can’t keep them around, you can’t change their lives.

The average client retention in coaching businesses, not the big chain gyms, is only 7.8 months. That’s not enough time to change a life.

In contrast, the average Two-Brain gym’s retention has risen from 13 months in 2020 to 18.8 months in 2022. As a group, we’re getting closer to two-year retention. That’s important: At the 24-month mark, most clients who quit a gym don’t quit fitness. They just do something else, which means they keep moving and improving their health. That’s a huge win.

Here’s a great stat: Clients who stick around to the 18-month mark are more than 70 percent likely to make it to the 24-month mark.

Strategies like the No Sweat Intro are critical to keeping clients around this long. Clear planning by the gym owner and coach is key, too. We teach gym owners to improve retention with great emphasis (and using the latest research) in our RampUp and Growth programs.


Get More Data to Improve Your Gym


I’ve just touched on a few highlights here. The full guide goes much deeper: It has more than 50 pages of metrics you can use to grow your fitness business and serve your clients better.

Download the report here!

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One more thing!

Did you know gym owners can earn $100,000 a year with no more than 150 clients? We wrote a guide showing you exactly how.