How many members does a gym need to break even?
Calculate gym break-even from active billed members, recognized member revenue, contribution, cohort retention and fixed facility cost.
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The StartFigures full-service gym needs about 1,051 active billed members to cover simplified operating costs. The public calculator spreads $125.03 of average monthly recognized revenue across seven open days, producing a $4.125 member-day driver. At an 85% contribution margin and $111,667 of monthly fixed costs, the continuous threshold is 1,050.7 active members.
The mature case uses 1,200 active billed members. That leaves a buffer of about 149 members above the simplified threshold. Leads, trials, founding signups, frozen accounts, failed payments and canceled memberships do not qualify as active billed members unless the cohort bridge supports them.
The $125.03 monthly member value, 1,200-member base, 85% contribution and $111,667 monthly fixed cost are authored assumptions. They are not a local membership price, presale result, churn benchmark, capacity approval or profitability guarantee.
Define one active billed member
An active billed member is one account entitled to service during the period and recognized under the selected billing policy after freezes, cancellations, refunds and failed payments. A person can appear as a lead, trial, paid activation and retained member at different stages, but the same account cannot be counted twice in one active cohort.
The matching paid workbook uses the E12 subscription-cohort engine. Marketing spend and CAC create forecast leads; trial cohorts convert after the selected delay; direct-paid starts join them; tier mix, prices and churn determine active subscribers; usage, setup and additional revenue remain separate.
Reconcile the membership bridge
| Stage | Record | Control question |
|---|---|---|
| Acquire | Marketing source, spend, lead and acquisition cost | Did the campaign produce a qualified identifiable prospect? |
| Activate | Trial, delay, conversion, direct-paid start and tier | When did the account become paid and entitled to service? |
| Retain | Opening members, additions, churn, freezes, failed payments and reactivations | How many active billed members remain by cohort? |
| Serve and recognize | Visits, peak use, tier revenue, training, refunds and cash | Can the facility deliver the promise and collect the recognized amount? |
Cumulative signups can rise while active membership falls. The operating dashboard therefore needs an opening-to-closing member bridge by cohort and tier, together with collected revenue and peak service data.
Calculate active-member break-even
The shared website calculator uses $4.125 of recognized revenue per active member per open day. Across seven days and 4.33 weeks, that equals about $125.03 per active member per month. At an 85% contribution margin, one active member contributes about $106.27 per month.
$111,667 ÷ $125.03 ÷ 85% = 1,050.7 active billed members.
At 1,200 members, monthly revenue is about $150,035, contribution is about $127,529, and simplified operating surplus is about $15,862 before depreciation, financing, income tax, equipment replacement, working-capital timing and distributions.
Stress member value, contribution and fixed cost
| Case | Assumptions | Members |
|---|---|---|
| Lower member value | $3.00/member-day · 85% margin · $111,667 fixed/month | 1,444.8 |
| Base | $4.125/member-day · 85% margin · $111,667 fixed/month | 1,050.7 |
| Higher member value | $5.75/member-day · 85% margin · $111,667 fixed/month | 753.8 |
| More direct-cost leakage | $4.125/member-day · 75% margin · $111,667 fixed/month | 1,190.8 |
| Higher fixed cost | $4.125/member-day · 85% margin · $130,000 fixed/month | 1,223.2 |
The lower-value case exceeds the 1,200-member base, and the higher-fixed-cost case nearly does. A gym cannot solve this safely by selling unlimited memberships if peak equipment, classes, lockers, cleaning and staff capacity are already failing.
Use national fitness context carefully
Census defines NAICS 713940 around establishments operating fitness and recreational sports facilities. Its 2023 employer data report 41,556 establishments, 708,273 employees and $13.507 billion of annual payroll; 16,986 establishments had fewer than five employees. The category includes facilities unlike the modeled full-service gym and cannot establish one trade area's active members or churn. Census NAICS and 2023 industry profile.
BLS reports May 2025 median annual pay of $47,160 for fitness trainers and instructors and notes that schedules can include nights, weekends and holidays. The national figure does not set local credentials, contractor treatment, class coverage or full employer cost. BLS occupational outlook.
Department of Justice guidance explains that accessible routes and clear floor space apply to exercise machines and equipment under the 2010 ADA Standards for new construction and alterations. An actual premises still needs a current accessibility and code review. DOJ standards guidance.
The FTC maintains the current rulemaking and litigation record for negative-option and recurring-payment practices. Because that record and state requirements can change, membership consent, renewal and cancellation terms need current legal review rather than a copied historical summary. FTC Negative Option Rule record.
Read the five-year case
| Year | Revenue | Operating result |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | $900,000 | -$442,000 |
| 2 | $1,350,000 | -$139,500 |
| 3 | $1,800,000 | $190,000 |
| 4 | $2,100,000 | $385,500 |
| 5 | $2,350,000 | $536,000 |
The next test is a paid founding-member campaign followed through activation and at least ninety days of retention. Reconcile source, spend, trial, conversion, tier, payment, first visit, peak use, freeze, failed payment, cancellation, added service and cash by cohort before committing to a long lease or a larger equipment order.
The Gym & Fitness Center case contains the complete $1.85 million allocation and forecast. Its evidence register separates sources from assumptions, while the business plan and financial model explain site, capacity and E12 cohort adaptation.