Wodify is a leading all-in-one fitness management software, trusted by over 5,000 of the world’s top businesses. With one of the largest & most accurate datasets in the industry, we decided to create this blog series in order to share specific metrics that are proven to drive results, insights from the most successful gyms, and how Wodify customers can track their progress.
The past few years have been prone to record levels of inflation due to the global pandemic, which have resulted in volatile economic conditions. In this Behind the Numbers, we reveal groundbreaking data related to the rising cost of gym memberships after COVID-19 and dig into the following questions:
We’ll answer all of these questions, so read on!
We analyzed over 9.18 million data points across thousands of gyms to gather this information for you. Yes, that’s an extremely large number, so gear up for some extra informative conclusions.
We looked at recurring monthly gym membership prices in the United States starting in January of 2019 through September of 2022.
As you can see from the graph above, in January 2019 the average gym membership cost was $112/month. During COVID-19, you can see the major drop on the graph to almost $100/month, which is a decrease in avergae cost by 10%.
Membership prices returned to the original baseline of approximately $112/month by mid-2021.
You can see the membership cost continues to climb, and, as of August 2022 the average cost is $128/month.
In essence, the average cost of a monthly gym membership has risen 14.33% from January 2019 to August 2022.
You might be astonished by how much the average gym membership cost has risen by, but it also has not risen at the same rate of inflation. According to the Beaurea of Labor Statistics, the cost of living has increased by 17%+ since January 2019, which is almost 3% higher than the rate that gym membership prices have ris
If you hover over each state in the map below, you can see the avergae gym membership cost in that state.
State with highest gym membership cost: New York at $166/month on average
State with lowest gym membership cost: New Mexico at $89/month on average
Our main takeaway from this data is that retention has remained crucial to fitness business owners. Are you wondering why membership costs haven’t increased at the same rate as the cost of living? Perhaps, gym owners don’t want to lose their clients, so they raise prices only a fraction of the amount they may need to in order to keep their business afloat.
Your gym owners are working tirelessly to keep their business open and with the most possible value for you. No action to take here, just simply pay some respects to the owners and employees that make your fitness experience possible.
Provide value beyond a higher price
There are a number of things you can do to provide a higher value to your members other than raising the price of memberships.
Perhaps, you start to increase the cleanliness of your facility, paying extra attention to keeping it as neat and presentable as possible in order to make your members as happy as possible.
You can host holiday events, which will prevent members from switching gyms because of the close community at your business.
Additionally, encourage your members to track their performance using a tool like Wodify Perform. When all of their workout data is stored in one place, the switching cost will be higher than the cost of staying a member of your gym since they won’t want to lose all of their progress. Performance tracking can increase retention by 20%.
We hope you found these insights & advice useful for your business! Keep an eye out for more posts in this series as we continue to explore the data in Wodify.
If you aren’t using Wodify yet, you can book a free consultation here.
Want to keep learning? Check out our other Behind The Numbers posts:
Why Fall is the Most Important Season to Nurture Your Members
How You Should Really Be Keeping Track of Your Business Data
The Secret To Saving Time & Money as a Fitness Business Owner
