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How much does a gym membership cost?

By Stelvo Team · · 6 min read

Short answer: in the United States the average member paid $65 a month in 2023, up 9% in a year — but that average hides a split market: almost 67% of members pay less than $50, the biggest chain's entry tier is $15 a month plus a $49 annual fee, and clubs charging $100 or more were the fastest-growing segment. In the UK, membership income works out to about £39 per member per month; across Europe, club revenue is about €43 per member per month. Whether $50 is "a lot" depends less on the number than on how often you go: the average monthly-contract member pays more than $17 per visit.

What is the average gym membership cost in the US?

$65 a month. Average monthly fitness facility dues in the United States rose 9% in 2023 to $65, almost 67% of members paid on average less than $50 a month, and facilities charging $100 a month or more grew their membership 7.9% from 2022 to 2023 — the premium end and the budget end both growing while the middle thins (Health & Fitness Association, 2024). Members skew affluent: households earning more than $75,000 make up just over half of US members (HFA, 2025).

Tier Typical monthly price Source
Budget chain, entry tier $15 (Planet Fitness Classic) plus $49 annual fee Planet Fitness, 2026
Budget chain, premium tier from $24 (Planet Fitness Black Card) Planet Fitness, 2026
US average across all facilities $65 (2023) HFA, 2024
Share of members paying under $50 almost 67% HFA, 2024
Premium facilities $100 and up; membership +7.9% in 2023 HFA, 2024

Planet Fitness, with 20.8 million members and 2,896 clubs at the end of 2025 (SEC filing, 2026), lists Classic memberships "beginning at $15" and Black Card "beginning at $24", both "subject to an annual fee of $49" (Planet Fitness). Its results release notes 2025 was the first full year after a 50% price increase for new Classic members.

How much is a gym membership in the UK?

About £39 a month per member, on the industry's own totals. The ukactive market report puts UK membership income at £5.7 billion in 2025 across a record 12.2 million members (ukactive, 2026) — £467 a year each, or roughly £39 a month, a derived average that blends £20 budget gyms with £200 clubs. Total sector income was £6.5 billion, up from £5.7 billion, with membership income up 14% in a year.

How much is a gym membership in Europe?

About €43 a month per member, by the same arithmetic. European clubs took €39.1 billion in revenue from 75.5 million members in 2025 (EuropeActive/Deloitte, 2026) — about €518 a year, or €43 a month, and revenue includes non-membership income such as personal training and retail, so the pure membership figure is a little lower. The largest operator, Basic-Fit, made €1.4 billion from 5.8 million members, about €20 a month each; David Lloyd Leisure made €1.1 billion from far fewer members at the premium end.

Is $50 a month a lot for a gym?

It is above what two-thirds of American members pay, and below the $65 average — the mid-market. The better question is the price per visit. In the classic study of health-club contracts, members who chose a flat monthly fee of more than $70 attended on average 4.3 times a month and so paid more than $17 per expected visit, when a 10-visit pass would have cost $10 a visit; over the life of the membership they forwent about $600 in savings (DellaVigna & Malmendier, American Economic Review, 2006). At $50 a month, eight visits is $6.25 each and two visits is $25 each. The industry average is about 81 visits a year, roughly seven a month (HFA, 2024).

What do you get for the money?

Increasingly, a trainer. Nearly one in four US members (22.6%) worked with a personal trainer in 2024 and 32.3% took part in small-group training, on top of the equipment: 43.4% of members used treadmills and 32.1% trained with free weights (HFA, 2025). The US employs 388,400 fitness trainers and instructors at a median $47,160 a year (Bureau of Labor Statistics), and a coached programme produced 1.3 kg more lean mass and a 42% strength gain in 12 weeks where self-directed training produced none and 19% (Storer et al., Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, 2014).

Is a gym membership tax-deductible or HSA-eligible?

Generally no. IRS Publication 502 states: "You can't include in medical expenses health club dues or amounts paid to improve one's general health or to relieve physical or mental discomfort not related to a particular medical condition." Costs to lose weight are includable only "if it is a treatment for a specific disease diagnosed by a physician (such as obesity, hypertension, or heart disease)" (IRS Publication 502, 2025). The same test governs HSA and FSA spending on gym fees.

How Stelvo handles this

Stelvo costs $9.99 a month or $59.99 a year and works in any gym, with any equipment you tell it you have, so the plan follows you to the $15 chain or the $150 club; it suggests working weights and progresses them, which is most of what the trainer in the trial above was paid to do.

FAQ

How much is a gym membership per month on average?

$65 in the US in 2023; roughly £39 per member in the UK and €43 in Europe on industry revenue-per-member arithmetic.

Why are gym memberships so expensive?

Because they are priced for the visits people intend rather than the visits they make: the average monthly member pays over $17 a visit. Budget chains at $15 a month are the market's answer.

Is a $70 gym membership worth it?

At the industry-average seven visits a month, $70 is $10 a visit; at the study's 4.3 visits it is over $16. Worth it if you go twice a week, not if you go twice a month.

Sources

Per-member figures for the UK and Europe are derived by dividing published income by published membership; they are averages across every tier, not list prices.

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