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How much does a gym membership cost?

By Stelvo Team · · 6 min read · How we source this

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); how often members really go is the subject of what percentage of gym members actually go? The industry totals behind this page are on the gym membership statistics page.

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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