How many students does your gym actually need? Free, no signup.
Two different break-evens: one that covers the gym, and one that also pays you.
Industry average runs 3 to 5% a month; well-run schools sit under 2%.
What dues would have to be, at your current student count, to hit both break-evens.
Gym owners ask one question first: how many students do I need to break even? This calculator answers it twice, because a gym that covers costs while paying you nothing is profitable but broke. Start with your bar: the monthly pay you need to take home, plus your current paying students. Pick a facility preset: Rented hours, Leased gym, or Big facility, each filling rent, insurance, utilities, billing software, loan or build-out payment, and marketing as editable starting points. Enter monthly dues, average discount percent for scholarships and family rates, and card and billing fee percent; the tool computes the true per-student contribution after both. Add other monthly income like privates, seminars, and gear. Results show monthly fixed costs, per-student contribution, and two break-evens: students to cover costs, and students to cover costs plus your pay. Verdicts are PROFITABLE, PROFITABLE BUT BROKE, or UNDERWATER. The churn planner tells you how many signups per month hold the break-even at your churn rate, and reverse price shows what dues must be at your current headcount. No signup; runs on your phone.
Example only, not typical pricing. Leased gym preset: rent 3,500 plus 250 insurance plus 300 utilities plus 150 software plus 500 loan plus 400 marketing = $5,100 fixed. Dues are $150 with 5 percent discounts and 3.5 percent card fees: contribution = 150 x 0.95 x 0.965 = $137.51 per student. Other income is $500. Students to cover costs = (5,100 - 500) / 137.51 = 33.45, rounded up to 34. Students to also pay you $4,000 = (5,100 + 4,000 - 500) / 137.51 = 62.55, rounded up to 63. With 55 students you are 8 short of paying yourself, so the verdict is PROFITABLE BUT BROKE. At 4 percent monthly churn, holding the 63-student break-even needs ceil(63 x 0.04) = 3 new signups per month. Reverse price at 55 students = 8,600 / 55 / 0.95 / 0.965 = $170.56 dues per month.
**Q** Why two break-even numbers instead of one?
Because cost break-even and owner break-even are different problems. A gym at 34 students survives but the owner works for free. Knowing both keeps you from celebrating a milestone that does not pay you.
**Q** How do discounts and card fees change the math?
They shrink what each student actually contributes. A 5 percent discount and 3.5 percent fees turn $150 dues into $137.51. The tool divides by contribution, not by dues, so the break-even reflects real money.
**Q** What counts as other monthly income?
Privates, seminars, gear sales, anything recurring outside dues. It offsets fixed costs before the division, so $500 a month lowers both break-evens.
**Q** Why does the churn planner use the owner break-even?
Because churn forces replacements just to stand still. Three signups a month holds 63 students at 4 percent churn; miss it and the roster drifts back below your pay.
**Q** What if I want a price increase instead of more students?
Use reverse price. It shows the dues needed at your current student count to hit both break-evens, so you can compare a rate hike against a headcount push.