Average gym retention rate: 2026 benchmarks

Gym membership retention statistics: what they mean for your gym

Members leave early and quietly, and some come back. Below are four findings from published studies, each with one thing you can do this week.

1. New members leave fastest

   Most people who quit do it in their first months, long before a contract runs out.

   63% of new members stopped training before their third month (one gym in Brazil, Sperandei et al., 2016)

   Do this

   Message every new member after their first week and again after their first month, and ask what they want to work on next.

2. Coaching in the first weeks keeps them coming

   In a Dutch trial, 48% of members who had a monthly goal talk dropped out of classes within 12 weeks, against 88% of members without one (Middelkamp et al., Journal of Sports Science and Medicine, 2016, 122 members).

   48% dropped out of classes within 12 weeks with monthly coaching, against 88% without (Dutch trial, Middelkamp et al., 2016)

   Do this

   Give every new member a short goal talk in their first month, and check that goal with them once a month for the first three months.

3. People stop coming before they cancel

   A member who has gone quiet is usually still paying, and some never start at all. Get in touch while they still pay.

   19.5% of members who cancelled had never come in once (two European chains, a Dutch-led study, Middelkamp et al., 2016)

   Do this

   Every Monday, look up who has not come in for 30 days and send each one a short, personal message. In a new member’s first week, check that they have been in at all.

4. Some leavers come back, mostly in the first month

   Many people who cancel are only taking a break, and they are most likely to come back in the first weeks after they stop.

   38% came back within a year, more than half of them in the first month (one gym in Brazil, Sperandei et al., 2019)

   Do this

   When someone cancels, ask why, offer a freeze if that fits, and get in touch once more within the month. The study counted people who came back on their own; asking was not tested.

Each study measured visits, cancellations or returns in a few gyms, so read the steps as sensible first moves.

Is my retention rate good? Benchmarks by gym type

Retention rates differ by type of gym. A good gym retention rate is above the 66.4% average a year (HFA 2025), and a well run independent gym keeps 75.8% or more (IHRSA 2019 report, data for 2018). Find your type below: what to compare with, and what to count.

Sources and method

The figures on this page come from the Health & Fitness Association (HFA, formerly IHRSA) and six published studies, each listed below with its sample, country and years of data.

Every gym retention statistic on this page

• The industry average annual member retention rate is 66.4%, from the HFA 2025 Fitness Industry Benchmarking Report (175 companies, more than 17,000 facilities, 27 countries, 2024 data). (source)
• Independent clubs kept 75.8% of their members over 2018 and chains 62.3%, in IHRSA’s 2019 Profiles of Success (98 companies, mostly in the US). (source)
• 67.2% of members were still members 12 months after joining in IHRSA’s One Million Strong study of about 1.5 million members in the US and Canada (2012 to 2015). (source)
• One Million Strong counted 33.6 cancellations per 1,000 members a month. Compounded over 12 months that keeps 66.4%, close to the HFA average. (source)
• Between 30% and 60% of members were still enrolled after one year at three Spanish centres (Clavel San Emeterio et al., 2019, 14,522 members). (source)
• In one gym in Brazil, 63% of new members stopped training before their third month, and fewer than 4% trained without a break for more than 12 months (Sperandei, Vieira and Reis, 2016, 5,240 members). (source)
• Of 259,355 members who cancelled at two European chains, 19.5% had never come in during their membership (Middelkamp, Van Rooijen and Steenbergen, 2016). (source)
• In a Dutch trial, 48% of members who had a monthly goal talk dropped out of classes within 12 weeks, against 88% of members without one (Middelkamp et al., Journal of Sports Science and Medicine, 2016, 122 members). (source)
• Members who stopped coming kept paying for 2.31 months on average before they cancelled (DellaVigna and Malmendier, 2006, three US clubs). (source)
• 38% of members who dropped out came back within 12 months, more than half of them in the first month (Sperandei et al., 2019, the same gym in Brazil). (source)