What Is a Gym or Fitness Studio Worth?

What a Gym or Fitness Studio Is Worth

Most independent gyms and boutique fitness studios sell for 1.5x to 3.0x seller's discretionary earnings (SDE), the profit a single owner-operator actually takes home. A studio generating $200,000 in SDE usually trades between $300,000 and $600,000. Where you land inside that range depends almost entirely on your recurring membership revenue and how much the business depends on you personally. Run your own numbers with the YourExitValue business valuation calculator before you talk to any buyer.

Why It Matters

Fitness is a recurring-revenue business, and buyers pay for predictability. A gym with 500 members on autopay at $60 a month produces roughly $360,000 in annual recurring revenue that arrives whether or not the owner shows up. That monthly recurring revenue (MRR) is the single biggest driver of your multiple. Studios with high MRR and annual member churn under 30% command premiums; those relying on drop-in traffic, day passes, or personal-training income tied to the owner sit at the bottom of the range. Membership tier separates the field too: a $10-a-month big-box gym needs thousands of members to match the cash flow of a boutique studio charging $150 a month to a few hundred loyal clients, and buyers reliably price the stickier, higher-margin studio above the volume play.

Business model matters too. A franchised location such as Orangetheory, F45, or Anytime Fitness carries brand recognition and proven systems but also royalty fees of 5-8% of revenue and transfer approval from the franchisor. An independent studio keeps all its margin but must prove the brand can outlive the founder. Individual operators and private-equity-backed roll-ups both shop this space, and PE buyers in particular pay more for multi-unit operators above $1M in EBITDA.

How to Use It

Start by separating your true SDE from your reported profit. Add back your salary, personal expenses run through the business, one-time equipment purchases, and non-cash items like depreciation. Then calculate MRR and your annual churn rate, because buyers will ask for both on the first call. If your studio depends on you teaching classes or closing every membership, that is a discount waiting to happen; document your systems and build a manager into the P&L before you sell. Compare your position against sector benchmarks on the YourExitValue fitness industry page.

Do not overweight your equipment. Used commercial fitness equipment resells for 20-40 cents on the dollar, so a $300,000 build-out rarely adds $300,000 to your price. Buyers value cash flow first and hard assets second; equipment mainly matters when it reduces the reinvestment a buyer faces in year one. Your lease is the quieter risk, since a buyer wants at least three to five years of remaining term with renewal options; a studio forced to relocate loses the members who joined for the location.

For the full breakdown of multiples, equipment treatment, and franchise-versus-independent math, read our companion guide on how to value a gym or fitness studio in 2026. If a sale is on the horizon, our exit planning tools map the steps that lift your multiple over the next 12 to 36 months.