How to open a gym or fitness studio

The membership contract is what the law regulates

A new owner tends to look for a gym license first and find none. What exists instead is a set of state laws aimed at the membership agreement, usually called health spa, health studio or health club acts. They decide whether you register, whether you post a bond, how long a contract may run, how members cancel and what happens to presale money. The Health & Fitness Association counted “more than 160 fitness-relevant bills” in state legislatures in 2025, with 21 enacted, and says “consumer protection, pricing transparency, and auto-renewal policies dominated legislative activity” (HFA State of the States 2026).

So the first decision is the membership, not the equipment: month to month or a term, prepaid or billed monthly, with or without an initiation fee. In Texas and Florida those choices decide whether you need security at all.

What kind of gym, and the market it enters

Texas law defines a “health spa” as “a business that offers for sale, or sells, memberships that provide the members instruction in or the use of facilities for a physical exercise program” (Tex. Occ. Code 702.003). Florida’s “health studio” covers anyone selling “instruction, training, or assistance in a program of physical exercise” or the right to use equipment, but “does not include an individual acting as a personal trainer” (Fla. Stat. 501.0125).

The formats a founder chooses between:

• Open-floor membership gym. Placer.ai sorts the chains into “budget-friendly gym chains (monthly fees under $30),” “mid-tier ($30-$60) and premium competitors ($60+)” (Placer.ai), which is the price frame an independent opens into.
• Boutique class studio. Strength, cycling, boxing or HIIT, sold by class packs and memberships. ABC Fitness platform data for January to May 2026 put average monthly spend at $17 for enterprise gym members, $27 at small and boutique gyms and $69 at studios (HFA, ABC Fitness report). Those are vendor figures from its own customers.
• Personal training studio. Florida’s exemption covers only the individual trainer with no “established place of business” who does not take payment for sessions more than 30 days out; a studio with its own space is a health studio.
• Franchise. Covered in its own section below.

The market is large. HFA reports that “81 million Americans belonged to a gym, studio, or other fitness facilities in 2025, marking an all-time high,” equal to 26.1% of people aged six and older (HFA). Gyms also employ more people than most local businesses. In County Business Patterns 2023, the 41,556 employer establishments in code 713940 (fitness and recreational sports centers) employed 708,273 people, and only 40.9% had fewer than five employees, by our computation from the Census data file.

The outlook, and the retention problem

Bureau of Labor Statistics figures for occupation 39-9031.00, published on O*NET, count 370,100 exercise trainers and group fitness instructors employed in 2024, with a 2025 median wage of $22.67 an hour, or $47,160 a year. Growth to 2034 is projected as “much faster than average (7% or higher),” with 74,200 projected openings.

Operators are growing too. HFA’s 2025 benchmarking report found “the median revenue growth rate in 2024 was 9.9%, with net membership growth of 5.5% and a member retention rate of 66.4%.” Placer.ai describes “the traditional patterns of fitness chains losing about 30% of their members each year” (Placer.ai). Every business plan for a gym is a plan for replacing a third of the base annually.

State membership laws: Texas, Florida, New York and California

The table summarizes each state’s rules as its statute or agency states them, as of October 2026. Confirm with the agency and a lawyer before you print a contract.

State	Agency	What you obtain	Key requirements, as the law states them
Texas	Secretary of State, under the Health Spa Act	Health spa operator’s certificate of registration, for each location	Sample contracts, proof of security and the fee with the application. Security of $20,000 to $50,000 unless exempt. Three business days to cancel. Certificate number printed on every contract
Florida	Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (FDACS)	Health studio registration, for each location	$300 a year per location. $25,000 bond unless exempt. Three days to cancel, excluding weekends and holidays. Initial term no longer than 36 months
New York	Health Club Services Act, summarized by the Attorney General	No registration named in the summary	Contracts no more than $3,600 a year and 36 months. Three days to cancel. Online, email, phone, mail or in-person cancellation. Bond for prepaid clubs
California	Health studio law, Civil Code 1812.80 to 1812.98	No registration in the provisions summarized here	Terms no longer than three years. Five business days to cancel. Presale money held in trust until five business days after opening

Texas: register, post security, then sell

“A person may not operate a health spa or offer for sale, or sell, a membership in a health spa unless the person holds a health spa operator’s certificate of registration” (702.101). The application, filed for “each location,” must include “a sample of each contract used to sell a membership,” “proof of security” and the fee, and names anyone owning 10 percent or more of the shares (702.102). We could not open the Secretary of State’s fee page, so confirm the current fee there.

Security. The state may not register you without a surety bond or other security, and “the amount may not be less than $20,000 or more than $50,000” (702.151).

The exemption. Under 702.202, an operator can be exempt if it never requires a member to sign a contract for a term over 31 days, sign a note or installment contract, “authorize a draw or other recurring debit,” pay an initiation or other fee besides monthly dues, or prepay more than 31 days. A second route covers established operators with assets over $50,000 per location, at least five years under the same ownership and no closure complaints. Note what the first route excludes: automatic monthly bank drafts, which most gyms run on.

The contract. It must be written and signed, carry the certificate number, and state the opening date if the gym is not yet open (702.301). A member may cancel for a full refund by certified mail “not later than midnight of the third business day after the contract date,” refunded within 30 days (702.307), and gets a partial refund if the gym closes without an alternative “not more than 10 miles” away, moves farther than that, “fails to provide advertised services,” or the member dies or becomes totally and permanently disabled (702.308).

Sales tax. The Comptroller’s rule lists “health clubs (spas), (admissions and memberships)” and “physical fitness centers” among amusement services (34 TAC 3.298). Ask the Comptroller how that applies before you price memberships.

Florida: FDACS registration and a $25,000 bond

Florida requires each studio to “register each of its business locations with the department” and pay “an annual registration fee of $300” for each one (501.015). FDACS puts the timing plainly: “before a health studio opens its doors, it has to properly register with FDACS.” It also notes that “Florida law does not allow for a health studio license to be transferred,” so a buyer registers fresh, and that personal trainers have not had to register since July 1, 2016.

The bond. Section 501.016 sets “the principal sum of the bond” at $25,000 (or a letter of credit or certificate of deposit for the same amount), obtained “before a business tax receipt may be issued.” A studio that “collects direct payment on a monthly basis” is exempt if its service fee is “reasonable and fair,” which 501.0125 defines as no more than 10 percent of the total contract price, and the number of payments matches the months in the contract. A studio with less than $5,000 in outstanding contracts may reduce the bond to $10,000.

The contract. Under 501.017, the right to “penalty-free cancellation of the contract within 3 days, exclusive of holidays and weekends” must appear in “at least 10-point boldfaced type” near the signature. Members may also cancel with a pro-rata refund if the studio closes or moves “more than 5 driving miles” without an equal facility within 30 days, and on death or disability. “The initial contract will not be for a period in excess of 36 months, and thereafter shall only be renewable annually.” A studio using the monthly exemption must print a capitalized warning that prepaying for more than one month means “PAYING FOR FUTURE SERVICES.”

New York: a price cap and easy cancellation

The Attorney General’s summary of the Health Club Services Act sets limits no other state here matches. A contract “cannot exceed $3,600 per year (excluding tennis and racquetball facilities)” and “cannot be for a term longer than 36 months.” Members may cancel “within three days of signing,” and later if they move “25 or more miles away” or have a disability lasting more than three months. Clubs “must allow you to cancel through methods including, but not limited to: the health club’s website; by email, telephone, or mail; or in person,” and clubs taking prepayment must “file a bond.” The penalty for getting it wrong is severe: a non-compliant contract is “void and unenforceable,” with damages of up to “three times the actual damages.” We could not open the statute itself, so have counsel read it before you print contracts.

California: the health studio law and auto-renewal

California’s rules here come from the Civil Code as read for our gym marketing research; the legislature’s site would not load when this guide was prepared, so check the current text. Contract terms may not “exceed three years,” members get five business days to cancel, and cancellation must be accepted “in person, via email from an email address on file with the health studio, or via first-class mail.” For a new location, money paid to a studio “that has not yet opened for business shall be held in trust” until “five business days after the health studio facility has opened.” A presale campaign raises commitments, not working capital.

Automatic renewal adds another layer. AB 2863, for contracts “entered into, amended, or extended on or after July 1, 2025,” requires “the consumer’s express affirmative consent,” an “annual reminder,” cancellation “available in the same medium that the consumer used,” and consent records kept “for at least 3 years,” and it reaches “free-to-pay conversion” trials. Other states are moving the same way; HFA reports that Connecticut now requires a gym to cancel “within one business day when a consumer leaves a voicemail requesting cancellation” (HFA).

Federal: no click-to-cancel rule, but active enforcement

The FTC’s 2024 amendments to its Negative Option Rule were vacated by the Eighth Circuit on July 8, 2025. The FTC restored the earlier rule text on February 12, 2026 and opened an advance notice of proposed rulemaking on March 13, 2026. No federal click-to-cancel rule is in force as of October 2026, but the agency still sues: in August 2025 it took the operators of LA Fitness to court over cancellations, describing “more than 600 locations and over 3.7 million members” and memberships that “can cost between $30 and $299 a month” (FTC). Build a cancellation path that works online from the start.

Buying a franchise

A franchise brings a brand, a playbook and a membership system, and it brings the franchisor’s contract terms with it. Under 16 CFR 436.2, the franchisor must furnish its current disclosure document “at least 14 calendar-days before the prospective franchisee signs a binding agreement with, or makes any payment to, the franchisor,” and must allow “at least seven calendar-days” to review any material change it makes to the agreement before you sign. Read the document with a franchise lawyer, and treat its own estimates of the initial investment as the franchisor’s figures, not industry benchmarks. The state registration, bond and contract rules still apply to a franchisee.

Setting up the business

Entity and EIN. The SBA says “LLCs protect you from personal liability in most instances.” Form the entity before applying for the free EIN, and keep the ownership records ready, since Texas asks for 10 percent owners on the registration.

Bonds. Budget for the surety premium on a $20,000 to $50,000 Texas bond or a $25,000 Florida bond, or design memberships to qualify for an exemption. Sureties set their own premiums.

Insurance. The SBA lists general liability for “bodily injury, property damage, medical expenses,” professional liability, and commercial property for “fire, smoke, wind and hailstorms, civil disobedience and vandalism.” Employers add workers’ compensation, unemployment and disability coverage, with rules that vary by state. In our experience, trainers who work as contractors carry their own liability policies, and the gym asks to see them. Whether member waivers hold up is a state-law question for your lawyer.

Trainers as employees or contractors. The IRS looks at behavioral control, financial control and the relationship, and warns that classifying an employee as a contractor without a reasonable basis can make you “liable for employment taxes.” An instructor teaching your schedule, on your equipment, to your members looks like an employee.

Local permits. Before signing the lease, confirm the zoning and certificate of occupancy for fitness use, fire occupancy limits for the class rooms, and health department permits if you add a pool or sauna. Florida links its bond to the local business tax receipt, so the two move together.

Space, equipment, access and music

Accessibility. The Department of Justice lists “gyms” among the businesses Title III of the ADA covers (ADA.gov). The 2010 ADA Standards require that “at least one of each type of exercise machine and equipment shall comply with 1004,” which means “a clear floor space complying with 305 positioned for transfer or for use by an individual seated in a wheelchair.” Plan the floor layout around those clear spaces before the equipment order, not after.

Music. Copyright owners hold the exclusive right “to perform the copyrighted work publicly” (17 U.S.C. 106). That is the legal basis for the public performance licenses gyms buy for class and floor music; a personal streaming account does not grant that right. We could not open the performing rights organizations’ fitness pages, so ask each one directly what your format requires.

The build. This is working knowledge from gyms we know, not a sourced list, and it carries no prices because none could be verified. Rubber flooring rated for dropped weights, ventilation sized for a full class, sound control for the neighbors, locker rooms and showers if the format calls for them, and an AED with staff trained to use it. We could not verify which states require AEDs in gyms, so check with yours. For 24-hour access, door control tied to member status and cameras.

Software. Membership billing that can print state-specific contract terms, check-in, class booking, digital waivers and a lead list. Test its contract template against your state’s rules before launch.

Pricing and money

Price the membership after reading the state rules above, since bond exemptions, fee limits and term caps all turn on its structure. Within those lines, gyms sell monthly dues, annual fees, class packs and personal training packages; the FTC’s description of LA Fitness includes first and last month’s dues up front, then monthly dues and annual fees.

Not a medical expense. The IRS says “you can’t include membership dues in a gym, health club, or spa as medical expenses, but you can include separate fees charged there for weight loss activities” (IRS Publication 502). Advertising memberships as HSA or FSA eligible is wrong as a general rule.

Startup costs. The SBA lists the categories, including “Office space,” “Equipment and supplies,” “Licenses and permits,” “Insurance” and “Employee salaries,” and notes that new-business loans are “typically based on its owner’s personal credit score.” No gym startup estimate met our sourcing standard, so build yours from quotes, and put the bond, the registration fees and three months of payroll before opening day into it.

Retention is the margin. The members you keep through spring matter more than the January total; our gym marketing page sets out the year month by month.

Hiring trainers and keeping staff safe

Certified, not licensed. We found no state that licenses personal trainers; the District of Columbia’s personal fitness trainer section now reads “[Repealed]” (DC Code 3-1209.08). Certifications are private, so the quality marker is accreditation. The U.S. Registry of Exercise Professionals verifies “over 130,000 fitness professionals” holding “NCCA-accredited or ISO 17024-compliant exercise professional certifications,” and the NCCA “sets the national benchmark for high-quality voluntary certification programs.” Make an accredited credential, checked on the registry, your hiring standard. O*NET also lists Master Fitness Trainer as a title approved for Registered Apprenticeship.

Safety. Staff who clean up blood or give first aid fall within OSHA’s bloodborne pathogens standard, which “applies to all occupational exposure to blood or other potentially infectious materials” (29 CFR 1910.1030), so train them and stock the supplies. Youth programs call for background checks beyond anything the state asks.

Finding the first members

Presale, inside the rules. Founding memberships fund launch marketing only where the law lets you use the money: Texas contracts must state the opening date, Florida and Texas require registration before any sale, and California holds presale funds in trust until five business days after opening.

Google Business Profile. A gym is a storefront, so list the real address and accurate hours, including early mornings and any 24-hour access. A virtual office is not eligible, and a shared space qualifies only if it “receives customers at the location during business hours, and is staffed during business hours” (Google guidelines).

Local Services Ads. Google has no gym category. The nearest is “Personal trainer,” under Wellness, with business and owner checks, no insurance requirement and screening that “on average” takes 3 to 4 weeks (Google). It suits a training studio, not open-gym memberships.

Aggregators. ClassPass says “as of January 2025, 94% of ClassPass users were brand-new to the venues they visit” (Mindbody), a vendor figure about its own users. Treat aggregators as a trial channel and convert visitors to your own membership.

Transparent terms sell. In a 2026 Wellhub survey of 662 owners, the request owners heard most from members was “more flexible or shorter contracts” (66%), with “lower prices” fourth at 46% (HFA, Wellhub survey). The same vendor survey found 82% of owners reporting higher acquisition costs. Publishing prices and an online cancellation path answers the first concern and meets the New York and California rules at once.

Reviews and claims. Google bans incentives and asking only happy members (Google review policy), and the FTC’s 2024 rule bars incentives “conditioned on the writing of consumer reviews expressing a particular sentiment” (FTC). Transformation and weight-loss claims need substantiation, and testimonials cannot carry claims you could not make yourself (FTC guidance).

For the profile, see Google Business Profile management; for opening and January campaigns, Meta Ads.

Where new gym owners get caught out

• Taking founding-member money before registering. Texas and Florida require registration, and security unless exempt, before the first sale.
• Losing the Texas exemption to a bank draft. Recurring automatic debits remove the month-to-month exemption.
• A cancellation process that needs a visit or certified mail. It invites FTC attention, and in New York a non-compliant contract is void.
• Spending California presale money. It stays in trust until five business days after opening.
• Calling memberships HSA eligible. IRS Publication 502 says gym dues are not a medical expense.

Questions about opening a gym

Do I need a license to open a gym?

No, not a trade license, but several states register the business that sells memberships. Texas requires a health spa certificate from the Secretary of State and Florida a health studio registration with FDACS at $300 a year per location, while New York and California regulate the contracts.

Do I need a bond to open a gym?

In Texas and Florida, usually yes. Texas requires $20,000 to $50,000 in security and Florida a $25,000 bond, each unless the gym qualifies for an exemption, and New York requires a bond from clubs that take prepayment.

How long can a gym membership contract last?

No more than 36 months in Florida and New York, and three years in California. New York also caps a contract at $3,600 a year, and Florida allows only annual renewals after the first term.

What cancellation rights do members have?

Every member gets a cooling-off period: three business days in Texas, three days excluding weekends and holidays in Florida, three days in New York and five business days in California. Moving, disability, death or the gym closing can add later cancellation rights.

Do personal trainers need a license?

No state license for personal trainers turned up in our research. Hire trainers with NCCA-accredited certifications and check them on the U.S. Registry of Exercise Professionals.

Do I need a license to play music in classes?

Yes, in practice. Public performance is an exclusive right of copyright owners under 17 U.S.C. 106, so gyms buy public performance licenses rather than relying on personal streaming accounts.

Can a gym run Google Local Services Ads?

Not as a gym, because Google has no gym category. A personal training studio can use the Personal trainer category, which runs business and owner checks and takes about three to four weeks to screen.

Sources

Checked on October 3, 2026. Rules and fees change, and many are set state by state or city by city: confirm the current requirements with the agency that issues them before you apply.

• Health & Fitness Association, 81 million Americans were fitness facility members in 2025
• Health & Fitness Association, 2025 fitness industry benchmarking report
• Health & Fitness Association, State of the States 2026
• Health & Fitness Association, ABC Fitness mid-year Wellness Watch report (vendor data)
• Health & Fitness Association, Wellhub owner survey (vendor data)
• Health & Fitness Association, Connecticut's updated automatic renewal law
• Placer.ai, fitness starts strong in 2025
• Placer.ai, Planet Fitness keeps pumping as 2026 gets underway
• O*NET OnLine, Exercise Trainers and Group Fitness Instructors 39-9031.00 (BLS data)
• US Census Bureau, County Business Patterns 2023 national data file
• Texas Occupations Code 702.003 (health spa definitions)
• Texas Occupations Code 702.101 (registration required)
• Texas Occupations Code 702.102 (application contents)
• Texas Occupations Code 702.151 (security)
• Texas Occupations Code 702.202 (exemption qualifications)
• Texas Occupations Code 702.301 (contract requirements)
• Texas Occupations Code 702.307 (three-day cancellation)
• Texas Occupations Code 702.308 (partial refunds)
• 34 Texas Administrative Code 3.298 (amusement services)
• Florida Statutes 501.0125 (health studio definitions)
• Florida Statutes 501.015 (registration)
• Florida Statutes 501.016 (security)
• Florida Statutes 501.017 (contracts)
• FDACS, health studios
• New York Attorney General, health clubs and gyms
• California Civil Code 1812.80 to 1812.98 (health studio contracts)
• California AB 2863 (automatic renewal), bill text
• 16 CFR 436.2 (franchise disclosure timing), eCFR
• US Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, Custom Communications v. FTC (2025)
• Federal Register, Negative Option Rule recodified (February 12, 2026)
• Federal Register, advance notice of proposed rulemaking (March 13, 2026)
• FTC, lawsuit against LA Fitness over cancellations (2025)
• ADA.gov, Title III regulations and businesses
• ADA.gov, 2010 ADA Standards for Accessible Design
• 17 U.S.C. 106 (exclusive rights in copyrighted works)
• U.S. Registry of Exercise Professionals
• Institute for Credentialing Excellence, NCCA accreditation
• DC Code 3-1209.08 (personal fitness trainer, repealed)
• IRS, Publication 502 (medical expenses)
• IRS, get an employer identification number
• IRS, independent contractor or employee
• SBA, choose a business structure
• SBA, get business insurance
• SBA, calculate your startup costs
• OSHA, bloodborne pathogens standard 29 CFR 1910.1030
• Mindbody, how ClassPass works for businesses (vendor)
• Google, Local Services Ads screening requirements (Personal trainer)
• Google, Business Profile guidelines
• Google, prohibited and restricted content for reviews
• FTC, final rule banning fake reviews and testimonials (2024)
• FTC, Health Products Compliance Guidance