Per-Class Profitability: Why Your Busiest Class Might Be Your Least Profitable
A packed class feels like a win. Full sign-up sheet, waitlist, energy in the room. But when you layer in instructor premiums, peak-hour energy costs, equipment depreciation, and the opportunity cost of that room, the math often tells a different story. This guide walks you through true per-class P&L analysis so you can find your real money-makers.
Reading time: approximately 12 minutes
Per-class profitability analysis calculates the true profit or loss of every individual class on your schedule by attributing all direct and indirect costs, including instructor pay, energy consumption, equipment depreciation, and room utilization, to each session. Most gym owners discover that their busiest classes run at margins below 15% while lightly attended sessions with lower cost structures generate margins above 55%. Without this analysis, you are building your schedule around attendance instead of around profit.
The “Packed But Unprofitable” Problem
Let us walk through a real scenario we see constantly on the GymWyse platform. A gym owner runs a 6 AM spin class that consistently fills all 30 bikes. There is a waitlist most days. The instructor is one of the best in the city. The energy in the room is electric. By every visible metric, this class is a winner.
Then we run the numbers:
6 AM Spin Class P&L: The Reality
A 1.75% margin. On your busiest, most popular, most waitlisted class. One sick-day substitute instructor at $140 instead of $120 flips it to a loss. One bike needing an emergency repair adds another $80 to the cost line. The class that feels like your strongest offering is actually your most fragile.
Now look at the contrast:
10 AM Yoga Flow P&L: The Quiet Earner
The yoga class has half the attendance and less total revenue, but it generates 10x the profit of the spin class. If you had to choose between adding a second spin class or a second yoga flow, the data makes the decision obvious. But without per-class P&L, you would instinctively double down on spin because it is the one with the waitlist.
Instructor Cost Allocation: Premium Rates Are Margin Killers
Instructor costs are the single largest variable expense in per-class profitability, and they vary far more than most owners account for. A base-rate group fitness instructor might cost $45 per class during standard hours. But that same instructor, or a more senior one, teaching the 6 AM or 8 PM slot could cost $75-$120 per session once you factor in early/late premiums.
The mistake we see in 80% of gym P&L analyses is averaging instructor costs across all classes. When you pay six instructors a combined $2,400 per week for 40 classes, the average is $60 per class. But the reality is that your off-peak classes cost $45 and your premium-slot classes cost $95. That $35 difference per session changes the profitability picture entirely.
Typical Instructor Premium Structure
5:30-6:30 AM
Early morning premium: instructors require higher pay to teach before standard hours
7:00-8:00 PM
Evening premium: competes with instructor side gigs and personal time
Saturday/Sunday
Weekend premium: reduced instructor availability drives rates up
Specialty certification
TRX, Reformer Pilates, Olympic lifting: certification premiums for qualified instructors
10+ years experience
Seniority premium: veteran instructors command higher rates and have stronger followings
The solution is not to stop paying premium rates. Good instructors are worth every dollar, and members will follow their favorite instructor to a competitor if you lose them. The solution is to price and schedule with full visibility into what those premiums cost at the class level, so you can ensure the revenue side of the equation justifies the investment.
Energy Costs and Equipment Depreciation: The Hidden Margin Erasers
Energy costs are not uniform across your operating hours. Running the HVAC system to condition a gym at 5:30 AM in January costs significantly more than maintaining temperature at 11 AM when the building has been warmed up for hours. Peak electricity rates in many markets add 20-40% to per-kWh costs during certain windows. A spin class with 30 display consoles, amplified music, and full-room lighting draws more power than a bodyweight class using natural light and a Bluetooth speaker.
We recommend calculating a per-class energy multiplier based on three variables: time of day (off-peak vs. peak utility rates), equipment power draw during the session, and HVAC load relative to outside temperature. For most gyms, the per-class energy cost ranges from $6 for a low-draw mid-day session to $40+ for a high-draw early morning equipment-intensive class.
Equipment Depreciation: Per-Class Impact by Format
The difference between $1.20 per class for yoga and $12.40 per class for spin is not trivial when compounded across hundreds of sessions per year. Equipment-heavy formats need to generate proportionally higher revenue per attendee to justify the depreciation load. If they do not, you are slowly converting capital equipment into thin-margin classes.
Room Utilization: Your Most Expensive Asset Needs to Earn Its Keep
Physical space is typically the largest fixed cost in a gym business. Whether you own or lease, every square foot carries a cost per hour. The question is whether each hour of room usage is generating revenue that justifies that cost.
Room utilization rate is calculated as the actual revenue generated per square foot per hour divided by the maximum potential revenue per square foot per hour. A 1,200 square foot studio generating $240 from a packed spin class produces $0.20 per square foot per hour. The same room hosting a semi-private PT session with three clients at $60 each generates $180 in revenue, or $0.15 per square foot per hour. But the PT session has dramatically lower costs (no equipment fleet, no premium instructor, minimal energy), so the net yield per square foot could be higher despite lower gross revenue.
Room Yield Comparison: Same Studio, Different Uses
The room yield data above tells a powerful story. The semi-private PT session generates 22x the net yield per square foot compared to the packed spin class. The yoga class delivers 14x the net yield. Even open gym with minimal staffing produces 4.5x the return. This does not mean you should eliminate spin classes. It means you need to be extremely intentional about when, how many, and at what price you offer them.
Schedule Optimization: Building Around Margin, Not Just Attendance
Once you have per-class P&L data, schedule optimization becomes a portfolio management exercise. You are not trying to make every class a high-margin winner. You are building a schedule where the portfolio as a whole delivers a blended margin above your target, typically 40% or higher.
Here are the levers you can pull once you have visibility:
Reprice equipment-heavy classes
If your spin class runs at a 1.75% margin, a $2 per-ride increase for 30 riders adds $60 per class, moving the margin from 1.75% to 26.75%. Test the price sensitivity — most gym members will not notice a $2 change on a class they love.
Shift premium-cost classes to standard-rate slots
If the 6 AM spin instructor costs $120 but the 9:30 AM instructor costs $55, moving a spin class from 6 AM to a mid-morning slot saves $65 per session in instructor costs alone. The 6 AM slot can be filled with a lower-cost format.
Expand high-margin formats
If yoga consistently delivers 34% margins, adding a second mid-day yoga session is likely to produce similar results. Use the what-if simulator to model the expected margin before committing.
Introduce minimum-attendance thresholds
Set a breakeven attendance number for every class. If a HIIT class needs 12 attendees to break even and consistently draws 8, it is a scheduled loss. Either increase marketing to fill it or replace it.
Optimize room transitions
Dead time between classes is lost room yield. If you have 30 minutes between a spin class and a yoga class, that is 30 minutes of zero revenue from your most expensive asset. Tighten transitions to 15 minutes or fill gaps with open gym access.
The Math: What Schedule Optimization Is Worth
Let us model a realistic schedule optimization for a gym running 35 classes per week across two studios.
Schedule Optimization ROI: 35-Class Weekly Schedule
8 classes x avg 25 riders x $2 increase x 4.3 weeks/mo = $1,720/mo additional revenue
+$20,640/year
3 classes x $45 instructor savings x 4.3 weeks/mo = $580.50/mo in cost reduction
+$6,966/year in saved costs
2 classes x $45.20 net profit x 4.3 weeks/mo = $388.72/mo additional profit
+$4,665/year
Eliminating 2 classes losing avg $8/session and replacing with open gym netting $22/hr = $258.60/mo swing
+$3,103/year
A 14.8:1 return on platform investment from schedule optimization alone, before counting retention and payment recovery gains.
These numbers assume conservative estimates. Many gyms find larger gains because their initial schedule has never been optimized with margin data. Use our free ROI calculator to model the impact for your specific class schedule and cost structure.
The Class Revenue Attribution Panel
Every analysis in this guide maps to a single view in the GymWyse Command Center: the Class Revenue Attribution Panel. This is not a monthly report you export to a spreadsheet. It is a live operational dashboard that calculates per-class P&L in real time as costs flow in and attendance is recorded.
Per-Class P&L View
Real-time margin calculation for every class on your schedule, updated after each session with actual attendance and cost data.
Instructor Cost Tracker
Per-session instructor costs with slot-based premium modifiers, seniority tiers, and substitute cost tracking.
Energy Attribution
Per-class energy cost estimates using time-of-day rates, equipment power profiles, and HVAC load calculations.
Room Yield Heatmap
Revenue per square foot per hour visualized across your weekly schedule, highlighting high-yield and underperforming slots.
The panel also includes a what-if schedule simulator. Before you make any changes to your timetable, you can model the impact: “What happens to my blended margin if I replace the Tuesday 6 AM spin with a yoga flow?” or “What if I increase the spin class pack price by $3 per ride?” The simulator uses your actual historical data to project outcomes, so decisions are grounded in evidence rather than guesswork.
Legacy Manual Management vs. GymWyse AI Management
How per-class profitability is handled in each approach.
| Feature | Legacy Manual Management | GymWyse AI Management |
|---|---|---|
| Class Revenue Tracking | Total class revenue divided equally across all classes on the schedule | Per-class revenue attribution tracking every drop-in, class pack allocation, and membership value allocation |
| Instructor Cost Allocation | Average instructor cost applied uniformly regardless of time slot or seniority | Actual per-class instructor cost including premium rates for early/late slots, certifications, and seniority tiers |
| Energy Cost Attribution | Monthly utility bill divided by number of operating hours | Peak-hour energy multiplier applied per class based on HVAC load, lighting, and equipment power draw during session |
| Equipment Depreciation | Annual depreciation spread across total gym hours, no per-class assignment | Per-class depreciation calculated from equipment usage intensity, replacement cycles, and maintenance logs |
| Room Utilization Analysis | Capacity percentage based on sign-ups, no revenue-per-square-foot calculation | Revenue per square foot per hour for every class, showing true room yield and opportunity cost of each time slot |
| Schedule Optimization | Schedule built around instructor availability and member survey feedback | AI-optimized schedule recommendations based on per-class margin, demand patterns, and room yield data |
| Profitability Alerts | No alerts; unprofitable classes run indefinitely until manually reviewed | Automated alerts when any class falls below a configurable margin threshold for two consecutive weeks |
Per-Class Pricing and Compliance Across Markets
Per-class pricing adjustments, class pack structures, and drop-in rates are subject to consumer protection regulations that vary by jurisdiction. Here is what to consider in each market:
United States
Class pack and drop-in pricing must comply with state consumer protection laws. Several states require clear disclosure of per-class costs when selling bundles. Auto-renewal for class packs must follow FTC guidelines. Instructor classification as employee vs. independent contractor affects cost allocation and tax treatment.
United Kingdom
Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013 require clear pricing information before purchase. Class packs sold online have a 14-day cancellation right. HMRC employment status rules determine whether instructors are employees or self-employed, significantly impacting per-class cost calculations.
Australia
Australian Consumer Law prohibits misleading pricing and requires GST-inclusive display prices. Cooling-off periods apply to class pack purchases in some states. Fair Work Act governs instructor pay rates with specific award rates for fitness instructors depending on qualifications.
UAE
Consumer protection regulations require transparent pricing in AED. VAT at 5% applies to class fees and memberships. Instructor visa sponsorship costs may need to be factored into per-class cost allocation. MOHAP licensing requirements for specialized fitness instruction can affect instructor rate structures.
GymWyse automatically applies the correct tax treatment and disclosure requirements based on your gym's location. Instructor cost allocation templates are pre-configured for employee and contractor models in each jurisdiction, so your per-class P&L reflects the true cost including employment taxes, insurance, and mandatory benefits where applicable.
Expert Commentary
“The single most common reaction when gym owners see their per-class P&L for the first time is disbelief. They have been running a class for years, packing it to capacity, building their marketing around it, and it turns out to be their lowest-margin offering. The data is not telling them to kill the class. It is telling them to price it correctly, staff it efficiently, and understand its true role in the schedule. Sometimes a low-margin class is worth keeping as a member acquisition tool, but only if you know that is what it is doing and you are not subsidizing it at the expense of higher-margin alternatives.”
— GymWyse Product Team
“We designed the Class Revenue Attribution Panel to answer one question: is this class earning its spot on the schedule? Every square foot of your gym has a cost per hour. Every instructor has a rate per session. Every piece of equipment has a depreciation curve. When you bring all of that together at the class level, you stop managing by vibes and start managing by evidence. The gyms that adopt this approach consistently find $25,000 to $40,000 in annual margin improvement within their first quarter of using the data.”
— GymWyse Product Team
Frequently Asked Questions
Common questions about per-class profitability, cost allocation, and schedule optimization.
Find Out Which Classes Are Actually Making You Money
You have read the guide. You understand why attendance is not the same as profitability. Now see the numbers for your own gym. GymWyse's Class Revenue Attribution Panel starts calculating per-class P&L within 48 hours of activation, using your actual instructor rates, energy data, and equipment inventory.
No credit card required. Full access to Class Revenue Attribution for 14 days.