Bar Method franchise unit economics
Bar Method franchisees run barre studios that sell monthly memberships, class packages, drop-in classes and retail.
Bar Method franchise at a glance
In its 2026 FDD Bar Method reports sales, members, customers and revenue by line for 73 studios over the 12 months to 28 February 2026, with figures by quartile and studio rent.
Bar Method franchisees averaged $422,969 of sales in the 12 months to 28 February 2026, with a median of $383,926, according to Item 19 of Bar Method’s 2026 FDD, issued 31 March 2026. The 73 in that group are 95%* of Bar Method’s 77 locations. Fees paid to Bar Method come to about 9.52%* of sales.
- A Bar Method franchise costs $240,288 to $491,358 to open, including a $42,500 initial franchise fee, according to the brand's 2026 FDD.
- Bar Method charges a royalty of 6% of sales, a 2% brand fund contribution and a $475 monthly technology fee.
- Bar Method franchisees reported average base rent of $29.51 and common-area charges of $11.03 a square foot in Item 7, which comes to $68,918 a year on 1,700 square feet and 16.29% of the $422,969 average studio’s sales on Averan’s calculation.
- Work out Bar Method's fees at your own sales with the minimum fee calculator.
These figures come from Bar Method's 2026 Franchise Disclosure Document, as the brand reported them, and were read by Averan Advisors.
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Talk to Averan → Move your books and accounting to Averan →- The same 1,700 square feet costs 9.44% of revenue at the top and 32.68% at the bottom. Rent and common-area charges of $68,918 are set against average revenue of $730,249 in the top quarter and $210,862 in the bottom *. The difference is 23.2 points of revenue.
- A member pays $152.58 a month in dues and $246.49 in total. The average Bar Method studio has $261,825 of membership revenue and $422,969 of total revenue across 143 members *. Dues are 61.9 cents of each revenue dollar.
- 81 of every 224 monthly customers attend without a membership agreement. That is 36.2% of monthly customers *. The average studio takes $137,066 a year outside dues and retail.
- The top quarter holds 2.76 times the members and charges $36.93 more a month each. The top quarter averages 218 members at $169.08 a month and the bottom quarter 79 members at $132.15 *. Member count accounts for 69.5% of the $317,043 dues gap.
- One studio sold $153,183 of retail. That is 72.6% of what a bottom-quarter studio bills in total *, against a system average of $24,078 and a low of $3,112.
How much does a Bar Method franchise make?
The average Bar Method unit reported $422,969 of revenue in the 2026 FDD, and the median reported $383,926. The brand’s disclosure document discloses revenue and not profit, so what an owner keeps depends on the cost structure set out below. Fees come off the top first, at about 9.5% of sales across royalty, brand fund and the rest of the stack. Revenue is not income. Rent, wages, cost of goods and the franchise fees all come out before an owner is paid. The figures for the highest-selling and lowest-selling businesses are below.
Retail and the other third
Revenue by source
Revenue splits three ways, membership payments, retail products, and everything else: class packages, drop-ins and single sessions. Across the 73 studios that is $261,825, $24,078 and $137,066.
| Quarter | Total sales | Membership | Share * | Retail | Share * | Everything else * | Share * | Retail a member * |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Top | $730,249 | $442,321 | 60.6% | $41,252 | 5.6% | $246,676 | 33.8% | $189.23 |
| Second | $447,936 | $287,947 | 64.3% | $26,845 | 6.0% | $133,144 | 29.7% | $165.71 |
| Third | $314,614 | $199,338 | 63.4% | $18,202 | 5.8% | $97,074 | 30.9% | $156.91 |
| Bottom | $210,862 | $125,278 | 59.4% | $10,751 | 5.1% | $74,833 | 35.5% | $136.09 |
| All 73 | $422,969 | $261,825 | 61.9% | $24,078 | 5.7% | $137,066 | 32.4% | $168.38 |
Total sales, membership revenue and retail revenue are as the brand reported it; the everything-else column, the four share columns and the retail-a-member column are marked *.
Retail per member is $53.14 higher at the top than the bottom. That is $189.23 against $136.09 a year *. On 79 members the difference is $4,198, which is 2.0% of a bottom-quarter studio’s year.
The top retail studio sold $153,183. That is 6.4 times the system average and 49 times the lowest-selling studio’s $3,112 *, more than half of what an entire bottom-quarter studio bills.
The bottom quarter takes the largest share of revenue from non-members. Non-member revenue is 35.5% of sales in the bottom quarter, 33.8% at the top and 29.7% in the second quarter *.
The member and the customer
Members, customers and value per member
Two populations count every month: members with a signed agreement who attend at least one class, and unique customers who took a class at all. The average studio has 143 of the first and 224 of the second. The 81 in between pay by the class or the package.
| Quarter | Monthly members | Monthly customers | Members as a share * | Dues a member a month * | All revenue a member a month * | All revenue a customer a month * |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Top | 218 | 359 | 60.7% | $169.08 | $279.15 | $169.51 |
| Second | 162 | 241 | 67.2% | $148.12 | $230.42 | $154.89 |
| Third | 116 | 173 | 67.1% | $143.20 | $226.02 | $151.55 |
| Bottom | 79 | 129 | 61.2% | $132.15 | $222.43 | $136.22 |
| All 73 | 143 | 224 | 63.8% | $152.58 | $246.49 | $157.35 |
Member and customer counts are as the brand reported it. The four right-hand columns are marked *, dividing the filed membership revenue and total sales by the filed counts and by twelve.
Dues are $152.58 of the $246.49 a member brings. The other $93.91 a month is class packages, drop-ins and retail *, sold across 224 heads against 143.
The top quarter charges $36.93 more a member a month. That is $169.08 against $132.15 *. On the bottom quarter’s 79 members the difference comes to $35,013 a year, which is half its rent.
Volume has 69.5% of the dues gap and price 11.0%. Of the $317,043 between the top and bottom quarters, membership revenue splits into $220,426 of extra members at the bottom quarter’s own rate, $35,013 of rate on its own members and $61,605 where the two multiply *.
The busiest studio holds 358 members and the quietest 22. That is a range of 16.3 times *, and revenue ranges 17.6 times.
Top performers
What separates the top Bar Method performers
Bar Method splits its locations into groups instead of publishing one average. The top group averaged $730,249 a year. The lowest averaged $210,862. Both run the same brand, on the same agreement, paying the same fees. The middle location sold $383,926. The average was $422,969. More than half the system is below the number the brand quotes.
Decided before you open
- Site and trade area.The top band sells 3.5× the bottom band. Catchment, daytime population and neighboring businesses affect where a location falls.
- Capacity.Locations run 1,700 square feet. Capacity is the floor space, times the hours it is open, times how full it runs. The build sets how much you can sell.
- Opening cost range.Opening costs $240,288 to $491,358, a 2.0× range inside one brand.
- Lease cost.Bar Method rent and common-area charges at the Item 7 rates come to 16.3% of the average studio’s sales on 1,700 square feet, on Averan’s calculation. Rent stays the same when sales fall, so it takes a larger share of sales at lower-selling locations.
- Fees and the minimum.Bar Method fees run about 9.5% of sales. The $475 monthly technology fee and the $750 coaching fee are fixed, so they take a larger share at lower-selling studios.
Live operating levers
- Occupancy cost.Bar Method rent and common-area charges at the Item 7 rates come to 16.3% of the average studio’s sales, on Averan’s calculation. Sales per square foot and the hours the space is earning are the only two ways to move it, since the rent itself is fixed at signing.
- Membership drives the model.Track how many members join, how many cancel, and what each member spends beyond the plan.
- Service and retail mix.Retail sales and the share of customers on higher service tiers raise revenue per hour without adding hours or rooms.
Context you underwrite around
- Locations included.These figures cover 73 of 77 locations. Locations open less than the full year, brand-owned, or not meeting the reporting criteria are excluded, as are locations under the brand’s current size standard.
- What the filing does not include.Item 19 of the Bar Method FDD publishes no profit or cost data for franchised studios. The rent figures on this page come from Item 7, where franchisees reported $29.51 of base rent and $11.03 of common-area charges a square foot.
Discounts available
- Bar Method charges current U.S. military members and honorably discharged veterans $38,250 instead of $42,500.
- Bar Method charges existing franchisees of it and its affiliates (Anytime Fitness, Waxing Worldwide, OTF) $37,500, or $33,750 if they also meet the veteran requirements.
- Bar Method charges new franchisees $75,000 for two studios, $97,500 for three, and $27,500 for each additional studio under an Area Development Agreement.
From Item 5 of the Bar Method 2026 FDD. The costs on this page use the full initial franchise fee for one unit, before any discount.
The box and the rent
Sales by quarter and rent costs
Franchisees paid base rent of $29.51 a square foot and common-area charges of $11.03 across 2023, 2024 and 2025, $40.54 together. On the recommended 1,700-square-foot studio that is $68,918 a year of premises cost before anything else happens, landing on a revenue line that runs from $210,862 to $730,249 across the quarters.
| Quarter | Studios | Average revenue | Median | Lowest | Highest | Rent and CAM at 1,700 sq ft * | Share of revenue * |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Top | 18 | $730,249 | $633,245 | $529,776 | $1,148,782 | $68,918 | 9.44% |
| Second | 18 | $447,936 | $442,676 | $396,576 | $508,163 | $68,918 | 15.39% |
| Third | 18 | $314,614 | $305,743 | $282,293 | $383,926 | $68,918 | 21.91% |
| Bottom | 19 | $210,862 | $234,046 | $65,268 | $278,116 | $68,918 | 32.68% |
| All 73 | 73 | $422,969 | $383,926 | $65,268 | $1,148,782 | $68,918 | 16.29% |
Revenue figures are as the brand reported it. The two rent columns are marked *, at the filed $29.51 base rent plus $11.03 of common-area charges a square foot averaged across 2023, 2024 and 2025, applied to the recommended 1,700 square feet.
Rent alone separates the quarters by 23.2 points of revenue. Rent is 9.44% of top-quarter revenue and 32.68% of bottom-quarter revenue * on the same 1,700 square feet.
Bar Method rent of $68,918 a year equals 452 member-months of dues. That is $68,918 at $152.58 of dues a member a month *, or 38 members held all year.
The landlord paid $46,002 of the fit-out at the average allowance. That is $27.06 a square foot across 1,700 *, against building work of $80,000 to $174,400. The range of allowances runs from zero to $50 a square foot, which is $85,000 on the same box.
Revenue runs $248.81 a square foot at the system average. That is $422,969 across 1,700 *, $429.56 in the top quarter and $124.04 in the bottom.
Opening and the brand’s cut
Royalty, marketing and rent
Royalty is 6% of sales and the marketing fund is 2%. The fund plus approved local marketing must reach 5% of the prior year’s revenue together, so the marketing line is 5% whoever spends it. Technology is $475 a month to an affiliate and the coaching program is $750 a year.
| Quarter | Revenue | Royalty at 6% | Marketing at 5% | Technology | Coaching | Together | Share | With rent at 1,700 sq ft * |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Top | $730,249 | $43,815 | $36,512 | $5,700 | $750 | $86,777 | 11.88% | 21.32% |
| Second | $447,936 | $26,876 | $22,397 | $5,700 | $750 | $55,723 | 12.44% | 27.83% |
| Third | $314,614 | $18,877 | $15,731 | $5,700 | $750 | $41,058 | 13.05% | 34.96% |
| Bottom | $210,862 | $12,652 | $10,543 | $5,700 | $750 | $29,645 | 14.06% | 46.74% |
| All 73 | $422,969 | $25,378 | $21,148 | $5,700 | $750 | $52,977 | 12.52% | 28.82% |
Rates, the technology fee, the coaching fee and the revenue figures are as the brand reported it; every dollar figure and share is marked *.
Technology and coaching cost $6,450 whatever the studio bills. That is 3.06% of a bottom-quarter studio’s revenue and 0.88% of a top-quarter one’s *, 42 member-months at the low end.
Rent and brand charges together take 46.74% of a bottom-quarter studio’s revenue. The share is 21.32% at the top *. Wages are not in these figures.
Cost to open
| Line | Low | High | Share of the low column * |
|---|---|---|---|
| Building work | $80,000 | $174,400 | 33.3% |
| Initial franchise fee | $42,500 | $42,500 | 17.7% |
| Three months’ rent plus security deposit | $20,270 | $40,540 | 8.4% |
| Furniture, fixtures and millwork | $19,600 | $33,600 | 8.2% |
| Grand opening program | $16,200 | $25,000 | 6.7% |
| Technology package and licenses | $14,786 | $23,877 | 6.2% |
| Interior and exterior signage | $14,000 | $18,000 | 5.8% |
| Architect and design fees | $11,000 | $20,000 | 4.6% |
| Initial fitness equipment | $5,594 | $11,553 | 2.3% |
| Additional funds, three months | $5,238 | $48,238 | 2.2% |
| Insurance and bonds | $2,700 | $3,550 | 1.1% |
| Initial retail inventory | $2,500 | $4,000 | 1.0% |
| Miscellaneous | $2,500 | $19,400 | 1.0% |
| Office supplies | $2,000 | $3,200 | 0.8% |
| Training, travel and living | $1,400 | $11,000 | 0.6% |
| Construction management and site survey | $0 | $12,500 | 0.0% |
| Total | $240,288 | $491,358 | 100% |
Amounts are as the brand reported it and the share column is marked *; both columns add to their stated totals exactly.
The build costs 0.57 times what the average studio bills in a year. That is $240,288 against $422,969 *. The build costs $1,680 to $3,436 for each of the 143 members an average studio holds.
Units opened and closed, 2023 to 2025
| Year | At start | Opened | Terminated | Failed to renew | At end | Transfers |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 75 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 73 | 3 |
| 2024 | 73 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 73 | 3 |
| 2025 | 73 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 77 | 5 |
Every figure is as the brand reported it, and start plus openings less departures reconciles to the year-end count in all three years.
Openings ran 3, 2 and 5 against departures of 5, 2 and 1. The system lost two studios across 2023 and 2024 together and added four in 2025 *.
Nine agreements are signed against three studios projected for 2026. That is three signed franchises for every projected opening *.
Questions we get asked
Questions owners ask.
How much does a Bar Method franchise make?
Bar Method franchisees averaged $422,969 of sales in the 12 months to 28 February 2026, with a median of $383,926, according to Item 19 of Bar Method’s 2026 FDD, issued 31 March 2026. The 73 in that group are 95%* of Bar Method’s 77 locations. Fees paid to Bar Method come to about 9.52%* of sales.
What does a Bar Method studio bill?
The 73 studios open the whole twelve months to 28 February 2026 averaged $422,969 of sales with a median of $383,926, ranging from $65,268 to $1,148,782. By quarter the averages run $730,249, $447,936, $314,614 and $210,862, and 30 of the 73 reached the all-studio average.
How many members does a Bar Method studio have?
A Bar Method studio has 143 members a month on average, plus 81 further unique customers who take a class without a membership agreement, 224 people in total. By quarter, members run 218, 162, 116 and 79, and customers 359, 241, 173 and 129. Individual studios range from 22 to 358 members.
What is a member worth at Bar Method?
A Bar Method member is worth $152.58 a month in dues and $246.49 a month counting everything the studio sells. Membership payments are 61.9% of revenue, retail 5.7% and class packages, drop-ins and other single sessions the remaining 32.4%. Retail adds $168.38 a member a year.
What does the space cost at Bar Method?
Franchisees reported base rent averaging $29.51 a square foot with common-area charges of $11.03 across 2023, 2024 and 2025. On the recommended 1,700 square feet that is $68,918 a year, which is 9.44% of a top-quarter studio’s revenue and 32.68% of a bottom-quarter one’s. Landlord improvement allowances averaged $27.06 a square foot and ranged from zero to $50.
What fees does Bar Method charge?
Bar Method charges a 6% royalty and a 2% marketing fund contribution on sales, and the fund and approved local marketing together must reach 5%. Technology is $475 a month to an affiliate, rising up to 10% a year, and the coaching program is $750 a year. At the average studio the royalty, fund, technology and coaching come to $40,288, or 9.52% of revenue.
How much does a Bar Method franchise cost to open?
A Bar Method franchise costs $240,288 to $491,358 to open, with building work of $80,000 to $174,400 the largest line and a $42,500 franchise fee the second. The fee falls to $38,250 for a veteran, $37,500 for an existing franchisee of the brand or its affiliates. An existing franchisee who is also a veteran pays $33,750. Fees collected during 2025 ran from $30,000 to $42,500.
- The filing gives no profit figure. The filing reports sales and not earnings, so what an owner keeps is not disclosed.
Questions worth putting to Bar Method
The filing answers what it answers. These are the gaps an owner or a buyer should close directly.
- What do locations at the median spend on wages and rent as a share of sales? The filing reports sales only.
- Which factors does Bar Method see in its highest-selling locations, such as trade area, years open and size?
- How long does a new location take to reach the average you publish, and what does the build-up look like month by month?
- At what level of sales do the minimum charges stop applying and the percentage take over?
- How many Bar Method locations closed, were sold, or changed hands last year, and why?
Run your own numbers.
The Franchise Numbers Check runs the same checks on your own numbers. It scores where you stand and compares you with Item 19 of your brand’s FDD. It works out what one location earns and spends, and builds a 13-week cash forecast. It checks whether you are ready to open another one. It is free and it runs in your browser.
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We review your unit economics and cash forecast and build your reporting around rent and common-area charges as a share of revenue, dues a member and the customers in your room who have yet to sign an agreement.
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Bar Method reads against the rest of the pilates, barre and yoga group: barre3 · BODYBAR Pilates · Club Pilates · Pure Barre · Yoga Six. The pilates, barre and yoga guide compares all of them on the same figures.
Questions owners ask next
The figures above raise these, and each one is answered on its own page.
- At what level of sales does a minimum fee stop costing me more than the percentage?It works out the sales level where a minimum fee stops applying.
- How much cash do I fund before a new location covers its own costs?It builds a 13-week forecast for the months before break-even.
- My payroll percentage keeps climbing. Is that a payroll problem?It shows how to tell whether payroll is rising or revenue is falling.
- I run several locations. Which ones actually make money?It shows each location's contribution to profit and the reporting it takes to see it.
- How much of Item 19 can I rely on?It explains what an Item 19 financial performance representation tells you and what it leaves out.
Where these figures come from.
Every figure here comes from The Bar Method Franchisor LLC’s 2026 FDD and is unaudited by us. We are unaffiliated with the brand. Calculations of our own are labeled where they appear. The figures describe past performance at other businesses and are not a projection of yours. This page is an educational summary. It is not an offer to sell a franchise, and it is not financial, legal or tax advice. The Bar Method® is a registered trademark of its owner. How Averan reads a Franchise Disclosure Document.
These figures come from the brand's disclosure. They are not a forecast, an offer to sell a franchise or advice. Source: The Bar Method Franchisor LLC, 2026 Franchise Disclosure Document, issued 31 March 2026.