From May to September 2026, our research team studied how much it costs a boutique fitness studio to win one new paying member in all 50 states and Washington, D.C. We compiled data from 16 sources, including national advertising cost data, federal wage, population, and regional price data, boutique studio member surveys, boutique class pricing and attendance data, and fitness sales funnel and intro offer conversion data, then combined them in a weighted model that reflects how boutique members say they discover a studio.
Customer acquisition cost, or CAC, is the total marketing and sales cost a studio pays to win one new member. We calculate it by taking what each marketing channel costs per lead, dividing by the share of people who inquire and end up joining, and adding the value of staff time spent on each intro visit.
In the sections below, we break down boutique fitness studio customer acquisition cost by state, by region, and by marketing channel, along with how many months of member spending it takes a studio to earn that cost back.
Average Boutique Fitness Studio Customer Acquisition Cost by State: 2026
The table below breaks down the average cost for a boutique fitness studio to acquire one new member in each of the 50 states and Washington, D.C., along with how each state compares to the U.S. average.
| Rank | State | Avg. CAC | % vs U.S. Average ($246) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | California | $272 | +10.6% |
| 2 | Hawaii | $270 | +9.8% |
| 3 | District of Columbia | $270 | +9.8% |
| 4 | New Jersey | $268 | +8.9% |
| 5 | New York | $265 | +7.7% |
| 6 | Washington | $263 | +6.9% |
| 7 | Massachusetts | $260 | +5.7% |
| 8 | Maryland | $258 | +4.9% |
| 9 | New Hampshire | $256 | +4.1% |
| 10 | Connecticut | $255 | +3.7% |
| 11 | Florida | $254 | +3.3% |
| 12 | Oregon | $254 | +3.3% |
| 13 | Colorado | $253 | +2.8% |
| 14 | Alaska | $252 | +2.4% |
| 15 | Rhode Island | $252 | +2.4% |
| 16 | Virginia | $249 | +1.2% |
| 17 | Arizona | $248 | +0.8% |
| 18 | Nevada | $246 | 0.0% |
| 19 | Illinois | $246 | 0.0% |
| 20 | Delaware | $246 | 0.0% |
| 21 | Utah | $243 | -1.2% |
| 22 | Minnesota | $243 | -1.2% |
| 23 | Vermont | $241 | -2.0% |
| 24 | Pennsylvania | $240 | -2.4% |
| 25 | Texas | $239 | -2.8% |
| 26 | Maine | $239 | -2.8% |
| 27 | Georgia | $237 | -3.7% |
| 28 | Michigan | $237 | -3.7% |
| 29 | Idaho | $235 | -4.5% |
| 30 | Montana | $233 | -5.3% |
| 31 | North Carolina | $232 | -5.7% |
| 32 | Wisconsin | $231 | -6.1% |
| 33 | South Carolina | $231 | -6.1% |
| 34 | Indiana | $230 | -6.5% |
| 35 | Ohio | $228 | -7.3% |
| 36 | Wyoming | $228 | -7.3% |
| 37 | New Mexico | $227 | -7.7% |
| 38 | Tennessee | $226 | -8.1% |
| 39 | Missouri | $223 | -9.3% |
| 40 | Kentucky | $222 | -9.8% |
| 41 | Nebraska | $222 | -9.8% |
| 42 | Kansas | $222 | -9.8% |
| 43 | West Virginia | $220 | -10.6% |
| 44 | North Dakota | $219 | -11.0% |
| 45 | Alabama | $218 | -11.4% |
| 46 | South Dakota | $218 | -11.4% |
| 47 | Louisiana | $217 | -11.8% |
| 48 | Oklahoma | $216 | -12.2% |
| 49 | Iowa | $216 | -12.2% |
| 50 | Mississippi | $214 | -13.0% |
| 51 | Arkansas | $214 | -13.0% |
The data reveals that a studio in California pays about $59 more per new member than a studio in Arkansas, a 27% gap that tracks each state’s overall cost of living. Even so, how a studio finds members matters far more than where it operates, since a Google Ads member costs about 15 times as much as a referred member in every state. Local prices for services follow the same cost-of-living pattern, so studios in higher-cost states can usually charge more per class to absorb the higher acquisition cost.
Average Boutique Fitness Studio Customer Acquisition Cost by Region: 2026
The table below breaks down the average cost for a boutique fitness studio to acquire one new member in each U.S. region, along with the lowest and highest state in each. Regions follow U.S. Census groupings, with D.C. counted in the South, and each regional figure is a population-weighted average of its states.
| Region | Avg. CAC | Lowest to Highest State |
|---|---|---|
| West | $261 | $227 (New Mexico) to $272 (California) |
| Northeast | $257 | $239 (Maine) to $268 (New Jersey) |
| South | $237 | $214 (Arkansas) to $270 (D.C.) |
| Midwest | $233 | $216 (Iowa) to $246 (Illinois) |
The data reveals that the West has the highest regional average at $261, largely because California, the most expensive state, is also the most populous. The South has the widest spread, from $214 in Arkansas to $270 in D.C., so a regional average says little about any one local market there. The Midwest is the most affordable region, and no Midwest state tops the national average of $246, while in the Northeast even the lowest-cost state, Maine at $239, sits within 3% of the national figure.
Average Boutique Fitness Studio Customer Acquisition Cost by Channel: 2026
The table below breaks down the average cost for a boutique fitness studio to acquire one new member through each marketing channel, along with the weighted average across all channels.
| Channel | Ad and Marketing Cost | Intro Visit Staff Time | Total CAC |
|---|---|---|---|
| Referral | $42.64 | $20.24 | $62.88 |
| Meta lead ads | $373.93 | $20.24 | $394.17 |
| Organic search and Google Business Profile | $462.22 | $20.24 | $482.46 |
| Google Search Ads | $929.10 | $20.24 | $949.34 |
| Weighted average | $225.74 | $20.24 | $245.98 |
The data reveals that ad and marketing spend, not staff time, creates almost the entire gap between channels, since intro visit time adds the same $20.24 to every row. Because referrals account for 58% of new members in our model, the weighted average sits much closer to the referral cost than to any paid channel, and a studio that replaces referred members with Google Ads members pays about 15 times more for each one. A referred studio member also costs less than a referred gym member ($63 versus $84 in our gym analysis), because a couple of free classes cost a studio far less than a free month of gym dues.
Average Boutique Fitness Studio CAC Payback: 2026
The table below breaks down how many months of member spending it takes a boutique fitness studio to earn back the cost of acquiring a new member through each channel, based on an average of 5.1 classes a month at $21.32 per class, or about $109 a month.
| Channel | CAC | Months to Earn It Back |
|---|---|---|
| Referral | $63 | 0.6 |
| Meta lead ads | $394 | 3.6 |
| Organic search and Google Business Profile | $482 | 4.4 |
| Google Search Ads | $949 | 8.7 |
| Weighted average | $246 | 2.3 |
The data reveals that every channel earns back its cost within a year, and the weighted average pays for itself in about 2.3 months, faster than the 3.3 months we found for gyms because a boutique member spends about $109 a month against the $69 monthly fee we used for gyms. Google Ads is the slowest channel at 8.7 months, so it only pays off for studios that keep members well past their intro period. Because a healthy boutique studio keeps members for a year or more, retention is what turns a paid-ad member from break-even into profit.
If you’d like a PDF copy of this report or help lowering your studio’s customer acquisition cost, contact Altus.
Related Reading
- Gym Member Acquisition Cost: 2026 Benchmarks
- Personal Trainer Client Acquisition Cost: 2026 Benchmarks
- Gym Membership Cost Per Month: State-by-State Analysis 2026
- Average Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) by Industry: 2026 Small Business Report
- Average Cost Per Lead by Small Business Industry: 2026 Analysis
- SEO and GEO for Fitness Businesses
Sources
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