Member retention rate

Member retention rate is the percentage of members who stay over a given period. If you start the month with 300 members and 288 are still with you at the end, your monthly retention rate is 96%. It’s churn rate viewed from the other side.

Retention rate = (members at end − new members joined) ÷ members at start × 100

Subtracting new joiners is the step most people miss. Leave them in and growth disguises churn — a gym losing 20 members and gaining 25 looks like it’s retaining everyone.

Retention rate = 100% − churn rate, over the same period.

Retention determines whether your marketing spend compounds or evaporates. At 96% monthly retention, a member stays around two years. At 92%, just over one. Same gym, same marketing, half the lifetime value.

It’s also the cheapest lever available. Improving retention by a point costs a few conversations. Replacing those members costs advertising, tours and trial classes.

Why report retention rather than churn? They’re the same number, but teams respond differently to “we kept 96%” than to “we lost 4%”. Use churn to diagnose, retention to report.

PATO scores every member’s likelihood of lapsing continuously, so you’re acting on drift rather than reporting on departures.