Original data · The Gym Founder
What Australian Gyms Actually Spend on Equipment
By Niall Wogan · CEO of VERVE Fitness and VERVE Pulse · 23 August 2026
The short answer
Across 256 commercial gym fit-out projects supplied by VERVE Fitness between September 2024 and August 2026, the median equipment spend was about $36,000 ex GST. A quarter of projects spent more than $57,000, one in ten spent more than $109,000, and the largest single project was about $338,000. These figures are a floor, not a ceiling: most gyms also buy from other suppliers, so complete equipment budgets typically sit above these numbers.
The headline numbers
Ex GST. Projects over $20,000. September 2024 to August 2026.
The distribution
256 projects, grouped by equipment spend. Most sit in the twenty to seventy thousand dollar range: studios, functional floors and staged purchases. The tail runs all the way to a small number of large multi-zone builds.
What the spread means
Most projects cluster in the $20,000 to $70,000 band. That is where you find studios, functional training floors, partial refits and gyms buying in stages rather than all at once. The $70,000 to $200,000 band is serious commercial floors: full cardio rows, multiple rig stations, and a wider free weights area. Above $200,000 is large multi-zone facilities, often with dedicated group training rooms, extensive cardio and a premium amenities fit-out.
A handful of things move a project up the bands. Total floor size is the biggest driver, since more space means more stations. Cardio share matters too: treadmills, bikes and rowers cost more per unit than strength equipment, so a cardio-heavy floor plan pushes the number up fast. Amenities ambition, saunas, recovery zones, dedicated stretch areas, adds spend that has nothing to do with training capacity. And commercial duty grade plays a part: equipment built for high-turnover 24 hour access costs more than equipment built for a boutique studio with a smaller member base.
Methodology and honest caveats
The sample is 256 customer projects with equipment orders totalling $20,000 or more ex GST, supplied by VERVE Fitness between September 2024 and August 2026. A project is defined as all orders from one customer within that window.
A few honest caveats, because a number without its limits is not a citable number.
This is a single-supplier view. Most gyms buy from more than one supplier across their fit-out, so these figures describe what came through VERVE Fitness, not a customer's total equipment spend.
Only a minority of these projects are full or mostly full VERVE fit-outs. Many are partial orders alongside equipment bought elsewhere. That means these figures understate complete equipment budgets, not overstate them.
The $20,000 threshold excludes small top-up buying, so the true count of gyms that bought anything from us in the period is higher than 256, and the smallest end of the market is under-represented here.
Totals are equipment and accessories only. They do not include construction, flooring installation or amenities such as showers and change rooms.
All figures are ex GST throughout.
FAQ
Questions founders ask
What is the average equipment spend for a new gym in Australia?
Based on 256 VERVE Fitness fit-out projects from September 2024 to August 2026, the median equipment spend was about $36,000 ex GST. The average is skewed higher by a small number of very large commercial builds, so the median is the more representative figure for a typical gym.
Is $36,000 enough to equip a gym?
For a studio or functional training floor, $36,000 is often enough as a single-supplier order. But complete equipment budgets typically run higher once you account for buying from more than one supplier, so treat this figure as a floor rather than a full budget. See our full cost breakdown for how equipment fits into the total spend of opening a gym.
What do large commercial gyms spend on equipment?
The top 10 per cent of projects in our data spent more than $109,000, the top 3 per cent spent more than $224,000, and the single largest project was about $338,000, all ex GST. These are large multi-zone facilities with extensive cardio, multiple rig stations and a wide free weights area.
Does this data include cardio equipment and flooring?
Cardio equipment is included in the equipment totals. Flooring installation is not: these figures cover equipment and accessories only, not construction, flooring fitting or amenities such as showers and change rooms.
Source: The Gym Founder, "What Australian Gyms Actually Spend on Equipment," thegymfoundershow.com/gym-equipment-spend-australia. Data: VERVE Fitness commercial fit-out project orders, September 2024 to August 2026, ex GST.
Journalists and researchers are welcome to reference these figures freely with attribution to this page.
Founder Notes · Episode 02
This data underpins "What It Really Costs to Open a Gym in Australia," the script for Founder Notes episode 02 of The Gym Founder. That episode publishes Friday 19 September 2026. Follow the show on YouTube at @thegymfounder to watch it first.