Gyms in Texas

No Texas-only survey of membership prices is available, so these figures are national. Treat them as a range to test the price you're quoted against.

Forbes Health says location, amenities and services drive the spread. The monthly figure is only part of the cost: ask for any initiation or other fees, whether payment is a recurring bank draft, and the total you'd pay over the full contract term. Texas law caps that term (see the contracts section below).

Texas regulates membership gyms through the Health Spa Act, Chapter 702 of the Occupations Code. It defines a "health spa" as a business that sells memberships giving members instruction in, or use of facilities for, a physical exercise program. That covers most membership gyms.

Fitness businesses outside the Act

• Nonprofits that are tax exempt under §501 of the Internal Revenue Code.
• Private clubs owned and operated by their members.
• Businesses that only teach dance or aerobic exercise, or only provide physical rehabilitation.
• People working under a state license.
• School programs under the Education Code.
• Government hospitals and clinics.

If a studio says the Act doesn't apply to it, ask which exclusion it relies on, because the protections below come from the Act.

Registration. A covered gym may not operate or sell memberships without a health spa operator's certificate of registration from the Texas Secretary of State, and each location needs its own. The fee is $100 and a registration lasts one year before renewal. The gym must post the certificate in a conspicuous place at each location, and your membership contract must include the registration number.

Security. Unless it's exempt, a gym must post security of $20,000 to $50,000 per location, held for members who lose money if it closes. The amount rises with the location's prepaid memberships, from $20,000 (up to $20,000 prepaid) to $50,000 (over $45,000 prepaid), and it can be a surety bond or a certificate of deposit.

Gyms exempt from the security rule

• Month-to-month gyms: those that never require a contract or prepayment for more than 31 days, financing, an automatic bank draft, or an initiation or other fee beyond monthly dues.
• Established gyms: those that swear every three years to assets over $50,000 per location, at least five years under substantially the same ownership or management, and no complaints about closing or failing to open.

A gym may not advertise that it is "bonded by the state". The Secretary of State only files registrations and security, so a registration doesn't mean the state vouches for the gym.

1. Search the Secretary of State health spa search. It shows whether the gym is registered and has posted security; if it has, the results name the surety or bank.
2. Or open the Secretary of State's health spa page for the PDF list of registered locations, updated every Wednesday, which shows whether security is posted at each one.
3. Look for the registration certificate on the wall at the location you'd use.
4. Find the registration number in the contract before you sign.
5. Report a gym selling memberships without registration to the Secretary of State at (512) 475-0775.

Registration matters to you directly: a gym contract is void if the seller wasn't registered when you signed, or if you signed relying on willfully false or misleading information. Our city pages rank gyms on public review data; our terms of service explain the method, which doesn't check registration, so run this search yourself.

A Texas gym contract must be in writing and signed by you. It may not run longer than three years, and a financed contract may not require payments for more than five years. The contract must state, in conspicuous type of at least 10 points, your three-day cancellation right and your rights if the gym closes or moves more than 10 miles.

Cancelling a gym membership within three business days

You can cancel for a full refund by sending written notice of cancellation, with proof of payment, by certified mail to the gym's home office no later than midnight of the third business day after the contract date. The refund is due within 30 days of the gym receiving your notice.

Other grounds the Health Spa Act lists

• Death or total and permanent disability: the member, or the member's estate, can cancel and get a refund of unearned payments. The gym may ask for reasonable proof.
• The gym closes and doesn't provide alternative facilities within 10 miles.
• The gym relocates more than 10 miles.
• The gym fails to provide advertised services.

For these, send notice by certified mail with proof of payment and keep the receipt. Those are the grounds the statute lists. If you might move during the term, read what your own contract says about that before you sign, and keep a copy; our movers guide covers the move itself.

Gym closures from storms and disasters

If a gym is unusable for 30 days or more because of an event beyond the owner's control, such as a natural disaster, it must extend each affected member's contract by the same length of time.

You can't sign away these rights: a waiver of the Act is void. A gym also may not misrepresent its staff's qualifications, its facilities, the results of its exercise or diet programs, or how long a special offer lasts.

Presale memberships carry extra rules. Unless it qualifies for an exemption, a gym that sells memberships before it opens must deposit the prepayments in an FDIC-insured escrow account within 14 days of accepting the first one, and keep them there until the 30th day after it opens.

If the gym doesn't open before the 181st day after it first sold a membership, or doesn't stay open at least 30 days, prepaying members are generally entitled to a full refund. A longer 361-day deadline can apply where the seller runs another gym within 10 miles. Before paying for a gym that isn't open yet, ask in writing where your money is held.

Gym closure notices and claims

At least 30 days before closing or relocating, a gym must post a notice inside and outside each entrance giving the closing date and how members can file a claim, and tell the Secretary of State in writing. That notice isn't required after a fire, flood or act of God.

To claim against the gym's posted security, send a copy of your contract and proof of what you paid by certified mail to the Office of the Secretary of State, Statutory Documents Section, P.O. Box 13193, Austin, Texas 78711-3193. Claims must arrive within 90 days of the closure notice first appearing on the Secretary of State's website; later claims are barred by law. Recovery is limited to actual financial loss and is prorated if claims exceed the security.

Complaints about a gym

The Secretary of State files registrations and security but doesn't regulate how gyms do business. For a complaint, the Secretary of State points members to the Attorney General's Consumer Protection Division, (800) 621-0508. A violation of the Health Spa Act counts as a deceptive trade practice under Texas law, and members can sue for actual and punitive damages and attorney's fees.

1. Search the gym on the Secretary of State health spa search and note whether security is posted.
2. Compare the monthly price with the national ranges, then add every fee.
3. Read the term: three years at most, and five years of payments at most if financed.
4. Find the registration number and the cancellation notices in the contract.
5. Ask whether payment is a recurring bank draft and how to stop it.
6. Ask what the contract says if you move away during the term.
7. Keep a signed copy and your receipts.
8. If you change your mind, send certified-mail notice before midnight of the third business day.

Choose a city for its gym list and local notes, grouped here by region.

Gyms in Dallas-Fort Worth

Dallas, Garland, Irving, Mesquite, Grand Prairie, Carrollton, Richardson, Fort Worth, Arlington, Bedford, North Richland Hills, Southlake, Grapevine, Plano, Frisco, McKinney, Allen, Prosper, Denton, Lewisville, Flower Mound, Little Elm, Rockwall, Weatherford, Burleson. Region guide: Dallas-Fort Worth.

Gyms in North Texas and Texoma

Sherman, Wichita Falls. Region guide: North Texas and Texoma.

Gyms in Houston and the Gulf Coast

Houston, Pasadena, Cypress, Webster, Baytown, Katy, Sugar Land, Conroe, The Woodlands, Pearland, League City, Friendswood, Texas City, Galveston, Santa Fe, Alvin. Region guide: Houston and the Gulf Coast.

Gyms in Southeast Texas

Beaumont. Region guide: Southeast Texas.

Gyms in East Texas

Tyler, Longview. Region guide: East Texas.

Gyms in Austin and the Hill Country corridor

Austin, Pflugerville, Round Rock, Georgetown, Cedar Park, Kyle, Buda, San Marcos, Wimberley, Dripping Springs, Lockhart. Region guide: Austin and the Hill Country corridor.

Gyms in Central Texas

Killeen, Waco. Region guide: Central Texas.

Gyms in San Antonio and the Hill Country

San Antonio, New Braunfels, Boerne. Region guide: San Antonio and the Hill Country.

Gyms in South Texas and the Rio Grande Valley

Corpus Christi, Laredo, McAllen, Brownsville, Harlingen. Region guide: South Texas and the Rio Grande Valley.

Gyms in West Texas

El Paso, Midland, Odessa, Abilene, San Angelo. Region guide: West Texas.

Gyms in Panhandle and South Plains

Lubbock, Amarillo. Region guide: Panhandle and South Plains.