This is a cautious manager-run, pre-tax owner-earnings range built from the 2026 Crunch Franchise Disclosure Document. The FDD directly reports $778,201-$1,217,347 of EBITDA for median-performing Crunch Fitness clubs open 12-59 months. The lower owner-earnings range subtracts the separately displayed cost of goods sold and, conservatively, the 5% royalty plus 2% Brand Marketing Fund contribution because Item 19 does not map those fees to a specific operating-expense line.
The $521,000-$893,000 range is an independent analytical scenario, not an Item 19 financial performance representation by Crunch Franchising, LLC. It combines identified 2026 FDD facts with a deliberately conservative fee-treatment assumption. Actual results can differ materially by location, club age, format, membership and personal-training sales, labor, occupancy, financing, owner involvement, and execution.
Crunch Franchising, LLC, a subsidiary of Crunch Holdings, LLC, issued the U.S. FDD on April 29, 2026. Item 19 contains Gross Revenue, operating expenses, EBITDAR, and EBITDA for the Crunch Fitness model; it makes no financial performance representation for Crunch Select.
FDD citations: 2026 Crunch Franchise Disclosure Document, cover; Items 1, 6, 10, 15, 19 and 20, especially Item 19 pp. 60-65. Public references: official U.S. Crunch franchise website and official Crunch franchise FAQ.
What does the 2026 Crunch FDD actually report?
The official measure is EBITDA, not owner salary, distributions, after-tax income, or passive cash flow. For median-performing Crunch Fitness clubs open 12-59 months, Item 19 reports annual EBITDA from $778,201 to $1,217,347. EBITDA excludes interest, depreciation, taxes, and amortization; the FDD also excludes initial franchise fees and other initial investment costs from the operating statements.
The detailed statements include payroll and benefits for club and personal-training managers, front-desk personnel, marketing, facilities, and group-fitness staff. That makes the reported EBITDA closer to a manager-run unit-level operating result than to compensation for an owner working full time in the club. It still is not after-tax take-home pay, and it does not deduct debt principal, capital expenditures, or a reserve for future equipment replacement and remodeling.
| Crunch Fitness cohort | Median Gross Revenue | Official EBITDA | Official EBITDA margin |
|---|---|---|---|
| Open 12-23 months | $3,169,574 | $873,488 | 27.6% |
| Open 24-35 months | $3,568,798 | $1,217,347 | 34.1% |
| Open 36-47 months | $3,885,497 | $1,166,774 | 30.0% |
| Open 48-59 months | $2,927,457 | $778,201 | 26.6% |
Source: 2026 Crunch FDD, Item 19, pp. 60-64. Margins are derived by dividing each compatible cohort EBITDA figure by that cohort's Gross Revenue and rounding to one decimal place.
Official EBITDA is compared with the fee-explicit manager-run estimate used in this article.
Interpretation: the age-cohort pattern is not linear. The 48-59-month median-performing club had lower Gross Revenue and EBITDA than the 24-35- and 36-47-month cohorts, so club age alone does not determine earnings.
Source: 2026 Crunch FDD, Item 19, p. 61. Estimated values equal official EBITDA minus separately displayed cost of goods sold minus 7% of Gross Revenue for the Royalty and Brand Marketing Fund contribution. Figures are rounded to the nearest $1,000 in the chart.
Item 19's broader revenue distribution covers 331 reporting qualified locations. Average Gross Revenue was $4,863,524 for the upper third, $2,898,138 for the middle third, and $1,645,090 for the bottom third. Those figures describe sales, not owner income, and they cannot be converted into profit without compatible cost data.
How does EBITDA become a defensible owner-earnings estimate?
The estimate deducts only amounts that can be reproduced from the same 2026 FDD: each cohort's separately shown cost of goods sold and the current 5% Royalty plus 2% Brand Marketing Fund contribution. The result is a conservative pre-tax manager-run earnings proxy before financing principal and personal taxes.
- Estimated pre-tax manager-run owner earnings = Item 19 EBITDA - separately displayed cost of goods sold - 7% of cohort Gross Revenue.
- Included in Item 19 operating expenses: payroll and benefits, sales and marketing, club expense, and rent. The FDD says payroll includes club and personal-training managers plus operating staff.
- Not separately deducted: local advertising, because Item 19 already reports a Sales & Marketing expense line; technology fees and card processing, because the Club Expense definition includes technology and credit-card processing.
- Excluded from owner earnings: interest, depreciation, amortization, personal income taxes, debt principal, initial franchise fees, build-out costs, and future capital expenditures or remodeling reserves.
| Scenario | FDD cohort used | Manager-run estimate | What the label means |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conservative | 48-59 months | $521,257 | Lowest fee-explicit result among the four median-performing cohort statements. |
| Base | 36-47 months | $842,352 | A later stabilization-period cohort; it is an analytical selection, not a most-likely forecast. |
| Upside | 24-35 months | $893,070 | Highest fee-explicit result among the disclosed cohort statements, not a guaranteed ceiling. |
Derived from 2026 Crunch FDD, Item 19, p. 61 and Item 6, pp. 9-16. Full-precision calculations were rounded only for display. The scenarios do not use Crunch Select data.
Item 19 discusses Royalty payments but does not show a separate Royalty or Brand Marketing Fund line. This model deducts the 7% again to avoid overstating owner earnings. If written substantiation confirms those fees are already embedded in Club Expense or Sales & Marketing, the estimate would be conservative by roughly $205,000-$272,000 per year across the selected cohorts.
How does active owner involvement change the result?
Crunch allows the club to be supervised on site by the owner, another owner, or an approved trained manager. Because Item 19 payroll already includes management compensation, a working owner can increase owner-operator benefit only to the extent the owner genuinely replaces paid management labor.
The closest official labor benchmark is the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics May 2023 estimate for General and Operations Managers in NAICS 713940, Fitness and Recreational Sports Centers: an annual mean wage of $75,860. Adding that amount produces a labor-inclusive benefit of about $597,000-$969,000 across the three scenarios. This is not pure business profit; approximately $75,860 represents compensation for the owner's work.
The owner-operator endpoint adds the 2023 BLS management-wage proxy to the manager-run estimate.
Interpretation: active ownership changes the form of the return. The incremental amount is labor compensation for managing the club, not passive profit, and it disappears if the owner still retains equivalent management payroll.
Sources: 2026 Crunch FDD, Items 15 and 19; BLS May 2023 wage estimates for NAICS 713940. The BLS benchmark excludes self-employed workers and is older than the FDD, so local replacement cost should be verified.
Why should a buyer treat the range as underwriting, not a forecast?
The range is decision-useful but not predictive. The 2026 FDD supplies current same-brand EBITDA evidence, yet several limitations prevent a precise owner-income forecast for a specific location.
- Population wording needs clarification. Item 19 first describes 331 qualified domestic franchise locations, then later states that operating-statement results are for affiliated locations rather than independent franchisees. That internal inconsistency is the main reason the confidence label is Moderate rather than High.
- Excluded locations matter. The FDD excludes five affiliate-related locations, 16 presale locations, 81 locations not fully operational for a full calendar year, 31 ownership-change locations, one location that closed in early 2026, and 21 qualified locations that did not submit financials.
- Crunch Select is not covered. Item 19 makes no financial performance representation for the Crunch Select model, and Item 20 reported no Select outlets at the end of 2025. The Fitness estimate should not be transferred to Select.
- Occupancy and labor are large drivers. Across the median-club statements, annual rent ranged from $665,259 to $866,770 and payroll and benefits ranged from $677,329 to $1,104,295.
- Debt service is separate. Item 10 says Crunch does not offer or guarantee financing. The operating estimate therefore does not deduct loan interest or principal; financing structure can materially reduce cash available to the owner.
- Capital replacement is separate. EBITDA does not reserve for equipment replacement, deferred maintenance, future remodeling, or other capital expenditures.
The Federal Trade Commission explains that Item 19 claims must have a reasonable factual basis and that prospective franchisees can request written substantiation. It also recommends comparing the disclosed population with the outlet and turnover information in Item 20. See the FTC Consumer's Guide to Buying a Franchise and the FTC's guidance on evaluating financial performance representations.
What should a prospective owner verify before relying on these figures?
A buyer should reproduce the earnings bridge with written substantiation and current franchisee records, then replace national or system figures with site-specific labor, rent, financing, and capital assumptions.
- Ask Crunch Franchising, LLC for Item 19 written substantiation and a line-by-line definition of the reported EBITDAR and EBITDA calculations.
- Confirm whether Royalty, Brand Marketing Fund contribution, online enrollment fees, technology fees, card processing, and required local advertising are already included in the Item 19 operating statements.
- Resolve the apparent conflict between the qualified-franchise-location population and the later reference to affiliated operating statements.
- Interview current franchisees from Item 20 about actual manager payroll, owner hours, rent and common-area charges, repair and maintenance, equipment replacement, and cash retained after debt service.
- Separate business profit from owner wages. An owner replacing a manager should record the avoided payroll as labor compensation, not as passive return.
- Request results for comparable square footage, club age, membership count, personal-training mix, market type, and ownership model; do not use Crunch Fitness figures to underwrite Crunch Select.
What is the most defensible decision range?
Use roughly $521,000-$893,000 per year as a cautious manager-run, pre-tax underwriting range for a Crunch Fitness club represented by the 12-59-month Item 19 cohorts. This is a scenario-based translation of official 2026 FDD EBITDA, not an official owner-income claim. The most important earnings drivers are Gross Revenue, payroll, and rent. The largest unresolved uncertainty is how Item 19 maps recurring franchise fees and describes the operating-statement population. A working owner who fully replaces paid management may create an estimated owner-operator benefit of about $597,000-$969,000, but the added amount compensates labor rather than increasing passive business profit. Before relying on any range, verify Item 19 substantiation, fee classification, comparable-club records, and current franchisee experience.