How Much Is Too Much to Pay for a Fitness Class?

Philadelphians may have a bit of an inferiority complex when we compare ourselves to New Yorkers (c’mon, you know it’s true), but if there’s one way in which I’m happy we’re not like our neighbor to the north, it’s cost of living: Rent, food, beer and, yes, even fitness classes tend to cost a helluva lot more up there. Big Apple-based blog Well+Good NYC today lamented the high price of some New York fitness classes at in vogue places like SoulCycle, where classes cost upwards of $30 (!!).

While we may have not (yet) have to fork over three 10-spots for a class (with the exception of Rowzone, where a single class pass is exactly $30), we’re not all that far behind. Examples: Classes at perennially popular Lithe Method cost $22 for drop-ins; at Pure Barre, they’re $23. A ride at Flywheel is $25, while dropping in at Bikram Yoga Philadelphia will cost you $20.

From what I’ve seen, the median price for classes here is around $17. (Before you jump down my throat, I know there are such things as class cards, which typically give you incremental discounts for the more classes you buy at once. But in the interest of comparing apples to apples, I’m only looking at drop-in prices.)

While doing one or two classes occasionally won’t break the bank, it would feel like a stretch, at least for my bank account, to do any of them with multiple-times-a-week regularity. I know plenty of people who do, so maybe it’s just a priority thing, but the whole money conversation makes me wonder: How much is too much to pay for a fitness class? In other words, what would be your no-way-no-how breaking point? $20 a class? $25? $30?

Take the poll below so we can see where the Be Well community stands.