Jiu-Jitsu schools get first hard data on revenue, payroll, and owner pay

DENVER – Wodify published the first industry-wide benchmark report for Jiu-Jitsu school owners on Wednesday, giving owners the kind of data most small-business operators take for granted. Until now, nearly every business decision in the sport relied on peer advice or personal experience.

The report combines a survey of owners across the U.S. and Canada with anonymized platform data covering roughly 800,000 class check-ins and tens of thousands of students. It benchmarks revenue, student counts, lead conversion, retention, payroll, rent, and owner pay.

The median school generates about $19,000 a month per location. Schools collect $122 per student per month and keep them for 19 months, producing a lifetime value of $2,318. The top 25% of schools reach $164 in monthly revenue per student and 29 months of retention.

The gap between median and top-quartile schools is not random. Revenue per student and retention are the two numbers that separate successful schools from struggling ones, the data shows. Schools in the top quartile double both metrics compared with the median, and the compounding effect over a student's tenure is significant.

Payroll is the biggest profit killer. Schools spending 40% or more of revenue on payroll tend to struggle with profitability, the report found. That threshold gives owners a concrete target for managing their single largest fixed cost.