Dear Teachasana: I am a yoga teacher and am planning to open my own studio. I’ve always taught in a university setting and not at other yoga studios. I’m having difficulty finding information on compensation systems for yoga teachers. What are some of the different ways teachers are compensated? Is there any salary data out there for yoga teachers? ~Hopeful Studio Owner
Dear Hopeful Studio Owner,
Thank you for your question! This is an issue that many of us want to know about!
Unfortunately, there is not as much data as one might hope for around this issue. However, we can point to a few options and resources:
Pay Per Hour
Some studios choose to pay their teachers by the hour. In our neck of the woods, this rate is usually somewhere in the $25-40 range, but that can vary widely by studio, geographic location, etc.
The nice thing about hourly pay is that you can potentially attract good teachers because they’ll know they have a stable income to count on. The downside could be if the teacher doesn’t have enough students in their class to at least cover the cost of what you’re paying them, not to mention having some income leftover for the studio.
Pay Per Head
Another option that many studios choose is to pay teachers by the head. We’ve seen this show up in a couple ways: either a certain amount (for example, $5) per head or some kind of split with the teachers (for example, 60% of what comes in to the teacher, 40% to the studio).
For teachers with a solid following, this is a desirable way to get paid because they may end up making more than they could in an hourly rate. The downside is similar to the above — if the studio is brand new, in an area of town that is difficult to get to, etc., it could take awhile for teachers to build up a student base. If that’s the case, it may be difficult to attract good teachers.
Resources
We couldn’t find much in the way of solid, well-researched salary data. However, we did find a few bits of information that may be useful:
- The Yoga Teacher’s Employment Contract: Parts One, Two and Three
- Accounting Tips for Yoga Teachers [also useful for studio owners!]
Because salary can vary so widely, we recommend gathering that info the old-fashioned way: asking around in your local area. While salary is often a touchy issue, if you have a few friends/colleagues who are teachers, you may be able to get a good sense of what the going rate is — as well as how they are typically paid.
How do people get paid in your neck of the woods? Is there an average pay rate?
Timely post as I am opening my first yoga studio now and mulling over how to honor the teachers with generous pay and still make two cents myself
Something that I’d like to add to the conversation is not just “pay”, but “value”. In my opinion, yoga teachers are grossly undervalued. If you consider that yoga teachers typically teach at most a couple classes a day and that they need to plan and prepare for each class and get to the studio and back again and handle other administrative aspects (financial, marketing, etc.), you’ll soon realize that yoga teachers earn close to minimum wage! My rule of thumb is that one hour in class requires one hour of prep and one hour of overhead, meaning that you can divide the hourly rate by 3 to get a real sense of what a yoga teacher earns. So, at $25/class, the teacher is getting about $8/hour. That hardly pays the bills! My recommendation to yoga teachers is to not undervalue yourself or your time. Not only is it a dis-service to yourself, but also sets a very low standard/expectation for other teachers. Truthfully, we are worth more!
absolutely!
Revisting this article after reading the article about private sessions, and I agree 100%, Guy!
In the DC area, a yoga teacher can bring in $50-60/hr for group classes at a studio. Most studios around here pay a split. My gym (and I think this is pretty common) pay a flat rate. I see ads for teachers offering as little as $15/hr. That is just pitiful, and no one should be taking gigs at that rate!
I agree that we are often underappreciated and undervalued by our employers, and sometimes by ourselves. In addition to our planning time, teaching time, and travel time, we often neglect to consider the countless hours spent on the mat perfecting our form and teaching language, our costly certifications and CEUs, and the value of experience. And in communities where noncompete agreements are still the norm, the problems with fairness in compensation are often worse.
As a teacher, I have been paid both ways, hourly and by the head. Although I was sometimes able to make more by the head and would get a thrill whenever my class was randomly packed to the brim with students, I found that I eventually preferred the stability of a per class rate. That way I always know what income I can count on and don’t feel so disappointed when it’s a small class. It removes the money as an issue and allows me to teach whoever shows up without worrying about if I’m going to be able to pay bills that month.
What a great conversation. It’s something that doesn’t really get addressed in teacher training, but it is important!
Our (wonderful) studio owner does a sort of combo – a flat rate up to a certain amount of students, and a per head (ie: $3) amount for each additional student. It’s nice, because it mixes stability along with an incentive to promote your own class and get more bodies on the mats.
Madeleine I’ve been hearing your comment from a lot of teachers for the past couple years: teacher trainings not covering how teachers should consider getting paid.
BizeeBee and Yogipreneur have been working together try to highlight and address the, and partner with teacher training courses to bring the information to you. Let us know how we can help you further and what you’d like to know.
The studio where I teach does a bracketed flat rate. A certain amount of $$$ until the class exceeds a certain level and then an increased flat rate. I like it. The teacher always gets at least a minimum amount. And when you’ve built up class size into the upper bracket, you get the better pay.
My wife and I plan to relocate and I want to teach when we get there. But there I’ll have to compete with the city which charges students something like 50 cents. So that makes it harder to make a class pay for the teacher.
What do others do when you have to compete with tax-subsidized classes. Maybe I’ll have to teach for the man.
I live near NYC. My gym pays me a flat fee. Studios either pay me a flat fee or pay per head. There have been many times when I’ve earned $8 or $16 because only one or two students show up. Another issue is that some studios are training studios; if a student is participating in a ytt, they don’t have to pay for classes (and the teacher doesn’t get paid). Or, if a teacher takes your class, she doesn’t pay and you don’t get paid. I have taught a big class but have only gotten paid for a handful of students.
Some studios also have different pay per head structures. After a certain # of students, the teacher gets a bigger percentage. Ironically, a different studio actually pays less the more students you have. I don’t understand that concept.
One studio offers a flat fee if you sub the class.
Another important factor is actually getting paid. Some studios where I work are amazing with giving me a check at the beginning of the month. Other studios, well, it’s a different story. My gym does direct deposit.
Thankyou for this post. It’s extremely interesting reading all of your posts. I am a yoga instructor too teaching 10 classes a week and not getting paid very well at all. The studio where I am at in Australia only pays me a % of how many students we get in our class. Some days when its a quiet class, I can earn $8, and then if I have 13 people in my class I can ear over $50. You never can tell can you.
I know for your that $8 is not an amount you can live on. I personally feel that the best option is to get paid a flat rate ($20) for turning up and doing all of the prep the night before, warming up etc, and then an extra amount per head so say 35% per student, so you will, regardless walk away with at least $20 in your pocket and be able to eat for a couple of days!
I adore being a yoga teacher but it has certainly opened my eyes to a few things and made me realise that you really have to give it everything you have got if you would like to make it your career!
Giving it everything I have got!!!
A
I am experiencing this issue from both sides. I own a studio and also teach at other locations around the city. I decided to rent out my studio space to instructors at an hourly rate. They attract their own students, run their own classes, and collect their own fees. This way I don’t have to pay salaries, instructor insurance (this was a huge cost here in Canada), or worry about payroll deductions and other payroll fees.
This is the way I prefer to work as well. By renting a space and doing my own marketing I am completely independent. It has its risks but I have more control.
On previous occasions, I was hired to teach at a gym where there are so many dozens of classes on the schedule that mine got lost in the shuffle and didn’t get enough registration to run and was cancelled at the last minute – this left a big hole in my weekly schedule where I wasn’t able to teach and earn money.
For my own classes I can market by offering a first-time freebie (gets me the most clients), put up posters around town (usually free), and send out email newsletters to the client list I’ve built up. This way, the more work I put into it, the more clients I get (usually). I don’t have to just sit and wait and take whatever comes at me.