SBA 7(a)/504 FOIA · FY1991–PRESENT · ILLINOIS
GOLD'S GYM franchise in Illinois: what the public record shows
Franchisees of GOLD'S GYM in Illinois have taken 15 SBA loans since 1991 (average $886,806)— too few resolved loans in-state to publish a local failure rate (we require a resolved cohort, never extrapolate), so the brand's national rate of 14.7% is the better guide. Its latest FDD Item 20 state table reports 1 franchised outlets in Illinois (fiscal 2025) — about 0.01 per 100k residents.
Loans in IL
15
Resolved
9
Local charge-off
thin
National charge-off
14.7%
Source: SBA 7(a)/504 FOIA files (data.sba.gov), borrower state = IL. Charge-off rate = charged-off ÷ (charged-off + paid-in-full); open loans excluded. A local rate is published only when the resolved cohort clears our floor of 30 loans.
Businesses in this industry
1,566
statewide, all operators
Per 100k residents
12.3
national 11.9
Versus the country
+3%
denser
Every business in GOLD'S GYM's industry operating in Illinois — franchised and independent — from the Census Bureau's County Business Patterns (2023), against 2024 population estimates. Counter-intuitively, density is not a warning: across 198 brand-state cells in our loan data, the densest quartile charges off at 5.6% versus 18.1% in the thinnest. A crowded market is usually proven demand; an empty one is often empty for a reason.
Avg weekly wage, this industry
$460
Illinois, BLS QCEW 2025
National average
$438
same industry, all states
Versus the country
+5%
costlier to staff
What GOLD'S GYM's industry actually pays workers in Illinois, from the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (2025), employment-weighted across counties. This is a real cost signal independent of the FDD — a market can look demand-rich above and still carry a margin headwind here if local wages run hot for the sector.
| Fiscal year | Franchised | Company-owned |
|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 2 | — |
| 2024 | 1 | — |
| 2025 | 1 | — |
| System | Loans in IL | Local charge-off | Units in IL |
|---|---|---|---|
| ANYTIME FITNESS | 74 | 12.2% | — |
| Curves for Women | 23 | 10.0% | — |
| Orangetheory | 16 | 7.1% | — |
| Stretch Lab | 14 | thin | — |
| Yoga Six | 13 | thin | — |
| Fitness Together | 11 | thin | 3 |
| Pure Barre | 10 | thin | — |
| F45 Training | 9 | thin | — |
| THE LITTLE GYM | 9 | thin | — |
| Club Pilates | 7 | thin | — |
| I LOVE KICKBOXING | 7 | thin | — |
| Planet Fitness | 5 | thin | 107 |
Same sector, same state, same public records — how GOLD'S GYM compares to the systems a buyer in Illinois would actually be choosing between. Local rates under 10 resolved loans are marked thin, not hidden.
A broker is paid by the franchisor to place you. I'm paid by you — and the job is pressure-testing GOLD'S GYM's numbers, including talking you out of a bad deal.