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How much do dance classes cost? We compare 50+ schools across the US! UPDATED 2022!

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Are you thinking about signing your child up for dance classes, but aren’t sure how much they cost? You’re in luck! In this post, we’ll break down the average prices of dance classes across the country. It can be hard to find accurate information on this topic!

The average cost of a children’s dance class is $16. This is based on our research that found most dance studio’s on average invoice their dancers and parents $63 per month for dance or ballet classes taken on a monthly basis (based on 2021-2022 advertised fees).

In this post, we’ll take a look at the average prices of dance classes across the country. We did this by going onto the websites of schools from all over the US and finding out how much they charge for their dance lessons.

Teacher and line of students in a tap dance class - 2022 update  How much do dance classes cost?

For past years’ costs for comparison, you can look here!

Why are my child’s dance lessons cheaper or more expensive than the average?

There are many reasons why your child’s lessons might be cheaper or more expensive for example your studio’s facilities or teachers may be of a higher standard or your teacher prefers smaller class sizes meaning each student pays more.

For more reasons check out our article THE TRUTH ABOUT WHY DANCE LESSONS COST SO MUCH! as your school may or may not be doing some of the things mentioned in this article

Why do I have to pay in advance for my child’s dance classes?

You need to pay in advance for your child’s dance lessons so the teacher is able to prepare and commit to providing you the service of lessons week after week. It is also so that you commit to turning up week after week with your child as consistency is where results come from.

It would not be economically feasible or fair for a dance instructor week after week to prepare and put on classes that no one consistently turns up to. Therefore to ensure a class continues to be provided and that a spot is held for your child even if they miss a week due to illness you need to pay in advance.

There are parents that resent having to pay in advance especially when we all know all kids get sick and will inevitably miss a class here or there. If this is important to you, then finding a school with a class makeup policy should be a priority for you. However, due to the nature of dance education, the same class may not be offered more than once a week and therefore makeups are in many cases not possible.

How does my dance studio calculate how much I have to pay?

Your dance school will have a schedule of fees but not all schools will use the same schedule. The following are some different ways teachers set up their lesson costs.

  • Same cost per class no matter what style or how long the class is.
  • Set charges for classes of different lengths, for different ages or styles, or even determined by the experience of the teacher.
  • Cost is charged for the time spent in classes per week.

Some schools calculate their monthly fees based on the number of classes taken each month regardless of the class length. Other schools have differing fee structures based on the length of the lessons your child is taking and then there are schools that base your fee based on how many minutes and hours of lessons you choose to enroll your child into.

There is no best method, although having a set consistent monthly or term fee allows parents to know in advance exactly what they will be paying over the year.

When and How often do I need to pay my Dance School Fees?

Most dance studios in the US bill monthly for their dance lessons. A few of those dance studios work out how much you pay every month based on how many actual hours or lessons were attended in that month taking into account months that have 4 compared to 5 weeks and lesson length – we didn’t get any info from some of those schools as we needed a set hourly cost to work out an average for you. Most schools bill the same amount every month, having distributed the class cost over the 9-10 month dance season so that you pay the same every month for every class or a total number of hours that your child is enrolled into.

Do dance schools offer discounts on their dance lessons?

Yes, most schools offer discounts on their dance lessons. These discounts can be dependent on the number of classes or hours you attend, how many siblings are being trained if you pay in full upfront etc.

Some dance studios also create fee caps, meaning you will only pay a certain amount for an unlimited amount of lessons each month. Some of these plans start for as little as $200 a month and can go all the way up to $500 per month.

Another interesting discount I saw was at Dance Academy USA in California where they charge $94 per month for 1 class per week. Knowing the average is lower than $94, this seemed high to me, so I investigated a bit more and realized that it was the fee for all members of a family – that is value!

How much do Children’s Dance Classes cost?

The following tables compare the current costs of dance classes for the 2021-2022 dance school year at various dance schools across the USA.

As schools charge their parents and dancers using different schedules as written about above, we have had to split the schools into different tables to be able to compare and average the costs. That is because one school might charge per class but another charges per hour. In all cases, we have tried to round up to hour classes for ease of comparison.

The average cost of classes when billed monthly for 1 lesson per week

The first table shows us a list of schools that bill per month per class regardless of the length of the lesson. Although this may sound unfair, the average of only these schools’ tuition fees for a weekly lesson was actually lower than the overall average coming in at $61 per month for a lesson per week! These schools give multiclass discounts.

DANCE SCHOOLLOCATIONBilled Monthly: 1 lesson per week
Dance Arts StudioNorth Carolina.$60
Royal Academy of Ballet and DanceNew York.$55
Pizazz Dance StudioMassachusetts.$50
Pointe of Grace Dance StudioTexas.$72
Concord Dance AcademyNew Hampshire.$75
Carolyn Dutra Dance StudioRhode Island.$57
The Dance AcademyIdaho.$40
Applause Dance AcademyLouisiana$65
Casco Bay MoversMaine.$66
Van Metre School of DanceTennessee.$60
Tippi ToesOklahoma.$55
JMB Dance AcademyFlorida.$50
AVERAGE COST:$59 per month on average

The average cost of classes when billed monthly for 1 hour of lessons per week

This second table shows us a list of schools that bill per month based on the length of the classes taken by students.

For the purposes of our research, we only looked at how much they charged for their hourly lessons.

All schools had less expensive fees for classes of shorter duration and it cost more for longer classes and offered multiclass discounts.

DANCE SCHOOLLOCATIONBilled Monthly: One, 1Hr lesson per week
Village Dance StudioIndiana.$65
Sterling Silver StudioWisconsin.$55
Studio One Dance CenterTexas.$92
North Pointe Dance AcademyOhio.$70
Broadway Dance CoMichigan$65
Dance Arts IowaIowa$55
Indiana Dance Co.Indiana$70
Cherrie Anderson School of Music & DanceNebraska $72.50
Captivation Dance AffiliatesNevada$60
Dance WorxNorth Dakota$65
South Carolina Dance CompanySouth Carolina$60
Dance GallerySouth Dakota$54
La Vida DanceWashington$81
Young Dance AcademyWisconsin$60
307 Dance AcademyWyoming$55
GottadanceNew Jersey$97
Harbor School of Music & Dance Alaska $72
Portland Metro ArtsOregon$77
AVERAGE COST: $68 per month on average

The average cost of classes when billed monthly dependent on how many hours you attend each week.

The third table shows us a list of schools that bill per month based on the weekly number of minutes or hours a student is enrolled in classes for.

To be able to fairly compare, we looked at how much they charged students attending 1 hour of classes every week.

All schools discounted the fee as you added on more hours of lessons.

TABLE 3
Dance School Location Billed Monthly: 1 hour of lessons per week.
Interpretations Dance AcademyOhio$58
Moves Dance StudioIllinois$68
Halestone Virginia$60
Aspire to DanceVirginia$85
Modern MovementNew York$43
Integrity Dance AcademyGeorgia$65
Valley Dance StudioWest Virginia$65.92
Danza Dance AcademyColorado$72
Infinity Dance AcademyKansas$55
Elite Dance StudiosArkansas$75
Bella Dance CenterDelaware$60
Shana’s Dance StudioMinnesota$60
Festival Dance AcademyIdaho$50
Kelley Puckett Dance AcademyKentucky$60
Mann Dance AcademyNew Mexico51 +tax
The Ridge Academy of DanceUtah$45
White River Ballet AcademyVermont$65
AVERAGE COST: $61 per month on average

OTHER METHODS OF BILLING TUITION FEES

Our fourth table shows us a list of schools that bill in a variety of different ways as explained in the table.

For the purposes of this post, we did not use their fees to help calculate the overall $61 average but wanted to provide you with this information in case you attend or are thinking of enrolling your child at a school that bills in a different way.

DANCE SCHOOLLOCATIONMETHOD OF BILLINGTUITION FEES
Ayana School of BalletCaliforniaThe fee is annual (they have payment plans).
Fee is dependent on level and classes required for that level.
This is the annual amount for one lesson per week.
$950
Merge Dance StudioPennsylvaniaTuition for the year is broken into three 12 to 13-week sessions.
It is based on the length of each class per week.
It is $12 for an hour lesson every week.
$144-$156 per session
Kailua Dance AcademyHawaiiTuition paid per Session ( 4 per year – around 8 weeks each)$192 per session
Legacy Ballet AcademyArizonaBilled Per 9 week session If taking over 6 classes a week
The tuition fee we selected is for one hour of lessons per week.
$450
Connecticut Dance AcademyConnecticutTuition is Annual and is based on class length.
We have provided the cost for the 1hr weekly class.
$550 full year
Diane’s School of DanceMissouriPer Quarter per class a week$126
Patuxent Youth BalletMarylandPer Session (there are 3, 12 week sessions)$204 per session
Noble School of BalletMontanaPer Quarter per class a week, dependent on class length.
We have provided the cost per quarter for a1hr weekly class.
$136
Dance With LaurenAlabamaPer Year per class$680
Royal Dance AcademyGeorgiaTuition is based on an annual fee for a 10mth dance season.
Tuition is also charged per hour your child is enrolled each week.
We have provided the cost for a 1hr weekly class.
$650

We will update this information annually so make sure you come back next year where we will also start to stat and average yearly increases over time!

How much should I be paying for Multiple Dance Lessons?

After the first few years in dance, your dancer will move from doing one lesson to multiple as they try different styles, or try to master the one.

Nearly every single school listed above if not all of them offered some sort of multiclass discount.

They either had monthly tuition plans for adding on extra classes and hours or they simply offered you a percentage or stepped discount dependent on how many more classes or hours you enrolled your child in.

Some schools even had clear unlimited lesson caps which we noted down and put into the following table for you to look at and compare – for easy comparison we only included schools with clear set unlimited lesson monthly rates.

DANCE SCHOOLLOCATIONHOURS/LESSONSUNLIMITED FEE
Dance Arts StudioNorth Carolina6+ Classes$250
Pointe of Grace Dance StudioTexas7+ Classes$240
Carolyn Dutra Dance StudioRhode Island6+ Classes$210
Casco Bay MoversMaine6+ Classes$315
Interpretations Dance AcademyOhio5+hours$200
Moves Dance StudioIllinois8+ Hours$494
Halestone Virginia5.75+ Hours$235
Integrity Dance AcademyGeorgia7+ Hours$250
Valley Dance StudioWest Virginia4.25+ Hours$160
Danza Dance AcademyColorado6+ Hours$335
Infinity Dance Academy.Kansas6+ Hours$230
Elite Dance StudiosArkansas8+ Hours$240
Bella Dance CenterDelaware10+ Hours$290
Shana’s Dance StudioMinnesota4.5+ Hours$220
Festival Dance AcademyIdaho9+ Hours$250
Kelley Puckett Dance AcademyKentucky5+ Hours$140
Mann Dance AcademyNew Mexico10+$272
The Ridge Academy of DanceUtah8+ Hours$150

The following schools also had unlimited lesson tuition fees but did not have a lesson or hourly number from which it began, rather it was stated on some studio websites that this would be the most you would end up paying for your child’s lessons every month.

DANCE SCHOOLLOCATIONUNLIMITED FEE
Studio One Dance CenterTexas$350
The Dance AcademyMichigan$200
Advanced Dance AcademyIowa$310
Indiana Dance Co.Indiana$250
South Carolina Dance CompanySouth Carolina$215

Sibling and Family Discounts

Nearly every school we looked at offered family discounts. And in general, every school had its own unique way of passing on their discount!

Some schools were extremely generous giving huge family discounts whereas others passed on as little as only 2-5% on the classes a sibling enrolled into.

Some schools base their discounts dependent on how many siblings and classes were enrolled into, whereas others stated the hourly rate discounts could be used between a whole family, with some schools having a family fee cap or unlimited family lesson fee.

The following schools offered unlimited family lesson fees or caps!

DANCE SCHOOLLOCATIONHOURS/LESSONFAMILY CAP/UNLIMITED FEES
Interpretations Dance AcademyOhio5+hours$380
Integrity Dance AcademyGeorgia7+ Hours$300
Festival Dance AcademyIdaho9+ Hours$205
Mann Dance AcademyNew Mexico10+272 +tax
Studio One Dance CenterTexasUnlimited$400
The Dance AcademyMichigan Unlimited $300
South Carolina Dance CompanySouth Carolina Unlimited $195 for 2nd child

The hidden costs! Recitals, Costumes, and Competitions!

So that has been a long list about how much dance lessons and training will cost, but unfortunately, you can’t close your purse or wallet just yet!

Because we still have all those hidden or forgotten costs to think about – recital packages, costume hire, exam entrance fees, competition team registration and entrance fees not to mention the costs of the uniform, dancewear, and shoes!

For more information click to read our article on the Hidden Costs of Dance (coming soon!)


How many dance classes should my child be doing every week?

This is hard to answer because it is dependent on your child and your goals in dance. With this in mind I researched and created the following two articles to help you with this question.

How many years will I be paying for dance lessons for my child?

The answer to that will depend on many factors including whether dance is a hobby or a career path for your child. For some clearer information on the number of lessons required to become a professional dancer check out How many years of dance or ballet does it take to be a professional?

How Much Will Training For A Professional Dance Career Cost?

No matter which style of dance or career path your dancer wishes to take, pre-professional training is going to be the best way to help them achieve their goal.

Many ballet companies and private dance schools offer this type of training and college is another place many dancers can obtain their training needs from. However, all do come at a price which is in the range of tens of thousands of dollars a year.

For more information and research on the costs of professional dance training check out our article How much does it cost to become a professional ballerina or dancer?

How much does dance training cost at college?

The cost of studying dance at a University or College in the US can vary between $26,000 to $62,000 per year of study. Read more about the costs of college dance here!

How much education does a professional dancer need?

To become a professional dancer, you do not need to have completed formal education, although as professional dance careers are generally not lifelong careers finishing school or a college degree is always advantageous. Professional dancers however will have undergone years of specialized dance training which we cover in the articles recommended above!