Costco membership fees rise 10.7% as renewal rates stay strong

Costco's membership fee income climbed 10.7 percent to $1.373 billion in the third quarter, while renewal rates held at 92.2 percent in the United States and Canada. That is the kind of number warehouse crews feel on the floor: more repeat shoppers, more carts in the lanes, and more pressure on the front end, food court and member service desks.

The company said the results were announced May 28 for the 12 weeks ended May 10. Net sales rose 11.6 percent to $69.15 billion, net income reached $2.19 billion, or $4.93 per diluted share, and total company comparable sales increased 9.8 percent, or 6.6 percent excluding gas price and foreign-exchange effects. Digitally enabled comparable sales jumped 21.5 percent.

Membership growth stayed just as important as sales growth. Costco said total paid members reached 82.9 million and total cardholders reached 149 million. Executive memberships climbed to 41.2 million, up 9.6 percent, a sign that more shoppers are buying enough to justify the higher-tier fee and, in many warehouses, spending more often and in bigger baskets.

For warehouse managers, the mix matters as much as the raw traffic. A member base that keeps renewing at 92.2 percent in the U.S. and Canada, and 89.7 percent worldwide, tends to show up regularly, often early in the day and often with a longer list. That can show up in opening-hour rushes, longer cart lines, busier gas stations and a heavier pull on stockers and forklifts as pallets move faster to keep the floor full.

The latest quarter also sat on top of a fee increase that took effect September 1, 2024, when Gold Star and Business memberships went to $65 from $60 and Executive memberships rose to $130 from $120. Costco said that increase affected about 52 million memberships. The current fee-income gain shows how much that price change is now flowing through the business.

The comparison with a year earlier underscores how quickly the warehouse chain has expanded. In the third quarter of fiscal 2025, Costco posted $61.96 billion in net sales and operated 905 warehouses. By the latest quarter, that count had grown to 931, with 639 in the United States and Puerto Rico and 115 in Canada.

That scale is what makes the membership file so important inside the building. Strong renewals support the low-margin, high-volume model, but they also raise the question every shift leader knows: whether staffing, schedules and checkout coverage are keeping pace with a business that is getting denser by the quarter.