- Last Updated:
- 10/17/2024
- Chelsea Ramsey
The average salary for a personal trainer is $46,480 to $51,270 per the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. According to Indeed the average 2024 salary sits at $46,916. Both sources based the figures assuming traditional full-time, year-round hours.
How much you can actually make as a personal trainer or group exercise instructor really depends on multiple factors. These include your geographic location, experience, background, hours worked, services and/or types of classes you offer, and types of facilities you work in.
The highest-earning fitness professionals can earn upwards of $70,000–$80,000 a year, while those who work part-time or earn less may see closer to $25,000 per year.
Yearly salaries are also tougher to calculate for those in exercise and fitness positions, as most of these roles are paid hourly, with approximately 61% of personal trainers earning between $19 and $33 per hour. And as of August 2024, the national average hourly rate for certified personal trainers was $29 per hour.
Ready to make sense of all these numbers? We’ve broken down what you can expect to make based on where you are currently in your career, where you are geographically, how experience and qualifications factor in, and what effect your work environment will have.
Plus, we’ve also outlined some quick tips for how to price your services and grow your income.
Salary of Personal Trainers by Experience
Your educational background and experience level will influence what you can charge for your services. Generally speaking, the higher and more education you have, the more knowledgeable you are, and the more time, money, and effort you’ve put into your own training, the more you can expect to earn.
Higher or more extensive education can also mean that you’ve spent more time on a specialty, or you have more expertise in anatomy, exercise science, or physiology. As in any industry, the more specialized you are, the higher rates you can generally charge.
Your experience level is similar to your educational background in terms of income influence. It gives you skills that no amount of textbooks or certifications can get you. So the more experience you have, the more money you can earn.
It’s also important to remember that earlier on in your career you are also building up your client base, and that you won’t start off with 30–40 hours worth of work. Your first year or two is primarily spent establishing yourself, which is another reason why with less experience you should expect to earn less.
According to Payscale, entry-level personal trainers with less than a year of experience can expect to earn an average of $16.05 per hour. A trainer with 5-9 years of experience can expect to earn an average of $25.86. And an experienced trainer with 10+ years of experience can earn an average of $34.74–$40.
Certified Personal Trainer Salary Averages
Specializations, additional services, or specific programs can affect trainer rates, and therefore your take-home income as well. No matter what you teach, you need to have the right certifications to do so.
Average Hourly Earnings By Class Type/Modality
CrossFit: $27-$31
Group Exercise: $24–$29/hour
Pilates: $34–$38/hour
SilverSneakers: $25/hour
Yoga: $34–$37/hour
Zumba: $24–$32/hour
*Information/data provided by ZipRecruiter and Indeed
Want to get into fitness but unsure where to start? Check out these common personal training certification programs and find out which one stands out to you.
Personal Trainer Average Salaries by State
Your geographic location plays a big part in how much you can expect to earn as a personal trainer or fitness instructor. On average, those in larger metropolitan areas can earn 10%–20% more, according to NESTA.
The states where personal trainers earn the most are New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Vermont, and California.
*Based on 2023 Bureau of Labor Statistics data
Top paying states for Exercise Trainers and Group Fitness Instructors:
| State | Employment | Employment per thousand jobs | Location Quotient | Hourly mean wage | Annual Mean Wage | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
8,520 |
2.03 |
1.10 |
$32.20 |
$66,970 |
||
|
18,720 |
1.99 |
1.08 |
$31.43 |
$65,370 |
||
|
2,910 |
1.75 |
0.95 |
$31.06 |
$64,600 |
||
|
370 |
2.20 |
0.67 |
$30.16 |
$62,720 |
||
|
39,470 |
2.20 |
1.20 |
$29.49 |
$61,340 |
||
Annual mean wage of exercise trainers and group fitness instructor, by state, May 2023:
ZipRecruiter lists the top-paying per-hour states for personal trainers as:
| State | Average Hourly Wage |
|---|---|
|
Washington |
$34.28 |
|
Delaware |
$32.11 |
|
Virginia |
$31.56 |
|
Maryland |
$31.04 |
|
New York |
$31.04 |
Regardless of state, the immediate area that you live and/or work in will determine what the standard pay rates are. As with many jobs, living in or closer to a city will drive up your salary and wage rates. More rural and less populated areas will generally pay less.
Don’t forget one reason for this trend is that it is also more expensive to live in the metro areas than in non-metro ones, so your income to cost of living difference may not be all that different.
Top-paying metro areas according to the BLS:
| Metropolitan area | Employment | Employment per thousand jobs | Location Quotient | Hourly mean wage | Annual Mean Wage | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
5,830 |
2.41 |
1.31 |
$39.82 |
$82,820
|
||
|
2,440 |
2.13 |
1.16 |
$34.60 |
$71,970
|
||
|
1,200 |
3.00 |
1.63 |
$34.15 |
$71,020
|
||
|
20,290 |
2.14 |
1.16 |
$33.84 |
$70,380 |
||
|
200 |
2.10 |
1.14 |
$33.64 |
$69,970 |
||
|
100 |
1.26 |
0.68 |
$33.42 |
$69,520
|
||
|
50 |
1.16 |
0.63 |
$32.82 |
$68,260
|
||
|
120 |
1.90 |
1.03 |
$31.03 |
$64,530
|
||
|
170 |
1.41 |
0.77 |
$30.06 |
$62,520
|
||
|
5,310 |
2.56 |
1.39 |
$29.97 |
$62,330
|
||
Top-paying non-metro areas according to the BLS:
| Nonmetropolitan area | Employment | Employment per thousand jobs | Location Quotient | Hourly mean wage | Annual Mean Wage | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
830 |
2.14 |
1.16 |
$16.99 |
$35,340
|
||
|
550 |
4.33 |
2.36 |
$28.34 |
$58,950
|
||
|
550 |
3.62 |
1.97 |
$20.29 |
$42,190
|
||
|
380 |
4.34 |
2.36 |
$27.90 |
$58,030 |
||
|
340 |
2.66 |
1.45 |
$24.58 |
$51,130 |
||
Personal Trainer Pay Structures
How you get paid is another significant factor in estimating your personal trainer salary.
The most common pay structures include variations of:
- Per session
- Per hour
- Commissions
- Base hourly rates plus bonuses or commissions
Depending on the gym or studio, there may be a set session or hourly rate chosen by the gym. You could earn a fixed amount each session or a set percentage of the fee charged by the gym.
Example of Per-Session Pay
Your gym pays you a flat rate of $25 per one-hour training session. They usually charge clients $70 per session. So for every hour you train, you get $25 and the gym gets $45.
The gym then runs a promotion offering new clients three 1-hour sessions for $135. If you work with one new client who got this deal, you still get paid $25 for each of those sessions, while the gym now only gets $20.
Or you may work primarily on commissions from what training business you bring in or what services and products you can sell while working. Or you may also work with some combination of a starting rate plus bonuses or commission based on performance and workload.
Example of Per-Hour + Commission Pay
You work in a studio that pays you $10 per hour and 30% of any sales you make, including personal training sessions or products. Let’s say you have one 30-minute client, who you also sell a branded water bottle to.
The studio charges $35 per half-hour of training and $15 for a water bottle. That means in that hour you would make a flat $10, plus $10.5 for training, and $4.5 for the water bottle, totaling $25.
In the next hour, though, if you make no sales and have no clients, you would make only your base $10 for that hour.
There are also tiered structures, where a gym may pay you a higher starting rate or percentage of commissions based on your background or performance.
Example of Increasing Commission Percentage Pay
Another tiered structure involves increasing commission percentages. For example, your gym pays you 40% of each client’s fees when you train 10 hours a week. When you increase to 20 hours per week they up the percentage you earn to 50%.
If the gym charges $70 per 1-hour training session, and they pay you the trainer 40% of that fee, you would get $28.00 for that hour.
If you then train 10 hours in a week, you would earn $280. If you train for 20 hours in a week, your commission rate would increase to 50%. For that same $70 session, you would then make $35 per hour, and $700 for a 20-hour week.
How to calculate simple commission-based rates:
Here’s a step-by-step breakdown:
- Hourly Fee: This is the total fee charged by the personal trainer per hour.
- Percentage: This is the percentage of the hourly fee that the personal trainer earns. Make sure to convert the percentage into a decimal by dividing by 100.
Example for calculating tiered commission rates:
Step 1: Determine the applicable percentage based on hours worked:
Step 2: Calculate the earnings per hour:
And in some cases, facilities will rent out gym space to personal trainers for a predetermined fee. In this case, you set your own training rates and hours, but all client recruitment also falls to you, and you will have to factor in what you pay to the facility as part of your pricing.
With all of these pay structure possibilities in mind, it’s also important to remember that personal trainers rarely work a traditional 40-hour work week. You will have some weeks where you work a ton, others where half your clients are on vacation, or some when you have to take time off due to illness, travel, personal matters, and so on.
The longer you stick with it, though, the better and more consistent your client base and weekly earnings will be! Health and fitness can be an extremely rewarding career, as long as you remember that you won’t be hitting six figures overnight.
Tips for Increasing Your Personal Trainer Income
- Offer small group (sometimes called semi-private) training sessions. This allows you to be more efficient and earn more in an hour while charging each client less.
- Include virtual training options.
- Utilize personal training apps or online software like TrueCoach or Trainerize.
- Offer additional or “premium” services like dedicated progress-review sessions or check-ins.
- Conduct specialized classes and/or 1:1 skills training.
- Network and expand your client base.
- Don’t undersell yourself! Price your personal training services strategically.
FAQs About Personal Trainer Salaries
It depends. In most cases personal trainers will not receive traditional benefits like health insurance unless they are full-time employees of larger facilities. Those who work in corporate wellness programs are more likely to receive benefits.
The job outlook for personal trainers and fitness professionals is good, with an estimated growth rate of 14% from 2023 to 2033, which is significantly higher than the average occupational growth rate.
Yes. In most cases you will need your own liability insurance to work as a personal trainer. Gyms typically do not cover you under their insurance automatically. Check with your facility before assuming you’re covered!
