How Much Does a Personal Trainer Get Paid?
For muscle heads and gym novices alike, a personal trainer may be the ideal way to maximize exercise time. Personal trainers personalize a routine of exercise, nutrition and rest toward each client. Most personal trainers work one-on-one on an appointment basis, such as once or three times per week. Working out of gyms, schools and freelance, personal trainers get their clients pumped up.
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Getting Pumped
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The approximately 228,170 personal trainers helping their clients lift, pull, crunch and run in the nation in 2009 earned an average salary of $35,340, as reported by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. This equates to $16.99 per hour.
Target Spots
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While personal trainers often help their clients target certain spots on their bodies, it turns out that the East and West Coasts of the country were the hot spots for personal trainer salaries in 2009. Personal trainers in New York earned the most, at $48,830. In second place was the District of Columbia, at $45,570, followed closely by Massachusetts, at $45,430. New Jersey earned fourth place on the list, paying $42,400, while California's salary of $40,980 rounded out the top five.
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Ideal Industries
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It would make sense that recreation and amusement industries were the highest per-capita employer of personal trainers, but their average annual salary of $36,700 didn't put them anywhere near the highest paying industries. The top-paying industry for personal trainers in 2009 was educational support services, paying $54,840. Religious organizations placed second, paying their personal trainers $53,140. Technical and trade schools came in third with salaries of $49,410, followed by a salary of $45,350 from consulting services.
Fit Figures
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Establishing a salary for personal trainers seems fairly black and white according to the BLS, but prospective personal trainers should keep a few things in mind. These salary figures do not take into account "off the charts" figures such as celebrity personal trainers, who may make the country's annual salary stat in a week or month's time. Also note that contact freelancers, unaffiliated with a gym or fitness center, may be able to set their own rates for salaries, and therefore may earn at higher levels.
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References
- Photo Credit gym image by Mat Hayward from Fotolia.com
