What You Can Expect To Earn
Quite a few variables are associated with determining a personal trainer’s salary. At the top of this list is your track record and credibility. Personal trainers with a steady and well-established work history tend to demand a higher pay rate compared to those who are just getting started.
Personal referrals can play a huge role in expanding your client base, and as the interest for your services gains momentum, your income potential will grow. Applying the basic business principle of supply and demand, when more people want to hire you, it puts you in the position to increase the price of your services.
Typically, personal trainers bill per hour or by the session. Training sessions usually last an hour for most clients. In some cases a high-profile client or professional athlete will want you to dedicate a few hours or even days at a time just to them, and you can charge accordingly.
According to the American Council on Exercise, the average rate is approximately $25 an hour or just over $53,000 annually for full-time trainers. Some trainers charge more during peak hours, such as early mornings and evenings, and weekends.
Basically, how much you make boils down to the amount of time you’re able to devote to training and the number of clients you’re able to take on. Experienced trainers that are self-employed with a full book of clients can earn over $140,000 annually - in some cases even without having a college degree.
How Much Do Personal Trainers Make at Chain Gyms and Fitness Centers?
Paying Your Dues
It’s a common rite of passage for personal trainers to start out working at commercial fitness centers or gym chains. You’ll start out “working the floor”, in most cases getting paid close to minimum wage, while you try to get gym members to hire you for your services or have them assigned to you. You’re commission will be a percentage of the total fee your client pays the facility per session.
Commission usually ranges from 30% - 60% depending on your experience, education and credentials. If you’re allowed to train clients that aren’t members of the fitness facility, the percentage may drop to as low as 15% - 20%.
The following table is a general guideline to how much personal trainers make at several popular gym and fitness chains. Full credit is given to Justin Pierce of the Bodybuilding.com forum for making this research available.
Pay Rates at 5 Popular Gym Chains
Please note rates may vary according to location and other circumstances. These figures are meant to give a general idea of what you can expect to earn at these places.
| Gym | Per Hour Session Wage | Per Hour Floor Wage |
|---|---|---|
| Equinox | $23.00 - $28.00 at Tier I $31.50 - $36.50 at Tier II $39.00 - $44.00 at Tier III Around $60.00 at Tier IV | $8.00 |
| Bally Total Fitness | $12.94 - $17.00 at Level 1 $15.54 - $20.75 at Level 2 $24.94 - $29.10 at Level 3 $34.40 at Level 4 $39.10 at Level 5 | Minimum wage |
| Gold's Gym | $22.75 - $35.00 (No official tier system) | $8.00 - $8.50 |
| 24 Hour Fitness | $13.50 at CPT 1 $16.00 at CPT 2 $18.50 at CPT 3 $20.50 at EPT/Master Trainer level | $7.25 - $9.50 |
| LA Fitness | $12.00 - $15.00 (No official tier system) | $0.00 |
Personal Trainer Salaries by State and Region
Salary Description and Collection Methods
Since personal trainers can work for fitness centers and gyms (company-employed), work for themselves (self-employed) or a combination of both, it is difficult to get an accurate overall estimate of how much they make.
The salary figures reported by online resources such as Salary.com and BLS.gov only represent data for company-employed PTs. This is because they only survey establishments that hire employees and don’t include independent contractors or those that work for themselves. As a result, this leaves out salary information for trainers that are either partially or fully self-employed.
Given that self-employed trainers have the potential to make significantly more money than their company-employed peers, the following figures may seem on the low end for some. So, please keep in mind all the figures in this section represent NON SELF-EMPLOYED salaries.
Salary.com
Salary information from Salary.com is provided on a percentile scale, with the column labeled ‘Lowest 10%’ being the 10th percentile and below, ‘Median’ being the 50th percentile and ‘Top 10%’ being the 90th percentile and above. According to the Salary.com website, Certified Compensation Professionals from this company collect their data from numerous human resource departments of employers that hire personal trainers in each state.
BLS.gov
Average salary data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS.gov) represents the mean salary of both personal trainers and group fitness instructors collectively. Since group instructors tend to earn less than personal trainers, please take this into consideration when viewing information under the ‘BLS.gov’ column as these figures are lower than they should be for PTs alone. This government agency collects their wage data using various compensation, occupational employment and population surveys.
U.S. National Salary for Personal Trainers
| Salary.com | BLS.gov | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Lowest 10% | Median Salary | Top 10% | Average Salary |
| ≤ $26,768 | $54,097 | $77,696 + | $36,900 |
Personal Trainer Salaries for States AL - MS
| State | Salary.com | BLS.gov | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lowest 10% | Median Salary | Top 10% | Average Salary | |
| Alabama | ≤ $21,896 | $47,653 | $63,551 + | $31,060 |
| Alaska | ≤ $29,173 | $58,956 | $84,676 + | $37,150 |
| Arizona | ≤ $25,437 | $51,407 | $73,833 + | $36,640 |
| Arkansas | ≤ $23,218 | $46,922 | $67,392 + | $24,210 |
| California | ≤ $29,189 | $58,989 | $84,724 + | $47,790 |
| Colorado | ≤ $26,339 | $53,844 | $76,450 + | $41,030 |
| Connecticut | ≤ $28,909 | $58,424 | $83,912 + | $42,210 |
| Delaware | ≤ $28,946 | $58,499 | $84,019 + | $28,960 |
| Washington DC | ≤ $29,017 | $58,641 | $84,223 + | $43,120 |
| Florida | ≤ $25,697 | $51,933 | $74,588 + | $31,020 |
| Georgia | ≤ $24,272 | $49,052 | $70,451 + | $38,910 |
| Hawaii | ≤ $29,017 | $58,641 | $84,223 + | $35,120 |
| Idaho | ≤ $24,559 | $49,626 | $71,286 + | $32,220 |
| Illinois | ≤ $27,096 | $54,759 | $78,648 + | $31,350 |
| Indiana | ≤ $24,834 | $50,188 | $72,082 + | $33,030 |
| Iowa | ≤ $23,188 | $46,861 | $67,304 + | $23,550 |
| Kansas | ≤ $25,637 | $51,811 | $74,414 + | $28,630 |
| Kentucky | ≤ $25,717 | $51,973 | $74,647 + | $32,360 |
| Louisiana | ≤ $24,339 | $49,187 | $70,645 + | $28,760 |
| Maine | ≤ $25,631 | $47,954 | $74,395 + | $38,990 |
| Maryland | ≤ $28,334 | $57,262 | $82,242 + | $35,400 |
| Massachusetts | ≤ $28,923 | $58,451 | $83,951 + | $45,320 |
| Michigan | ≤ $26,581 | $53,718 | $77,152 + | $28,060 |
| Minnesota | ≤ $26,514 | $53,583 | $76,958 + | $32,820 |
| Mississippi | ≤ $22,876 | $46,230 | $66,398 + | $30,740 |
Personal Trainer Salaries for States MO - WY
| State | Salary.com | BLS.gov | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lowest 10% | Median Salary | Top 10% | Average Salary | |
| Missouri | ≤ $25,604 | $51,744 | $74,317 + | $26,500 |
| Montana | ≤ $20,170 | $40,762 | $58,544 + | $34,820 |
| Nebraska | ≤ $22,126 | $44,715 | $64,223 + | $29,200 |
| Nevada | ≤ $26,801 | $54,164 | $77,794 + | $32,350 |
| New Hampshire | ≤ $28,133 | $56,856 | $81,659 + | $35,010 |
| New Jersey | ≤ $30,389 | $61,413 | $88,205 + | $47,520 |
| New Mexico | ≤ $23,456 | $47,402 | $68,082 + | $33,540 |
| New York | ≤ $27,183 | $54,935 | $78,901 + | $53,730 |
| North Carolina | ≤ $25,226 | $50,981 | $73,578 + | $30,420 |
| North Dakota | ≤ $23,355 | $47,199 | $67,790 + | $23,700 |
| Ohio | ≤ $25,958 | $52,460 | $75,346 + | $28,390 |
| Oklahoma | ≤ $24,161 | $48,828 | $70,130 + | $31,160 |
| Oregon | ≤ $24,574 | $49,663 | $71,328 + | $36,360 |
| Pennsylvania | ≤ $26,569 | $53,694 | $77,118 + | $28,050 |
| Rhode Island | ≤ $27,785 | $56,152 | $80,649 + | $39,270 |
| South Carolina | ≤ $24,749 | $50,017 | $71,837 + | $31,270 |
| South Dakota | ≤ $20,753 | $41,942 | $60,238 + | $24,900 |
| Tennessee | ≤ $25,042 | $50,605 | $72,685 + | $31,470 |
| Texas | ≤ $25,757 | $52,055 | $74,763 + | $38,250 |
| Utah | ≤ $25,149 | $50,824 | $72,996 + | $37,220 |
| Vermont | ≤ $25,644 | $51,825 | $74,433 + | $34,070 |
| Virginia | ≤ $26,400 | $53,353 | $76,628 + | $37,210 |
| Washington | ≤ $27,043 | $54,652 | $78,493 + | $41,570 |
| West Virginia | ≤ $23,327 | $47,144 | $67,710 + | $31,520 |
| Wisconsin | ≤ $25,343 | $51,216 | $73,559 + | $26,700 |
| Wyoming | ≤ $23,609 | $47,713 | $68,528 + | $28,520 |
Personal Trainer Salary by Region
Regional salaries based on Salary.com median salary data for personal trainers. Each region represents the average median salary of the individual states that constitute each region, respectively. Hover mouse pointer over color-coded regions to view salary information.
Self-Employed Personal Trainers Earn More
The ultimate goal for most personal trainers who go into this career field is to become completely self-employed, on a full-time schedule. This involves gradually acquiring your own client base, while working less at a fitness facility so you don’t have to split the commission.
While working at the gym provides great experience and arguably a necessary place to launch your career, again your objective should be to build your own private gym or to train clients at their house or apartment. The pay off can mean the difference between making a part-time versus full-time income.
For example, if you get a client that you initially started training through a gym chain to independently sign on with you, it can be a win-win situation for both parties.