Kinesiology Degree Programs

Salary · SOC 29-9091

Athletic Trainer Salary

Athletic Trainers earn a median of $62,520 a year, according to the BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey for May 2025. Here is the full distribution, every state BLS publishes, and how that athletic trainer salary compares with the other careers a kinesiology degree leads to.

Taylor Rupe, Founder & Editor

Edited by Taylor Rupe B.A. Psychology (UW-Seattle), B.S. Computer Science (Oregon State)

An athletic trainer wrapping supportive tape around an athlete's ankle before training
Photograph by Annushka Ahuja on Pexels

How Much Do Athletic Trainers Make?

The figure normally quoted for an occupation is its median, which is the midpoint of a distribution rather than an offer. Both published tails are below.

Annual wages, U.S.

BLS OEWS · May 2025

$48,180 $88,760
10th pct
$48,180
25th pct
$55,130
Median
$62,520
75th pct
$74,630
90th pct
$88,760

30,500 people were employed in this occupation nationally.

What the spread actually tells you

Half of athletic trainers earn more than $62,520 and half earn less. The bottom tenth are under $48,180 and the top tenth clear $88,760, so the published range is about $40,580 wide. Put another way, the top tenth earn about 1.8x what the bottom tenth do. That is a relatively tight spread, so the median is a reasonable planning figure for this occupation.

The middle half of the workforce sits between $55,130 and $74,630. If you want one number to plan against, that band is more honest than the median alone, because it shows where most people actually land rather than where the exact midpoint falls.

BLS counts 30,500 people employed in this occupation nationally. Size matters when you read wage data: a high median in a small occupation can mean fewer openings and less room to negotiate, not a better market.

Athletic Trainer Salary by State

All 50 states with published data, alphabetically. 21 of them pay above the national median. States are absent when BLS withheld the estimate because the sample was too small.

State 10th pct Median 90th pct Employed
Alabama $38,110 $46,940 $63,840 840
Arizona $48,330 $61,710 $89,080 590
Arkansas $47,350 $57,240 $72,900 240
California $54,770 $78,490 $108,050 1,760
Colorado $53,390 $64,580 $86,170 380
Connecticut $50,900 $69,960 $112,140 290
Delaware $41,080 $59,650 $88,490 50
District of Columbia $59,290 $74,450 $143,050 100
Florida $48,890 $61,350 $80,370 1,430
Georgia $48,320 $64,590 $107,810 860
Hawaii $56,110 $76,320 $92,500 200
Idaho $52,940 $60,410 $88,540 170
Illinois $49,240 $64,750 $93,020 850
Indiana $47,510 $62,780 $76,730 1,040
Iowa $47,250 $55,430 $69,620 570
Kansas $47,160 $59,140 $78,600 390
Kentucky $45,500 $60,680 $82,480 720
Louisiana $50,120 $62,760 $78,880 810
Maine $48,140 $61,970 $79,180 180
Maryland $48,290 $63,970 $90,350 320
Massachusetts $50,560 $70,010 $104,850 630
Michigan $46,580 $59,280 $74,790 870
Minnesota $57,910 $65,390 $78,430 820
Mississippi $49,160 $58,180 $75,730 200
Missouri $47,540 $58,660 $70,910 510
Montana $51,380 $60,090 $101,460 50
Nebraska $48,480 $61,020 $76,080 270
Nevada $31,200 $59,820 $106,060 180
New Hampshire $46,640 $60,200 $93,050 210
New Jersey $52,040 $76,210 $112,330 890
New Mexico $47,030 $72,440 $84,130 150
New York $49,990 $66,230 $101,840 1,370
North Carolina $46,740 $56,540 $77,000 990
North Dakota $48,220 $60,900 $77,360 110
Ohio $49,700 $61,420 $75,100 2,100
Oklahoma $33,800 $61,320 $84,810 360
Oregon $50,420 $57,790 $86,120 280
Pennsylvania $46,960 $61,060 $77,920 1,870
Rhode Island $46,600 $63,750 $86,580
South Carolina $43,360 $59,240 $76,120 530
South Dakota $47,630 $58,620 $64,130 150
Tennessee $44,030 $59,850 $75,510 580
Texas $54,750 $64,150 $99,480 3,130
Utah $52,680 $65,980 $86,910 340
Vermont $55,020 $62,910 $77,400 140
Virginia $49,170 $61,860 $87,240 830
Washington $49,290 $63,750 $88,610 240
West Virginia $41,020 $50,510 $72,800 110
Wisconsin $47,360 $61,820 $78,160 620
Wyoming $48,360 $63,190 $82,570 60

A blank cell means BLS suppressed that value for this occupation in that state.

Highest and Lowest Paying States for Athletic Trainers

Employment sits beside each median deliberately. A high median resting on a few dozen jobs describes a thin local market rather than a strong one.

Highest median

  • California $78,490 1,760 jobs
  • Hawaii $76,320 200 jobs
  • New Jersey $76,210 890 jobs
  • District of Columbia $74,450 100 jobs
  • New Mexico $72,440 150 jobs

Lowest median

  • Alabama $46,940 840 jobs
  • West Virginia $50,510 110 jobs
  • Iowa $55,430 570 jobs
  • North Carolina $56,540 990 jobs
  • Arkansas $57,240 240 jobs

How Athletic Trainer Pay Compares

Among the 8 occupations a kinesiology degree leads to, this one ranks 4 on median pay. The next step up is physical therapist assistants at $68,380. Below it sits recreational therapists at $61,960.

Read that ranking with the education in mind. This job needs its own professional degree, so the figure is not what a kinesiology graduate earns on graduating. It is what someone earns after the second degree, and the years and tuition in between belong in the comparison. The career profile sets out the full route.

The full comparison across all 8 occupations, split by whether the degree reaches them directly, is on the salaries overview.

What Moves Athletic Trainer Pay Up

BLS publishes wages, not the reasons behind them, so treat this as context rather than data. Three things separate the $88,760 end of this distribution from the $48,180 end.

  • Geography, and it is the one you can verify. California pays a median of $78,490 against $62,520, and the table above shows the whole range.
  • Setting. Within any of these occupations, hospital and home-health roles generally pay above school, community and commercial settings, and the gap is often larger than the difference between states.
  • Credentials. The certifications on this route are what employers screen for, and the clinical tier of a credential usually opens the better-paying settings.

Athletic Trainer Salary FAQ

How much does an athletic trainer make?
The median is $62,520 a year (BLS, May 2025). The bottom tenth earn under $48,180 and the top tenth clear $88,760.
What is the highest paying state for athletic trainers?
California, at a median of $78,490. That is $15,970 above the national median. 21 of the 50 states with published data pay above the national figure.
Do athletic trainers earn more with experience?
The published distribution suggests so, though BLS reports percentiles rather than years of service. The 25th percentile is $55,130 and the 75th is $74,630, a gap of $19,500 across the middle half of the workforce. Setting and region account for much of that alongside experience.
Is an athletic trainer salary good compared to other kinesiology careers?
It ranks 4 of the 8 occupations this site covers. The highest is physical therapists at $102,760, though that route requires its own professional degree.
What education do you need to be an athletic trainer?
54% of O*NET respondents named master's degree. This job requires its own professional degree, so a kinesiology bachelor's is preparation for admission rather than a route into the work.
Are these figures adjusted for cost of living?
No. Every number here is a published BLS figure for a stated area. Adjusting by a regional price index would produce values BLS never published and that you could not check against the source, so we report the survey as released.
Why is my state missing from the table?
BLS suppresses estimates where the surveyed sample is too small to publish reliably. This occupation has published medians for 50 states, so the rest were withheld rather than being zero.

Source