Kinesiology Degree Programs

Salary · SOC 27-2022

Coach Salary

Coaches earn a median of $47,320 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 coach 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)

A softball coach talking through strategy with the team gathered around on the field
Photograph by Roro Tata on Pexels

How Much Do Coaches 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

$28,790 $98,860
10th pct
$28,790
25th pct
$35,330
Median
$47,320
75th pct
$64,710
90th pct
$98,860

248,950 people were employed in this occupation nationally.

What the spread actually tells you

Half of coaches earn more than $47,320 and half earn less. The bottom tenth are under $28,790 and the top tenth clear $98,860, so the published range is about $70,070 wide. Put another way, the top tenth earn about 3.4x what the bottom tenth do. That is a wide spread, and it means the median is a weak guide to what you personally would earn. Setting, region and whether the role is full-time salaried all move it more than the single figure suggests.

The middle half of the workforce sits between $35,330 and $64,710. 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 248,950 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.

Coach Salary by State

All 49 states with published data, alphabetically. 26 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
Alaska $30,150 $41,170 $68,840 350
Arizona $36,880 $53,130 $99,850 4,120
Arkansas $25,720 $38,930 $78,010 2,070
California $35,920 $47,660 $92,150 31,150
Colorado $31,990 $47,110 $86,950 4,120
Connecticut $34,010 $54,790 $105,170 4,070
Delaware $31,800 $45,200 $93,320 600
District of Columbia $36,400 $65,360 $136,000 630
Florida $29,830 $39,370 $90,000 18,120
Georgia $27,190 $48,210 $80,900 4,510
Hawaii $37,040 $55,860 $116,120 760
Idaho $28,240 $46,600 $98,020 1,410
Illinois $31,200 $49,120 $122,720 8,840
Indiana $25,270 $44,480 $100,180 5,960
Iowa $19,010 $49,350 $97,980 3,410
Kansas $15,080 $42,900 $82,540 3,300
Kentucky $21,810 $35,570 $75,710 2,800
Louisiana $23,310 $60,960 $194,130 2,550
Maine $31,270 $43,640 $102,780 1,060
Maryland $32,820 $50,590 $110,620 3,960
Massachusetts $35,940 $55,130 $109,380 6,310
Michigan $25,960 $47,050 $101,970 7,910
Minnesota $29,480 $48,050 $87,910 4,680
Missouri $28,910 $42,790 $79,480 4,730
Montana $22,530 $48,020 $79,000 990
Nebraska $28,940 $47,810 $94,920 1,180
Nevada $25,410 $51,020 $105,920 2,390
New Hampshire $31,540 $51,490 $102,550 870
New Jersey $39,720 $76,700 $121,960 5,670
New Mexico $32,660 $49,980 $111,220 590
New York $34,890 $59,920 $104,000 11,220
North Carolina $25,130 $43,840 $87,060 8,530
North Dakota $24,330 $37,100 $75,210 1,180
Ohio $28,280 $46,530 $81,760 13,150
Oklahoma $19,450 $41,160 $105,980 2,420
Oregon $34,860 $48,960 $101,140 3,930
Pennsylvania $21,170 $48,730 $119,060 8,170
Rhode Island $34,580 $53,630 $101,000 1,170
South Carolina $17,880 $42,950 $103,010 3,310
South Dakota $28,270 $36,360 $64,280 1,290
Tennessee $22,990 $37,780 $81,080 6,250
Texas $22,340 $36,510 $78,720 15,300
Utah $23,330 $45,680 $95,000 2,940
Vermont $37,240 $59,990 $102,800 630
Virginia $25,810 $46,290 $84,680 6,810
Washington $37,180 $48,030 $85,590 11,790
West Virginia $31,040 $52,050 $101,530 910
Wisconsin $28,010 $44,800 $76,370 5,480
Wyoming $26,900 $49,420 $108,220 470

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

Highest and Lowest Paying States for Coaches

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

  • New Jersey $76,700 5,670 jobs
  • District of Columbia $65,360 630 jobs
  • Louisiana $60,960 2,550 jobs
  • Vermont $59,990 630 jobs
  • New York $59,920 11,220 jobs

Lowest median

  • Kentucky $35,570 2,800 jobs
  • South Dakota $36,360 1,290 jobs
  • Texas $36,510 15,300 jobs
  • North Dakota $37,100 1,180 jobs
  • Tennessee $37,780 6,250 jobs

How Coach Pay Compares

Among the 8 occupations a kinesiology degree leads to, this one ranks 7 on median pay. The next step up is exercise physiologists at $59,460. Below it sits exercise trainers and group fitness instructors at $47,160.

This is one of the jobs a kinesiology degree reaches directly, so the median here is a figure you can weigh against tuition without adding a second degree to the calculation. The career profile has the education spread and the credentials employers ask for.

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

What Moves Coach Pay Up

BLS publishes wages, not the reasons behind them, so treat this as context rather than data. Three things separate the $98,860 end of this distribution from the $28,790 end.

  • Geography, and it is the one you can verify. New Jersey pays a median of $76,700 against $47,320, 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.

Coach Salary FAQ

How much does a coach make?
The median is $47,320 a year (BLS, May 2025). The bottom tenth earn under $28,790 and the top tenth clear $98,860.
What is the highest paying state for coaches?
New Jersey, at a median of $76,700. That is $29,380 above the national median. 26 of the 49 states with published data pay above the national figure.
Do coaches earn more with experience?
The published distribution suggests so, though BLS reports percentiles rather than years of service. The 25th percentile is $35,330 and the 75th is $64,710, a gap of $29,380 across the middle half of the workforce. Setting and region account for much of that alongside experience.
Is a coach salary good compared to other kinesiology careers?
It ranks 7 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 a coach?
49% of O*NET respondents named bachelor's degree. A kinesiology degree can lead to this job directly.
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 49 states, so the rest were withheld rather than being zero.

Source