Exercise Physiologist Salary: Pay by State (2027)

How Much Do Exercise Physiologists 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

$42,760 $80,560

10th pct: $42,760
25th pct: $49,620
Median: $59,460
75th pct: $67,230
90th pct: $80,560

8,560 people were employed in this occupation nationally, and the median hourly wage was $28.59.

What the Spread Actually Tells You

Half of exercise physiologists earn more than $59,460 and half earn less. The bottom tenth are under $42,760 and the top tenth clear $80,560, so the published range is about $37,800 wide. Put another way, the top tenth earn about 1.9x 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 $49,620 and $67,230. 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 8,560 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.

Exercise Physiologist Salary by State

42 states have published data; the 10 highest-paying are shown, and you can pick any other state below. 16 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
Washington	$65,830	$81,310	$97,620	160
Oregon	$56,010	$71,630	$81,260	80
Minnesota	$61,640	$67,230	$95,140	250
Massachusetts	$60,060	$65,950	$97,370	180
New Jersey	$55,620	$64,680	$79,290	130
Colorado	$45,210	$63,800	$75,350	370
New Hampshire	$51,630	$63,590	$79,050	50
Wisconsin	$55,100	$63,210	$77,320	340
Connecticut	$46,570	$62,510	$81,740	100
California	$36,970	$62,440	$106,290	640

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

Highest and Lowest Paying States for Exercise Physiologists

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

Washington $81,310 160 jobs
Oregon $71,630 80 jobs
Minnesota $67,230 250 jobs
Massachusetts $65,950 180 jobs
New Jersey $64,680 130 jobs

Lowest median

Mississippi $43,060 30 jobs
Utah $43,850 220 jobs
South Carolina $46,550 230 jobs
Pennsylvania $48,040 640 jobs
Arkansas $48,850 40 jobs

Degrees That Lead to This Job

Kinesiology programs in the best-paid states:

How Exercise Physiologist Pay Compares

Among the 8 occupations a kinesiology degree leads to, this one ranks 6 on median pay. The next step up is recreational therapists at $61,960. Below it sits coaches and scouts at $47,320.

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 Exercise Physiologist Pay Up

BLS publishes wages, not the reasons behind them, so treat this as context rather than data. Three things separate the $80,560 end of this distribution from the $42,760 end.

Geography, and it is the one you can verify. Washington pays a median of $81,310 against $59,460, 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.

Exercise Physiologist Salary FAQ

How much does an exercise physiologist make?

The median is $59,460 a year (BLS, May 2025). The bottom tenth earn under $42,760 and the top tenth clear $80,560. That works out at about $28.59 an hour at the median.

What is the highest paying state for exercise physiologists?

Washington, at a median of $81,310. That is $21,850 above the national median. 16 of the 42 states with published data pay above the national figure.

Do exercise physiologists earn more with experience?

The published distribution suggests so, though BLS reports percentiles rather than years of service. The 25th percentile is $49,620 and the 75th is $67,230, a gap of $17,610 across the middle half of the workforce. Setting and region account for much of that alongside experience.

Is an exercise physiologist salary good compared to other kinesiology careers?

It ranks 6 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 exercise physiologist?

59% 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 42 states, so the rest were withheld rather than being zero.

Source

BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025
O*NET OnLine, 29-1128.00, education requirements