Health
What you can do with Athletic Training
Preventing, assessing and rehabilitating injuries for athletes and active people. Usually a master's.
- Careers
- 5
- Early career
- $50,000
- Mid-career
- $67,000
- Growing fast
- 4 of 5
How these numbers work: A major does not have its own salary. Early and mid-career pay is what people who hold this degree earn at the start of their careers and midway through them. Career pay comes from the 5 careers an Athletic Training degree commonly leads to, and counts everyone in those jobs, including people who have been doing them for thirty years. The two answer different questions, which is why they do not match.
The New York Fed does not report Athletic Training on its own. Its early and mid-career figures here are for Health Services, the broader group it places this major in.
53% of people with this degree go on to a graduate degree, so the higher-paying careers below usually mean more school after the bachelor's.
4 of 5 careers this degree leads to are projected to grow faster than average from 2024 to 2034. Of those, Fitness Trainer / Instructor has the most openings, about 74,200 a year.
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5 careers this degree leads to
Physical Therapist
$102,760Help injured or ill people improve movement and manage pain through exercise and rehabilitation.
- Middle half of workers
- $86,160 to $121,160
- Growth
- Much faster than average
- Openings a year
- 13,200
Work-life62Remote15Satisfaction76- Patient Assessment
- Rehabilitation
- Exercise Prescription
- Anatomy
Athletic Trainer
$62,520Prevent, evaluate, and rehabilitate musculoskeletal injuries for athletes and active patients, often as the first responder on the field.
- Middle half of workers
- $55,130 to $74,630
- Growth
- Much faster than average
- Openings a year
- 2,400
Work-life41Remote51- Injury Evaluation
- Rehabilitation
- Emergency Care
- Monitoring
Recreational Therapist
$61,960Use arts, sport, games and outings as treatment to help people recover, cope and stay well.
- Middle half of workers
- $50,240 to $79,930
- Growth
- About average
- Openings a year
- 1,300
- Treatment Planning
- Empathy
- Activity Design
- Assessment
Exercise Physiologist
$59,460Prescribe exercise as medicine: build fitness programs that rebuild cardiovascular health, strength, and mobility.
- Middle half of workers
- $49,620 to $67,230
- Growth
- Much faster than average
- Openings a year
- 1,700
Work-life74Remote1- Exercise Prescription
- Fitness Assessment
- Cardiac Rehab Basics
- Motivation
Fitness Trainer / Instructor
$47,160Lead people through exercise, individually and in groups, and help them train safely toward their goals.
- Middle half of workers
- $35,280 to $61,730
- Growth
- Much faster than average
- Openings a year
- 74,200
- Exercise Programming
- Anatomy
- Motivation
- Safety
Related majors
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Where these pay figures come from
Early and mid-career pay is the median annual wage of full-time workers who hold a bachelor's degree in that major, ages 22 to 27 and ages 35 to 45, from 2024 data. Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey (IPUMS). Published as Outcomes by Major by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
Career pay is the annual wage of everyone working in that occupation, not only recent graduates, so it includes people who have done the job for decades. The middle half is the 25th to the 75th percentile. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and O*NET OnLine (median and percentile annual wages May 2025; employment projections 2024-2034).
All figures are national. What you earn depends on where you work, who you work for, and how far you take the degree.