SOC 29-9091.00Bright outlook

    Athletic Trainers

    Evaluate and treat musculoskeletal injuries or illnesses.

    Median pay
    $62,520
    Growth
    +12.7%
    Much faster than average
    Openings a year
    2,400
    Typical education
    Master's degree

    Data verified Nov 2026 · CollegesRef 2026–27 edition

    Source: BLS 2025 wages · 2025–35 projections

    See the pathway

    Annual pay range

    Lowest 10% earn less than
    $48,180
    Median
    $62,520
    Highest 10% earn more than
    $88,760
    National wages for all workers in this occupation. BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025.

    30,500 people work in this occupation.

    In short

    Athletic trainers evaluate, treat, and prevent musculoskeletal injuries and illnesses while providing emergency and rehabilitative care. The career offers a median annual pay of $62,520, with employment projected to grow much faster than average.

    Written with AI from the BLS, O*NET and CareerOneStop data on this page. Every figure is checked against that data before it is published.

    What athletic trainers do

    Job Zone 5: Extensive preparation

    Evaluate and treat musculoskeletal injuries or illnesses. Provide preventive, therapeutic, emergency, and rehabilitative care.

    Most need a graduate degree, such as a master's, PhD, MD or JD.

    What the work is like

    Athletic trainers spend their days assisting and caring for others by managing physical injuries and illnesses. They evaluate physical conditions, make decisions on treatment plans, and provide therapeutic or emergency care. This job requires strong active listening, critical thinking, and speaking skills to communicate effectively with patients, supervisors, and peers. Trainers must document detailed information, organize their work schedules, and solve complex physical therapy problems.

    To succeed, professionals need deep knowledge in medicine, therapy, counseling, psychology, and biology. Customer service and public safety are also highly important. This role suits individuals with a social interest area who are cooperative, empathetic, and dependable. Because injuries can be stressful, athletic trainers must maintain high stress tolerance, self-control, and adaptability in fast-paced environments.

    How to get there

    Entering this field typically requires extensive preparation. Most professionals need a graduate degree, and a master's degree is the typical education level required to enter the career. Students preparing for this path often major in sports, kinesiology, physical education and fitness, or allied health diagnostic, intervention, and treatment professions.

    Depending on where you plan to practice, licensing may be necessary. Some states list a license for this work, so candidates should check local state guidelines. Building a strong foundation in biology, therapy, and administrative tasks during college helps prepare graduates for the demands of the job.

    Pay and outlook explained

    The median annual pay for athletic trainers is $62,520. Earnings vary based on experience and location, with the lowest 10 percent earning less than $48,180 and the highest 10 percent earning more than $88,760.

    With 30,500 people currently employed, the field is expanding rapidly. Employment is projected to grow by 12.7 percent from 2025 to 2035, which is much faster than the average for all occupations. This growth is expected to result in about 2,400 job openings each year.

    Interest profile

    Realistic (R)
    77 / 100
    Investigative (I)
    57 / 100
    Artistic (A)
    2 / 100
    Social (S) · strongest
    79 / 100
    Enterprising (E)
    21 / 100
    Conventional (C)
    37 / 100
    How strongly each interest area describes the work, from O*NET (scores rescaled to 0–100). The interest code lists the strongest areas in order.

    Interest code SRI. Compare it with yours

    What you'd do

    Assisting and Caring for Others
    97
    Documenting/Recording Information
    97
    Making Decisions and Solving Problems
    91
    Updating and Using Relevant Knowledge
    81
    Establishing and Maintaining Interpersonal Relationships
    79
    Organizing, Planning, and Prioritizing Work
    75
    Thinking Creatively
    75
    Getting Information
    73
    Communicating with Supervisors, Peers, or Subordinates
    70
    Identifying Objects, Actions, and Events
    68
    Work activities rated by importance for this occupation, O*NET (0–100).

    Skills and strengths

    Skills

    • Active Listening
    • Critical Thinking
    • Judgment and Decision Making
    • Monitoring
    • Speaking
    • Active Learning
    • Reading Comprehension
    • Social Perceptiveness
    • Instructing
    • Service Orientation

    Knowledge

    • Medicine and Dentistry
    • Customer and Personal Service
    • Psychology
    • Therapy and Counseling
    • English Language
    • Education and Training
    • Public Safety and Security
    • Administrative
    • Biology
    • Administration and Management

    Abilities

    • Problem Sensitivity
    • Oral Expression
    • Speech Clarity
    • Speech Recognition
    • Written Comprehension
    • Deductive Reasoning
    • Inductive Reasoning
    • Information Ordering
    • Written Expression
    • Oral Comprehension

    Work styles

    • Dependability
    • Attention to Detail
    • Cooperation
    • Stress Tolerance
    • Social Orientation
    • Empathy
    • Self-Control
    • Integrity
    • Achievement Orientation
    • Adaptability

    Also called

    Athletic Instructor · Athletic Lecturer · Athletic Trainer · Certified Athletic Trainer · Clinical Athletic Instructor · Clinical Athletic Trainer · Fitness Specialist · Licensed Athletic Trainer · On-Site Industrial Athletic Trainer · Outreach Athletic Trainer

    Career pathway

    From your interests to athletic trainers

    Interests that fit the work, the career, majors that lead there and colleges whose graduates in those majors earn the most. Hover or focus a step to follow one path.

    1. Interests

    2. This career

      • Athletic Trainers$62,520 median pay

    3. Majors

    4. Colleges

    College Scorecard program outcomes

    Colleges with strong outcomes

    Programs that lead to this career, ranked by what their graduates earn four years after finishing. Earnings are for graduates who received federal aid.

    1. 1Wagner College logo
      Wagner College

      Staten Island, NY · Allied Health Diagnostic, Intervention, and Treatment Professions · Bachelor's

      1 yr after
      Not reported
      4 yrs after
      $156,982
      Median debt
      $27,000
    2. 2St. John's University-New York logo
      St. John's University-New York

      Queens, NY · Allied Health Diagnostic, Intervention, and Treatment Professions · Bachelor's

      1 yr after
      $102,500
      4 yrs after
      $142,774
      Median debt
      $23,325
    3. 3John Patrick University of Health and Applied Sciences logo
      John Patrick University of Health and Applied Sciences

      South Bend, IN · Allied Health Diagnostic, Intervention, and Treatment Professions · Bachelor's

      1 yr after
      $112,673
      4 yrs after
      $122,061
      Median debt
      $23,437
    4. 4Saint Francis University logo
      Saint Francis University

      Loretto, PA · Allied Health Diagnostic, Intervention, and Treatment Professions · Bachelor's

      1 yr after
      Not reported
      4 yrs after
      $115,813
      Median debt
      $28,000
    5. 5D'Youville University logo
      D'Youville University

      Buffalo, NY · Allied Health Diagnostic, Intervention, and Treatment Professions · Bachelor's

      1 yr after
      $113,290
      4 yrs after
      $114,737
      Median debt
      $30,703
    6. 6Molloy College logo
      Molloy College

      Rockville Centre, NY · Allied Health Diagnostic, Intervention, and Treatment Professions · Bachelor's

      1 yr after
      $90,567
      4 yrs after
      $111,267
      Median debt
      Not reported
    7. 7Salisbury University logo
      Salisbury University

      Salisbury, MD · Allied Health Diagnostic, Intervention, and Treatment Professions · Bachelor's

      1 yr after
      $75,312
      4 yrs after
      $109,739
      Median debt
      $23,250
    8. 8Long Island University logo
      Long Island University

      Brookville, NY · Allied Health Diagnostic, Intervention, and Treatment Professions · Bachelor's

      1 yr after
      $90,526
      4 yrs after
      $107,539
      Median debt
      $22,000

    Source: U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard field-of-study data, 2025. Programs with few graduates are not listed.

    NCES CIP–SOC crosswalk

    Majors that lead here

    Related programs by four-digit CIP code. They are common routes in, not the only ones.

    CareerOneStop

    Certifications, licenses and pay by state

    What athletic trainers may need beyond a degree, where a license is required, and what the work pays in each state.

    Training

    Programs of study that prepare people for this work.

    • Athletic Training/Trainer
    • Physical Fitness Technician

    Find training near you on CareerOneStop

    Licenses by state

    48 states list a license for this work. Open your state for the license and the agency that issues it.

    Check license requirements on CareerOneStop

    Data from CareerOneStop, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Labor (Employment and Training Administration, with the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development). Retrieved November 6, 2026.

    Your plan

    Build my pathway plan

    Courses, majors, colleges, scholarships and a timeline for this career, built from your profile.

    Related careers

    Careers with similar work, interests or skills.

    All careers

    Questions about athletic trainers

    Written with AI from the BLS, O*NET and CareerOneStop data on this page. Every figure is checked against that data before it is published.

    What is the typical entry-level education for an athletic trainer?

    Most people entering this career need a master's degree. The job requires extensive preparation, and many professionals in the field hold a graduate degree.

    How fast is employment for athletic trainers expected to grow?

    Employment is projected to grow by 12.7 percent from 2025 to 2035. This rate of growth is much faster than the average for all occupations, leading to an estimated 2,400 openings each year.

    Do athletic trainers need a license to practice?

    Licensing requirements vary by location, as some states list a license for this work. Prospective trainers should research the specific regulations in their state.

    Sources and attribution

    Every figure on this page comes from these public datasets. Missing values are shown as not reported, never estimated.

    O*NET 31.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license. CollegesRef has modified all or some of this information.

    Data from CareerOneStop, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Labor (Employment and Training Administration, with the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development). Retrieved November 6, 2026.

    Page data updated November 5, 2026.