Research Summary. After extensive research by the Zippia data science team, we identified these details of personal trainer salary by state for the United States:
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California has the highest personal trainer salary of $49,724
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South Carolina has the lowest personal trainer salary of $23,817
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The national average salary for personal trainers is $37,214
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The national hourly pay for personal trainers is $17.89
You can read more on the specific methodology.
Background
Without fail, in surveys across basically every demographic, the number one most important aspect of a job for most people is the salary — how much do personal trainers get paid where I live?
And while there are many things to go into how much you, specifically, can expect to make, there’s really good data for average salaries for personal trainer by state across America broken down by seniority level. So while your city may be slightly different than the state average, these averages give you a rough sense of what to expect for your salary.
The state with the best salary for personal trainers after this adjustment? That would be California.
Here’s a quick snapshot of the top ten states for personal trainer salaries:
Let’s take a look at how we got here and a full ranking of all the states.
Highest-Paid Personal Trainers By State
| Rank | State | Average Personal Trainer Salary | 10th Percentile | 90th Percentile |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | California | $49,724 | $34,000 | $71,000 |
| 2 | Hawaii | $48,936 | $43,000 | $55,000 |
| 3 | Washington | $48,140 | $32,000 | $70,000 |
| 4 | Connecticut | $47,835 | $29,000 | $77,000 |
| 5 | Alaska | $47,698 | $39,000 | $57,000 |
| 6 | Massachusetts | $46,548 | $28,000 | $75,000 |
| 7 | Nevada | $46,472 | $31,000 | $68,000 |
| 8 | Vermont | $45,343 | $29,000 | $70,000 |
| 9 | New Hampshire | $45,243 | $28,000 | $72,000 |
| 10 | Maryland | $44,782 | $28,000 | $69,000 |
| 11 | North Dakota | $44,163 | $32,000 | $60,000 |
| 12 | New Jersey | $42,422 | $26,000 | $68,000 |
| 13 | Oregon | $42,071 | $28,000 | $61,000 |
| 14 | Colorado | $41,061 | $28,000 | $58,000 |
| 15 | Maine | $40,847 | $26,000 | $63,000 |
| 16 | Rhode Island | $40,715 | $24,000 | $66,000 |
| 17 | Arizona | $40,587 | $28,000 | $57,000 |
| 18 | New York | $40,543 | $24,000 | $65,000 |
| 19 | New Mexico | $40,373 | $28,000 | $57,000 |
| 20 | Wyoming | $40,130 | $28,000 | $57,000 |
| 21 | West Virginia | $40,105 | $27,000 | $59,000 |
| 22 | Illinois | $40,035 | $27,000 | $58,000 |
| 23 | Minnesota | $39,877 | $28,000 | $56,000 |
| 24 | Texas | $39,719 | $28,000 | $56,000 |
| 25 | Delaware | $39,680 | $25,000 | $62,000 |
| 26 | Kentucky | $39,586 | $27,000 | $57,000 |
| 27 | North Carolina | $38,786 | $26,000 | $56,000 |
| 28 | Oklahoma | $38,720 | $27,000 | $55,000 |
| 29 | Utah | $38,695 | $26,000 | $56,000 |
| 30 | Mississippi | $38,689 | $27,000 | $55,000 |
| 31 | Virginia | $38,439 | $25,000 | $57,000 |
| 32 | Nebraska | $38,161 | $26,000 | $54,000 |
| 33 | Iowa | $36,676 | $25,000 | $52,000 |
| 34 | Indiana | $35,441 | $24,000 | $51,000 |
| 35 | Florida | $35,160 | $24,000 | $49,000 |
| 36 | Alabama | $34,769 | $24,000 | $49,000 |
| 37 | Louisiana | $34,746 | $24,000 | $49,000 |
| 38 | Montana | $34,507 | $24,000 | $48,000 |
| 39 | Pennsylvania | $33,620 | $21,000 | $53,000 |
| 40 | South Dakota | $33,532 | $23,000 | $47,000 |
| 41 | Kansas | $33,294 | $23,000 | $47,000 |
| 42 | Wisconsin | $32,747 | $22,000 | $47,000 |
| 43 | Missouri | $31,090 | $21,000 | $44,000 |
| 44 | Tennessee | $30,889 | $21,000 | $44,000 |
| 45 | Georgia | $30,700 | $21,000 | $43,000 |
| 46 | Michigan | $30,641 | $20,000 | $45,000 |
| 47 | Idaho | $30,231 | $20,000 | $43,000 |
| 48 | Arkansas | $30,161 | $21,000 | $42,000 |
| 49 | Ohio | $28,559 | $19,000 | $42,000 |
| 50 | South Carolina | $23,817 | $16,000 | $34,000 |
Methodology: Personal Trainer Salary By State
To better understand personal trainer pay by state, Zippia has aggregated data across a multitude of channels including the BLS, FLC, and OPM. We then supplement that data with actual listed salaries from job posts. Finally, the data science team calculates a weighted average of these inputs to create an average pay for personal trainers by state.
We took the average annual salary data for personal trainers from these estimates and ranked every state on this criteria with the state with the highest salary ranking as highest average salary for personal trainers.
Personal Trainer Salary By State FAQs
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What is the highest-paid state for personal trainers?
The highest-paid state for personal trainers is California with an average salary of $49,724 per year.
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What city pays personal trainers the most?
San Francisco, CA pays personal trainers the most with an average salary of $50,574 per year.
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What is the worst state for personal trainers?
The worst state for personal trainers is South Carolina with an average salary of $23,817 per year.
Author
Chris Kolmar is a co-founder of Zippia and the editor-in-chief of the Zippia career advice blog. He has hired over 50 people in his career, been hired five times, and wants to help you land your next job. His research has been featured on the New York Times, Thrillist, VOX, The Atlantic, and a host of local news. More recently, he's been quoted on USA Today, BusinessInsider, and CNBC.
