Professional athlete vs military

The differences between professional athletes and militaries can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a professional athlete has an average salary of $51,818, which is higher than the $51,584 average annual salary of a military.

The top three skills for a professional athlete include athletic events, community services and role model. The most important skills for a military are veterans, hand tools, and ladders.

Professional athlete vs military overview

	Professional Athlete	Military
Yearly salary	$51,818	$51,584
Hourly rate	$24.91	$24.80
Growth rate	36%	-
Number of jobs	43,447	7,632
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 80%	Bachelor's Degree, 41%
Average age	36	24
Years of experience	6	-

Professional athlete vs military salary

Professional athletes and militaries have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Professional Athlete	Military
Average salary	$51,818	$51,584
Salary range	Between $24,000 And $108,000	Between $24,000 And $108,000
Highest paying City	-	Santa Clara, CA
Highest paying state	-	Alaska
Best paying company	-	Baker Hughes
Best paying industry	-	-

Differences between professional athlete and military education

There are a few differences between a professional athlete and a military in terms of educational background:

	Professional Athlete	Military
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 80%	Bachelor's Degree, 41%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	-	-

Professional athlete vs military demographics

Here are the differences between professional athletes' and militaries' demographics:

	Professional Athlete	Military
Average age	36	24
Gender ratio	Male, 83.6% Female, 16.4%	Male, 72.6% Female, 27.4%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 8.9% Unknown, 6.8% Hispanic or Latino, 7.5% Asian, 3.7% White, 72.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2%	Black or African American, 15.3% Unknown, 6.3% Hispanic or Latino, 19.2% Asian, 7.0% White, 51.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%
LGBT Percentage	7%	4%

Differences between professional athlete and military duties and responsibilities

Professional athlete example responsibilities.

Manage supervision of elite and NCAA pipeline development.
Gain valuable insight and knowledge of how a professional sports team is ran.
Make sales, handle money, bra fittings, talk with customers, pull POS product
Assist head coaches to coordinate and conduct softball games in home and external competitions and programs.
Participate in various intramural sport activities including baseball, basketball, volleyball, and dodge ball.
Compete in a wide variety of other sports, including basketball, swimming, bowling, and volleyball.

Military example responsibilities.

Manage life threatening psychiatric emergencies and refer military and families to in-patient and out-patient network providers and provide supportive EAP counseling.
Act as drug testing NCO.
Train first responders in HAZMAT awareness.
Hone skills on alertness, and weapon qualifications.
Help create and publish DMS customer service survey statistics.
Complete EMT training, CPR training, and patient transport.

Professional athlete vs military skills

Common professional athlete skills

Athletic Events, 18%
Community Services, 11%
Role Model, 8%
Training Sessions, 7%
Professional Baseball, 6%
Health Professionals, 5%

Common military skills

Veterans, 30%
Hand Tools, 19%
Ladders, 15%
HR, 4%
Hazmat, 3%
Combat, 3%

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Professional Athlete
Professional Athlete vs Military

Updated January 8, 2025

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