How To Become A Residential Trainer: What It Is and Career Path

What is a residential trainer and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

2 min read

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a residential trainer. For example, did you know that they make an average of $16.45 an hour? That's $34,217 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 12% and produce 52,400 job opportunities across the U.S.

ScoreResidential TrainerUS Average

Salary

2.7

Avg. Salary $34,217

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

8.9

Growth rate 12%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

10.0

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 2.15%

Asian 5.99%

Black or African American 11.45%

Hispanic or Latino 14.89%

Unknown 5.17%

White 60.35%

Gender

female 73.26%

male 26.74%

Age - 43

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 43

Stress level

8.9

Stress level is very high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

8.1

Complexity level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work life balance

6.2

Work life balance is fair

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a residential trainer

Explore residential trainer education requirements

Most common residential trainer degrees

Bachelor's

41.2 %

Associate

20.9 %

High School Diploma

20.2 %

Start to develop specific residential trainer skills

Skills	Percentages
Developmental Disabilities	16.90%
Data Collection	14.47%
Independent Living	7.05%
Meal Preparation	6.78%
Medication Administration	6.54%

Complete relevant residential trainer training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 1-3 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New residential trainers learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a residential trainer based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real residential trainer resumes.

Research residential trainer duties and responsibilities

Manage situations through effective oral communication skills and PMT restraint.
Assist consumers with daily ADL skills.
Implement training and interventions as outlined in ISP and behavioral treatment plan.
Promote continuity of care by accurately and completely communicating to other caregivers the status of patients for which care is provided.

Prepare your residential trainer resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your residential trainer resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a residential trainer resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable residential trainer resume templates

Build a professional residential trainer resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your residential trainer resume.