Sports trainer vs physical therapist

The differences between sports trainers and physical therapists can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a physical therapist has an average salary of $73,070, which is higher than the $31,455 average annual salary of a sports trainer.

The top three skills for a sports trainer include professional athletes, CPR and strength training. The most important skills for a physical therapist are patients, rehabilitation, and home health.

Sports trainer vs physical therapist overview

	Sports Trainer	Physical Therapist
Yearly salary	$31,455	$73,070
Hourly rate	$15.12	$35.13
Growth rate	19%	17%
Number of jobs	22,164	86,697
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 72%	Bachelor's Degree, 58%
Average age	37	41
Years of experience	12	-

Sports trainer vs physical therapist salary

Sports trainers and physical therapists have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Sports Trainer	Physical Therapist
Average salary	$31,455	$73,070
Salary range	Between $22,000 And $44,000	Between $56,000 And $94,000
Highest paying City	-	San Francisco, CA
Highest paying state	-	California
Best paying company	-	Parkway
Best paying industry	-	Professional

Differences between sports trainer and physical therapist education

There are a few differences between a sports trainer and a physical therapist in terms of educational background:

	Sports Trainer	Physical Therapist
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 72%	Bachelor's Degree, 58%
Most common major	Kinesiology	Physical Therapy
Most common college	University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill	Duke University

Sports trainer vs physical therapist demographics

Here are the differences between sports trainers' and physical therapists' demographics:

	Sports Trainer	Physical Therapist
Average age	37	41
Gender ratio	Male, 71.4% Female, 28.6%	Male, 36.3% Female, 63.7%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 7.1% Unknown, 5.4% Hispanic or Latino, 10.6% Asian, 5.1% White, 71.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5%	Black or African American, 3.7% Unknown, 3.7% Hispanic or Latino, 7.5% Asian, 14.3% White, 70.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5%
LGBT Percentage	13%	12%

Differences between sports trainer and physical therapist duties and responsibilities

Sports trainer example responsibilities.

Achieve high customer satisfaction and budget efficiency in the group fitness department and yoga department.
Launch an ongoing event agenda that include soccer practices and games and numerous community excursions.
Administer a strict curriculum of basic soccer skills and technique to several youth and adult teams.
Create feedback and progress reports regarding development for on boarding new associates and provide official information on a SharePoint database.
Incorporate a monthly fit test and BMI calculation to evaluate individual client growth.

Physical therapist example responsibilities.

Conduct in-services and train colleagues in effective techniques for safely managing the CVA patient.
Achieve high level of patients satisfaction due to sound clinical management, quality of care and compassion.
Perform physical therapy evaluation and treatment of orthopedic patients and supervise PTAs.
Progress patients' functional mobility during treatment sessions by modifying task, intensity, and adaptive equipment utilize.
Motivate patients to participate in treatment sessions by educating them on the benefits of early mobility following cardiac and thoracic surgery.
Experience include IFSP and IEP writing and implementation

Sports trainer vs physical therapist skills

Common sports trainer skills

Professional Athletes, 39%
CPR, 22%
Strength Training, 9%
Soccer, 7%
Sports Training, 7%
Student Athletes, 4%

Common physical therapist skills

Patients, 30%
Rehabilitation, 15%
Home Health, 13%
Quality Care, 5%
Physical Therapy, 3%
Treatment Programs, 3%