How To Become An Umpire: What It Is and Career Path

What is an umpire and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

2 min read

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being an umpire. For example, did you know that they make an average of $26.79 an hour? That's $55,728 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 32% and produce 4,200 job opportunities across the U.S.

ScoreUmpireUS Average

Salary

4.4

Avg. Salary $55,728

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

8.0

Growth rate 32%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

2.9

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.34%

Asian 4.86%

Black or African American 8.04%

Hispanic or Latino 11.22%

Unknown 6.70%

White 68.84%

Gender

female 15.58%

male 84.42%

Age - 24

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 - 24

Stress level

8.0

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

7.9

Complexity level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work life balance

6.7

Work life balance is good

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become an umpire

Explore umpire education requirements

Most common umpire degrees

Bachelor's

66.0 %

Associate

13.8 %

High School Diploma

13.5 %

Start to develop specific umpire skills

Skills	Percentages
Umpires	25.84%
Safety Regulations	12.40%
Leadership	11.06%
Game Rules	9.80%
Judgment Calls	5.02%

Complete relevant umpire training and internships

Accountants spend an average of Less than 1 month on post-employment, on-the-job training. New umpires 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 an umpire based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real umpire resumes.

Research umpire duties and responsibilities

Manage conflicts and resolutions between other umpires and coaches/parents.
Develop leadership and communication skills in relaying calls and mediating arguments.
Demonstrate professional characteristics when communicating with coaches, players and fellow umpires.
Provide direction for the safety and regulation of all players according to FIFA rules.

Prepare your umpire resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your umpire 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 an umpire resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable umpire resume templates

Build a professional umpire 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 umpire resume.