Athletic Trainer Hourly Pay, Skills & Requirements (2026)
Advertised pay, starting pay, skills and experience from 2,452 US job postings by 750 employers. Data as of October 2026.
What US employers post for athletic trainers: advertised pay, the skills and experience they ask for, and the job titles they use, from 2,452 open job postings (October 2026).
- The median advertised pay for athletic trainers in US job postings is $31.28 an hour (557 postings from 189 employers, October 2026).
- The middle half of those postings offer $27.00 to $40.09 an hour.
- The skills that most set athletic trainer postings apart are injury prevention, rehabilitation, hipaa.
- Postings that state a minimum ask for a median of 2 years of experience.
Athletic Trainer job postings in the US, October 2026
- $31.28/hr
- Median advertised pay (557 postings)
- $27.00–$40.09
- Middle 50% of postings
- 2,452
- US job postings from 750 employers
- 2 years
- Median experience asked
How much does an athletic trainer make an hour?
The median advertised pay is $31.28 an hour, from 557 US job postings by 189 employers that state pay. That is about $63,000 a year at 2,080 hours.
Advertised pay in 557 US athletic trainer job postings: median $63,000 a year ($31.28 an hour), middle half $56,000 to $78,000.
- Median: $63,000 ($31.28/hr)
- 25th percentile: $56,000
- 75th percentile: $78,000
The figures as a table
| Annual pay | Share of postings |
|---|---|
| $10K–$20K | 0.2% |
| $20K–$30K | 0.6% |
| $30K–$40K | 2.6% |
| $40K–$50K | 9.8% |
| $50K–$60K | 23.4% |
| $60K–$70K | 25.6% |
| $70K–$80K | 14.6% |
| $80K–$90K | 11.4% |
| $90K–$100K | 3.2% |
| $100K–$110K | 3.4% |
| $110K–$120K | 3.4% |
| $120K–$130K | 1.6% |
Midpoint of each posting's pay range, hourly pay × 2,080 hours; at most 20 postings per employer; US, October 2026.
| Median | Middle 50% | Postings | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Postings that state an hourly rate | $31.28 | $27.00–$40.09 | 329 |
| All pay postings, annualised | $63,000 | $56K–$78K | 557 |
For comparison, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics puts the national median annual wage of Athletic Trainers (29-9091) at $63,000 (May 2025). Postings advertise pay; the BLS measures what people earn, across all employers and levels.
What is the starting salary for an athletic trainer?
Figure withheld: fewer than 250 US postings list pay. How we decide.
Highest-paying athletic trainer jobs
Specializations with at least 250 postings that state pay.
| Specialization | Median pay | Postings with pay | Employers |
|---|---|---|---|
| Athletic Trainer (general) | $31.90/hr | 446 | 167 |
Skills employers ask for in athletic trainer job postings
| Skill | Share of postings |
|---|---|
| Communication | 26% |
| Interpersonal skills | 17% |
| Organizational skills | 14% |
| Work independently | 9% |
| Customer service | 9% |
| Microsoft Office | 7% |
| Excel | 7% |
| Professionalism | 7% |
| Attention to detail | 6% |
| Injury prevention | 6% |
Skills named in the posting text; at most 20 postings per employer; US, October 2026. Methodology.
Skills that set athletic trainers apart
- Injury prevention242.3× as often as in all postings · 6%
Skills named in at least 5% of these postings and at least 3 times as often as in job postings overall.
Have a athletic trainer job posting in front of you? See which of its skills your resume is missing.
What does an athletic trainer do?
Employers post these jobs as Certified Athletic Trainer, Exercise Physiologist, Assistant Athletic Trainer, Exercise Specialist, Clinical Exercise Physiologist and other titles. The largest specializations are Exercise Physiologist (14%).
The closest official occupation is Athletic Trainers (29-9091.00). Its most important tasks:
- Conduct an initial assessment of an athlete's injury or illness to provide emergency or continued care and to determine whether they should be referred to physicians for definitive diagnosis and treatment.
- Assess and report the progress of recovering athletes to coaches or physicians.
- Care for athletic injuries, using physical therapy equipment, techniques, or medication.
- Evaluate athletes' readiness to play and provide participation clearances when necessary and warranted.
- Perform general administrative tasks, such as keeping records or writing reports.
Source: O*NET 31.0 Database, U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (CC BY 4.0).
How much experience do you need to be an athletic trainer?
Among 666 postings that state a minimum, the median is 2 years. 2% say 0 years and 40% ask for 1 year or less.
Minimum experience asked in 666 US athletic trainer job postings: median 2 years, and 40% ask for 1 year or less.
The figures as a table
| Minimum experience asked | Share of postings |
|---|---|
| 0 yr | 3% |
| 1 yr | 37% |
| 2 yrs | 37% |
| 3-4 yrs | 17% |
| 5-7 yrs | 6% |
| 8-9 yrs | 0% |
| 10+ yrs | under 1% |
Postings that state a minimum (required or preferred); at most 20 postings per employer; US, October 2026.
We do not show a degree figure: in our checks, degree requirements in posting text were found too rarely to publish one. Why.
Full-time 75%, Part-time 25% of the 444 postings that state working hours.
Other names for an athletic trainer: job titles employers use
| Job title | Employers using it |
|---|---|
| Athletic Trainer | 415 (55.3%) |
| Certified Athletic Trainer | 90 (12.0%) |
| Exercise Physiologist | 88 (11.7%) |
| Assistant Athletic Trainer | 74 (9.9%) |
| Exercise Specialist | 41 (5.5%) |
| Clinical Exercise Physiologist | 22 (2.9%) |
| Substitute Athletic Trainer | 15 (2.0%) |
| Injury Prevention Specialist | 14 (1.9%) |
| Licensed Athletic Trainer | 14 (1.9%) |
| Head Athletic Trainer | 13 (1.7%) |
| PRN Athletic Trainer | 12 (1.6%) |
| Clinical Athletic Trainer | 10 (1.3%) |
| Athletic Trainers | 8 (1.1%) |
| High School Athletic Trainer | 8 (1.1%) |
| Associate Athletic Trainer | 8 (1.1%) |
| Athletic Trainer Certified | 7 (0.9%) |
| Outreach Athletic Trainer | 7 (0.9%) |
| Lead Athletic Trainer | 6 (0.8%) |
| Athletic Trainer (ATC) | 6 (0.8%) |
| Athletic Trainer I | 6 (0.8%) |
Titles read in our audit and used by at least 3 employers.
Athletic trainer job titles compared
The titles people search for most, from the US job postings that use each exact title (October 2026).
| Job title | Open postings | Employers | Median pay | Median experience | Skills named most |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Exercise Physiologist | 155 | 88 | – | – | – |
Athletic Trainer compared with similar careers
| Career | Median pay | Median experience | Postings | Shares N of top 25 skills |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Athletic Trainer | $31.28/hr | 2 years | 2,452 | – |
| Physician Assistant | $150K | 2 years | 2,412 | 14 |
| Pharmacist | $68.00/hr | 2 years | 28,524 | 16 |
| Nurse Practitioner | $142K | 2 years | 21,109 | 15 |
| Physical Therapist Assistant | $34.52/hr | 1 year | 12,964 | 15 |
Similar careers
| Career | Shares N of the top 25 skills | Median pay |
|---|---|---|
| Physician Assistant | 14 | $150K |
| Pharmacist | 16 | $68.00/hr |
| Nurse Practitioner | 15 | $142K |
| Physical Therapist Assistant | 15 | $34.52/hr |
| Nurse Midwife | 13 | – |
| Physical Therapist | 14 | $104K |
Applying for athletic trainer jobs?
- Athletic trainer resume examples: one-page examples for these roles
- Match your resume to a job: paste a posting and see the skills your resume is missing
- Check your resume: see how an applicant tracking system reads it
- Find athletic trainer jobs: search open postings
Source and method
Open US job postings collected from employers' applicant tracking systems, de-duplicated, counted only when their job title was read in our audit. Shares count at most 20 postings per employer, and franchise locations of one brand count as one employer. Pay uses hourly and annual figures only; a figure is shown when leaving out the largest employer moves it by 10% or less. Every figure states its number of postings. Methodology and measured accuracy.
Accuracy check: we read 39 randomly chosen postings counted on this page in full; 35 of them were this career or a closely related one (October 2026).
Download the figures on this page (CSV): every number above with its count of postings. Aggregate figures are licensed CC BY 4.0; cite the page when you reuse them.