Athletic Trainer Salary: How Much Do Athletic Trainers Make?

The median athletic trainer salary is $62,520 a year, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) wage data for May 2025. The middle half of athletic trainers earns between $55,130 and $74,630, and the top 10% earns more than $88,760. Where you work and which state you live in move that number more than anything else.

You also need a master’s degree from a program accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of Athletic Training Education (CAATE) to enter the field. Entry-level programs can’t be finished fully online. So this page starts with pay, then covers what the degree costs and which online options exist.

How Much Do Athletic Trainers Make?

BLS publishes the full spread in its May 2025 wage data for athletic trainers. Here’s the national picture:

The median is the midpoint. Half of athletic trainers earn less and half earn more. The mean sits about $4,100 higher because a small group of well-paid jobs pulls it up ($66,620 minus $62,520).

That wage survey counted 30,500 athletic trainers. BLS’s Occupational Outlook Handbook counts 35,200 athletic trainer jobs in 2025 and projects 13% growth from 2025 to 2035, much faster than average. It expects about 2,400 openings a year. Those are projections, not a promise that a job will be waiting for you.

What Is the Athletic Trainer Salary by State?

Athletic trainer pay by state swings by more than $30,000. California has the highest published median at $78,490. Alabama has the lowest at $46,940. That’s $31,550 apart, and a paycheck in California goes toward much pricier housing.

Here are twelve states that show the range, sorted by median. You’ll find every state BLS publishes in the full table at the bottom of this page.

Two things stand out. Texas employs the most athletic trainers of any state, 3,130, but its median is close to the national figure. And the best-paid states have wide ranges, so a New Jersey athletic trainer at the 10th percentile ($52,040) still earns less than the national median.

If you’re weighing a move for pay, the state number is only a starting point. Look at the setting too.

How Much Do Athletic Trainers Make by Work Setting?

BLS says the biggest employer group is educational services, meaning schools and colleges, at 40% of athletic trainer jobs. Hospitals hold 16%. Offices of physical, occupational and speech therapists hold 14%, physicians’ offices 11% and arts, entertainment and recreation 7%.

The National Athletic Trainers’ Association (NATA) publishes pay by setting. Its 2026 salary guidelines come from NATA’s compensation database, and NATA says more than 8,000 certified or licensed athletic trainers contributed to the study. The table shows the 25th and 75th percentiles, so the middle half of each setting falls between them.

These figures come from a different source than BLS, so they won’t match the $62,520 median. NATA’s numbers come from members who contributed data. BLS’s come from an employer survey. Use BLS for the national picture and NATA to compare settings.

Notice how far the middle of the pack sits from the glamour jobs. Most settings cluster in the $50,000s to low $80,000s. The big numbers belong to a small number of positions.

How Much Do D1 and Pro Sports Athletic Trainers Make?

People search for this one a lot, so here’s the honest version. NATA’s row for NCAA Division I professional staff runs from $53,000 to $79,105 for the middle half. Division I split appointments, which mix clinical work with teaching duties, run $55,750 to $73,500.

Professional sports pay more, with a huge spread. NATA’s football row runs from $77,500 to $260,000, basketball from $80,150 to $167,500 and baseball from $60,500 to $106,875. NATA doesn’t publish a row for a single league, and those jobs are few and competitive.

If you’re aiming for pro sports, plan for a long climb. Plenty of athletic trainers reach that level after years at colleges or in residencies, and plenty never do and build good careers elsewhere.

What Does It Take to Become an Athletic Trainer?

NATA says the current minimum entry point into the profession is at the master’s level. The Board of Certification (BOC) says students finish a CAATE-accredited program and then pass a BOC board exam to practice in most states. BLS adds that nearly all states require a license or certification, with rules that vary by state.

So the path looks like this:

1. Finish a bachelor’s degree that includes the science prerequisites.
2. Complete a CAATE-accredited master’s in athletic training.
3. Pass the BOC exam.
4. Get any license your state requires.

The master’s programs we checked take two years. Hardin-Simmons lists 24 months and Culver-Stockton lists two years of full-time, year-round study.

Both also want observation hours. Culver-Stockton asks for 50 hours with a certified athletic trainer, and Hardin-Simmons’ catalog lists the same 50 hours plus prerequisites in anatomy and physiology, chemistry, physics, kinesiology, exercise physiology, nutrition, psychology and statistics.

Can You Study Athletic Training Online?

Not the entry-level degree, not fully. You can’t learn to evaluate a knee or manage an emergency through a screen alone, and CAATE-accredited programs build in labs and supervised clinical hours.

Two programs on our list blend online coursework with in-person time:

• Hardin-Simmons University. The Master of Athletic Training has six mandatory one-week lab intensives in Abilene, Texas, during year one. Year two is full-time, in-person clinical experience. Tuition is $595 per credit for 77 credits, or $45,815. The school markets it as the nation’s first online Master of Athletic Training.

• Culver-Stockton College. Its Master of Athletic Training puts year one on campus and year two online, with clinical immersion anywhere in the continental U.S. It’s 56 credits at $415 each, $23,240 in tuition, and the school states about $26,000 total cost of attendance.

Temple University is a useful contrast. Its entry-level MSAT is not online at all. Temple’s page says all courses are conducted onsite at the main campus.

Those are the only two blended entry-level options we’ve verified. That’s why we don’t publish a separate online athletic training ranking. There aren’t enough programs to rank honestly.

Which Online Programs Are for Certified Athletic Trainers?

Fully online degrees exist once you already hold your certification. They’re built for working athletic trainers who want an advanced credential. None of them makes you an athletic trainer.

Ohio’s Doctor of Athletic Training works out to about $23,982 to $24,906 in tuition (42 credits times $571 to $593). It ranks third of 12 on our online doctorate list and second on our cheapest list for its level. Ohio’s page also requires you to stay employed as an athletic trainer while you’re enrolled.

A.T. Still adds a $44 per-credit technology fee on top of its $690 rate, so budget for that. For more options, see our ranking for healthcare workers.

Does a Higher Degree Raise Athletic Trainer Pay?

BLS doesn’t publish athletic trainer pay by degree, so we can’t hand you a “doctorate adds X dollars” number. Entry into the field is now at the master’s level, and BLS lists a master’s as the typical entry education for the $62,520 median.

NATA’s data hints at where advanced degrees might matter. College and university faculty, academic and research jobs run $61,070 to $116,000 for the middle half. That’s the widest college range in NATA’s table. But NATA doesn’t say a doctorate causes the higher pay.

So before you pay for a DAT or a PhD, ask the employers you’d want to work for whether the job needs one. Pull two or three postings and check the requirements. If they say a master’s is enough, the extra tuition is a harder sell.

Is the Master’s Worth the Cost?

Compare tuition with the pay. Culver-Stockton’s tuition of $23,240 and Hardin-Simmons’ $45,815 are both below a year of the $62,520 median. Hardin-Simmons states a total program cost of $52,625 with fees, and you’ll pay for travel and living during clinical placements.

The pay math looks less friendly next to other health careers that also need a graduate degree. Here’s how athletic trainers compare, using BLS’s May 2025 medians:

Our exercise physiologist salary page covers the bachelor’s-level option. And if you’re still deciding between the two clinical paths, our guide to exercise science vs. physical therapy lays out the cost and time difference.

Money isn’t the whole answer. BLS notes that most athletic trainers work full time, and those working with teams may work evenings or weekends and travel often. Athletic trainers who love the sideline don’t mind that. Others burn out on it.

How Can You Raise Your Athletic Trainer Pay?

Some moves are in your control, and the data points to a few.

Choose your setting deliberately. NATA’s hospital administration row starts at $85,500. Its outpatient clinic row starts at $64,500. NCAA Division I professional staff starts at $53,000.

Look at split appointments. In NCAA Division II, NATA’s split-appointment row starts at $64,000, while the professional staff row starts at $52,000. Splitting time between clinical care and teaching pays more there. It also means more work.

Use NATA’s floor when you negotiate. NATA says all job postings should meet or exceed the 25th percentile for the setting. If an offer sits below the numbers above, you have a source to point to.

Weigh the state. A California median of $78,490 beats Alabama’s $46,940, but you’d pay for it in living costs. Compare the pay with what rent and groceries cost where you’d live.

What If You’re Starting From an Exercise Science Degree?

An exercise science bachelor’s is a common way to collect the prerequisites. But it doesn’t make you an athletic trainer, and most entry-level programs won’t take you without the science courses and observation hours listed earlier. Our exercise science vs. athletic training guide compares the two paths.

If you’re earning the bachelor’s online first, check the lab courses. Many online programs ask you to finish anatomy or chemistry labs in person. Our pre-health online degree ranking flags labs, and our online master’s ranking covers graduate options if you already have a bachelor’s.

How We Checked These Numbers

Wage figures come from BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics for May 2025, and the projections come from BLS’s Occupational Outlook Handbook, read on September 29, 2026. Setting figures come from NATA’s 25th percentile salary guidelines page, read the same day. NATA’s fuller salary survey is member-only, so we don’t quote it.

Program details come from each school’s own page, recorded in the program reviews linked above. Pay changes yearly and varies by employer, so treat every number here as a benchmark. Confirm tuition and requirements with the school before you apply.