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If you’re interested in becoming a personal trainer then you’ve no doubt heard the stories of trainers charging $100 an hour to work with corporate clients and making a full-time income working 20 hours a week. While it’s true, some trainers do reach a level of success and notoriety that they’re able to charge those types of fees, most personal trainers need to settle for slightly less. That doesn’t mean that personal trainers aren’t able to earn a decent living, many personal trainers are able to make excellent livings doing what they love!

The short answer to how much do personal trainers make is $53,323/year for a personal trainer working full-time. However, how much a trainer makes depends entirely on a number of factors which include; location, level of certification, education, and experience.

Obtaining a NESTA Personal Training Certification is a great way to meet the education requirements of most gyms.

Level of Certification

Level of certification is arguably the biggest factor in determining how much a personal trainer makes. By attending courses and gaining different certification you’ll be able to quickly increase how much you can make as a personal trainer.  For example, a Group Fitness Instructor on average earns $47,659/year working full-time. An Personal Trainer makes $53,323/year and an Advanced Health & fitness Specialist makes on average $55,771/year

Education

Your post-secondary education is an important step in increasing how much you make as a personal trainer. On average the higher level of education a trainer has the more their annual income is. A certified personal trainer who has a high-school diploma makes on average $45,516/year. With a Bachelors degree they make $50,597/year on average and with a master’s degree they can make $67,287/year. The extra education is well worth it as it opens up further specializations and career opportunities.

Experience

The key to success as a personal trainer is building up a consistent client base that is always coming back to you for more. If you do your job right your clients will actually start working for you, they’ll tell their friends and family about the great work you do and encourage them to hire you. Unfortunately building up a client base like this takes time and that’s why the longer you work the more money you’ll make. As you gain more experience you’ll also get to start charging more and more.

Location

Your physical location plays a large part in your earning potential as a personal trainer. On a local level factors include how many gyms (and therefore trainers) and competing for clients in an area? The more gyms and personal trainers available will mean higher competition which means lower prices for clients which results in less money for the trainers. On a larger scale personal trainers in Northwest and Northcentral typically make less than their counterparts in the North and Southeast.

Again, if you’re looking for a simple answer for how much do personal trainers make the answer is $53,323/year for an ACE personal Trainer working full-time.