60+ Personal Trainer Statistics, Facts, and Trends

Posted on 03 November, 2023 by Nicholas Rizzo

Personal-Trainer-Statistics-Facts-And-Trends

We spent 37 hours reading, researching, analysing, and compiling personal trainer statistics, to provide a comprehensive breakdown of:

  1. Personal training industry statistics [size, growth, and trends]
  2. Personal training statistics in the UK
  3. Personal trainer job outlook stats
  4. The future of personal training: how it's changing due to covid
  5. Personal trainer salary stats
  6. Personal trainer certifications and education
  7. Personal trainer demographics
  8. Cost of personal trainers
  9. How effective are personal trainers
  10. Personal training related studies and research by RunRepeat
  • The Fitness Trainer industry is expected to rake in $10.4 billion in revenue in 2020. [IBISWorld - 2020]
  • The Personal Fitness industry in the United States saw a growth of 2.4% per year from 2015 to 2020. [IBISWorld - 2020]
  • The market size for Fitness Professionals in the U.S. is expected to see a 1.4% increase in 2020. [IBISWorld - 2020]  
  • In 2019, there were 373,700 personal trainers in the U.S. [bls.gov - 2020]
  • The need to easily access classes taught by experienced fitness trainers has helped grow the online personal fitness industry market to $6,046 million in 2019 and is expected to reach $59,231 million by 2027. [Valuates Report - 2020]

Personal training statistics in the UK

  • The personal trainer industry is valued at £684 million. [IBISWorld - 2020]
  • According to a 2019 report, there are about 57,000 fitness instructors in the UK. [IBISWorld - 2019]
  • The personal trainer industry in the UK has grown by 2.3% from 2014 to 2019. [IBISWorld - 2019]
  • About 47% of personal fitness trainers in the UK are found in London and South East London. [Future Fit - 2019]
  • Freelance personal trainers in the UK earn £20 and £40 an hour but those numbers increase to £50 to £100 per hour if they are working with high profile clients. Meanwhile, trainers employed by fitness centres earn £14,000 to £16,000, but if you have the experience, you can get paid as much as £20,000 to £30,000 a year. [Prospects - 2020]
  • According to a 2020 survey, fitness instructors in the UK lost, on average, £679 a month or about £8,000 per year pro-rata because of the pandemic. [Insure4Sport - 2020]
  • 74% of fitness instructors in the UK train clients online and 31% of the survey respondents stated that they would continue with the virtual classes even after the pandemic. [Insure4Sport - 2020]
  • Future Fit Training is the leading provider for personal trainers in the UK and has trained over 40,000 people to date. [Future Fit Training - 2020]

Personal trainer job outlook stats

  • According to the Bureau Of Labour Statistics, the Personal Trainer industry will experience a 15% growth between 2019 to 2029, adding 57,600 more trainers in a decade. [bls.gov - 2020]
  • About 12.5% of gym-goers use personal trainers, fitness trainers, and instructors, an increase in demand of 44% in the past 10 years. [Blue Water Credit - 2017]
  • A recent survey revealed that before the pandemic only 39% of fitness trainers were training clients online. [thePTDC.com - 2020]
  • Before the pandemic, 58% of workers in the personal training industry were employed by fitness, recreational, or sports centres. While 11% of workers in this industry 11% were self-employed [bls.gov - 2020]

The future of personal training: how it's changing due to covid

  • In 2019, 59% conduct in-person training, 32% do both online classes and in-person sessions, and only 7% train exclusively online. [thePTDC.com - 2020]
  • After the pandemic, 83% of personal trainers plan to continue offering online classes to their client base, while only 14% say that they'll keep doing in-person training.  [thePTDC.com - 2020] 
  • Though 58% of fitness trainers lost some or all of their income during the pandemic, 21% reportedly made more money, especially those who taught online classes. [thePTDC.com - 2020]
  • 27% of trainers believe is it safe to go back to the gym even with the pandemic. Of that number, 31% are men and 20% are female trainers.

How-Trainers-worked-with-clients-before-the-pandemic

Personal trainer salary stats

  • As of November 2020, the average annual income of personal trainers in the United States is $69, 901, typically ranging between $44,663 and $76,050. [salary.com - 2020]
  • Meanwhile, the average pay for fitness trainers in other countries ranges between $26,000 and $34,000 per year. [Trainers Essential - 2020]
  • According to a recent study, the lowest 10% of personal trainers earned less than $21,110, while the highest 10% of fitness trainers earned more than $75,400 in annual wages. [bls.gov - 2019]
  • Personal trainers in the state of New Jersey have the highest average annual income of $54,075. Meanwhile, in Colorado, fitness professionals make an average of $35,537 per year. [Zippia.com - 2020]
  • Pre-pandemic, female fitness trainers earn only 70% of a male fitness trainer's pay, but that number climbed to 80% in 2020. [thePTDC.com - 2020]
  • Personal trainers with more than 5 years of work experience earn 24% higher than those who are just starting out. [thePTDC.com - 2020]

personal-trainers-salaries-in-2019-vs-2020

  • A passion for fitness is what urged 70% of survey respondents to pursue a career in personal training. [Statista - 2015]
  • About 44% of personal trainers become one because of their desire to help others achieve their fitness goals. [Statista - 2015]
  • Becoming a fitness trainer appealed to 27% of people who want to work for themselves and 22% of trainers who liked the flexible work hours. [Statista - 2015]
  • 77% of personal trainers started their career because they have a strong passion themselves (43%) or to help others (34%). [OriGym - 2019]

why-personal-trainers-start-their-careers

  • Surprisingly, only 6% of personal trainers do it for money. [OriGym - 2019]

Personal trainer certifications and education

  • According to a PTDC survey, 42% of fitness trainers are Precision Nutrition certified, making it one of the most popular certification programmes in the industry. [thePTDC.com - 2020]
  • Personal trainers with National Strength and Conditioning Association certification earn 42% higher than those without, about $65,300 per year. [thePTDC.com - 2020]
  • A survey by the PTDC found that the top organisations that personal trainers were certified by were Precision Nutrition (40%), NASM (27%), and American Council on Exercise (18%). 

personal-trainer-certifications

  • Despite including 12 of the top personal trainer certification organisations in their survey, the PTDC found that 44% received certifications elsewhere. 
  • According to a 2014 survey, 64.2% of trainers have a bachelor's degree in exercise-related fields while 89% have personal training certifications. [NCBI - 2016]
  • 59% of survey participants have a certification from the American College of Sports Medicine, which makes it one of the most common certificates among fitness trainers [NCBI - 2016]
  • Only 3.1% of instructors have been certified for CrossFit training. [NCBI - 2016]
  • Personal trainers with formal education are 31.3% more likely to teach Olympic weight training. [NCBI - 2016]
  • Though the use of weights like kettlebells has grown in popularity over the years, physical trainers with a master's degree are 36% less likely to use kettlebells when they are personal training clients. [NCBI - 2016]

Personal trainer demographics

  • Recent estimates show that 59% of personal trainers are male. [thePTDC.com - 2020]
  • On average, 29% of full time personal trainers train an average of 45 hours a week. [ABS Labour Force - 2018]
  • 57% of personal trainers do not feel like they are stuck in a career rut. [Insure4Sports - 2018]
  • However, only 42% of fitness trainers feel secure in their career choice. [Insure4Sports - 2018]
  • The average age of fitness trainers, regardless of gender, is 38 years old. [thePTDC.com - 2020]
  • On average, fitness trainers have 3.4 certifications, but men 3 times are more likely to have them than women. [thePTDC.com - 2020]

gender-differences-in-personal-trainer-certifications

Cost of personal trainers

  • In the U.S. personal trainers typically charge $40 to $70 for an hour of in-gym training. [Lessons.com - 2020]
  • Meanwhile, hiring a personal trainer to come to your house increases the rate to $60 to $100 an hour. [Lessons.com - 2020]
  • On the other hand, personal trainers who teach group fitness classes charge an average of $35 per class. [Lessons.com - 2020]

average-personal-trainer-cost

How effective are personal trainers

Those that train with personal traininers seem to have greater benefits of exercise.

  • A previous study revealed that people coached by personal trainers lost an average of 9% of their body weight in a 24-week weight loss course. [ACE - 2012]
  • People who train with fitness trainers in group exercise classes increase their lean body mass by an average of 1.3kg compared to those who do not. [Journals of Strength and Conditioning - 2014]
  • Groups that train with personal trainers increase their aerobic capacity by 7% compared to those that train on their own. [Journals of Strength and Conditioning - 2014]

Below is a list of unique studies conducted by RunRepeat that are significant to personal trainers and the industry as a whole:

Related we compiled during our continuous research of the health and fitness industry as a whole:

About RunRepeat

Here at RunRepeat we buy the shoes on our own, test them in the gym, and cut them in the half in our lab. There, we inspect, measure and assess every little detail and publish 20+ data points that accurately and objectively describe the shoe and how it performs. This way, it is easy to find out which gym shoes are best for you.

Whether you are looking for Nike cross training shoes or some great non-marking hiit shoes  to wear to health clubs, you can look for first hand experience and lab data on RunRepeat to make sure you make the right choice.

Use of content

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Author
Nicholas Rizzo
Nicholas Rizzo
Nick combines 10+ years of experience in the health and fitness industry and a background in the sciences in his role as the Fitness Research Director. During his competitive powerlifting years his PRs have him sitting in the top 2% of bench presses (395 lbs), top 3% of squats (485 lbs) and top 6% of deadlifts (515 lbs) for his weight and age. His work has been featured on Bodybuilding.com, LiveStrong, Healthline, WebMD, WashingtonPost, and many more. Along the way, collaborating with industry leaders like Michael Yessis, Mark Rippetoe, Carlo Buzzichelli, Dave Tate, Ray Williams, and Joel Seedman.
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