Certified Athletic Trainer Salary
Athletic Trainer Salary Range - Hourly and Yearly Data Facts
Hourly Wage
The median athletic trainer salary is $21.16 per hour. The lowest 10% of all trainers earn approximately $12.26 per hour and those employed in the the upper 10% can expect to make more than $30.00 per hour.
Annual Salary
If we look at the average annual athletic trainer salary, government data displays an average of $44,020 per year. The lowest 10% of trainers earn approximately $25,510 per year while the upper 10% clear more than $65,000 per year.
Athletic Trainer Salary Range
The lowest paid Athletic Trainers take home less than $25,000 annually while the highest paid Athletic Trainers can comfortably earn over $65,000 per year depending on location and specific work role.
Athletic Trainer Job Description - Role and Job Growth
An athletic trainer's role is to help prevent and treat injuries for people from young to old. An athletic trainers life can include long hours and also the commitment to overtime ( nights and weekends ). It is important not to confuse the role of an athletic trainer jobs with that of a fitness trainer or physical trainer. An athletic trainer is recognized by the American Medical Association as a full health professional.
They are highly trained individuals that specialize in the prevention, diagnosis, assessment, treatment, and rehabilitation of muscle and bone injuries and illnesses. Fitness trainers, also known as a personal trainers, are individuals who are not health-care workers, but rather train people to become physically fit and are typically employed by professional sports clubs, gymnasiums or for individual fitness training.
A bachelor's degree is usually the minimum requirement in become an athletic trainer, but many athletic trainers hold a master's or doctoral degree. In 2009, 47 States required athletic trainers to be licensed or hold some form of registration.According to the National Athletic Trainers’ Association, almost 70 percent of athletic trainers have a master's degree or higher qualification. Athletic trainers may need a master's or higher degree to be eligible for some employment postings, especially jobs in colleges and universities, and to increase their ability to attain advanced career positions.
Aside from university degrees an athletic trainer requires good communication skills as they often speak to staff, coaches, family and a variety of individuals from various backgrounds with varying personalities. They also need to have good stress management skills as being an athletic trainer can involve emotional confrontations with patients and clients due to the stress of injuries and so on.
Employment for athletic trainers is projected to grow much faster than average. Job prospects should be good in the health-care sector and in high schools, but competition is expected for employment within professional and university sports teams such as baseball,football and basketball. Such competition should also have a positive effect on an athletic trainer salary into the future.
Employment of athletic trainers is projected to grow an impressive 37 percent from 2008 to 2018, much faster than the average for all occupations, because of their role in preventing injuries and reducing healthcare costs. Job growth will be concentrated in the healthcare industry, including hospitals and offices of health practitioners.
The demand for healthcare, with an emphasis on preventive care, should grow as the population ages and as a way to reduce healthcare costs. Increased licensee requirements and regulation has led to a greater acceptance of athletic trainers as qualified healthcare providers. As a result, third-party reimbursement is expected to continue to grow for athletic training services. Athletic trainers will benefit from this expansion because they provide a cost-effective way to increase the number of health professionals in an office or other setting.
As professional athletic trainers continue to expand their services, more employers are expected to use these workers to reduce healthcare costs by preventing work-related injuries. Athletic trainers can help prevent injuries and provide immediate treatment for many injuries that do occur. For example, some athletic trainers may be hired to increase the fitness and performance of police and firefighters.
Because of relatively low turnover, the settings with the best job prospects will be the ones that are expected to have the most job growth and best certified athletic trainer salary overall, primarily positions in the healthcare and fitness and recreational sports centers industries. Additional job opportunities may arise in elementary and secondary schools as more positions are created. Some of these positions also will require teaching responsibilities. For more information on athletic trainer salary and pay rates check the links on the right sidebar where you will find a number of accredited associations with further statistics and athletic trainer salary survey information.
