Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations
BLS May 2025 wages Above-baseline growth SOC 29-9091

Athletic Trainers

Projected +11% employment change leads this card; pay sits next to Pediatric Surgeons, Obstetricians and Gynecologists, Emergency Medicine Physicians, Anesthesiologists.

Full salary details → About this data

Same-major-group titles next to Athletic Trainers: Pediatric Surgeons ($559K) , Obstetricians and Gynecologists ($293K) , Emergency Medicine Physicians ($336K) , Anesthesiologists ($391K) . Hash-ordered per card so residual SOC siblings do not share an identical peer sentence.

What Athletic Trainers publish as work

O*NET task statements for SOC 29-9091 - occupation-level descriptions, not every employer's posting. Sibling cards diverge here because the task set is entity-keyed.

  1. 1. Conduct an initial assessment of an athlete's injury or illness to provide emergency or continued care and to determine whether they shou…
  2. 2. Assess and report the progress of recovering athletes to coaches or physicians
  3. 3. Care for athletic injuries, using physical therapy equipment, techniques, or medication
  4. 4. Evaluate athletes' readiness to play and provide participation clearances when necessary and warranted
  5. 5. Perform general administrative tasks, such as keeping records or writing reports
  6. 6. Clean and sanitize athletic training rooms
  7. 7. Instruct coaches, athletes, parents, medical personnel, or community members in the care and prevention of athletic injuries
  8. 8. Apply protective or injury preventive devices, such as tape, bandages, or braces, to body parts, such as ankles, fingers, or wrists
  9. 9. Collaborate with physicians to develop and implement comprehensive rehabilitation programs for athletic injuries
  10. 10. Travel with athletic teams to be available at sporting events
  11. 11. Plan or implement comprehensive athletic injury or illness prevention programs
  12. 12. Inspect playing fields to locate any items that could injure players

Athletic Trainers: O*NET ranks Active Listening first

Importance-ranked O*NET profile for SOC 29-9091 - lead skill Active Listening at 4.0 ; lead knowledge Medicine and Dentistry. Sibling cards diverge here even when peer titles overlap.

Top skills

  1. 1. Active Listening 4.0
  2. 2. Speaking 3.9
  3. 3. Critical Thinking 3.9
  4. 4. Monitoring 3.9
  5. 5. Judgment and Decision Making 3.9
  6. 6. Reading Comprehension 3.8
  7. 7. Active Learning 3.8
  8. 8. Social Perceptiveness 3.8

Knowledge areas

  1. 1. Medicine and Dentistry 4.6
  2. 2. Customer and Personal Service 4.4
  3. 3. Psychology 4.2
  4. 4. Therapy and Counseling 3.9
  5. 5. English Language 3.7
  6. 6. Education and Training 3.6
Projected employment change 2024-2034
↑ +11%
much faster than average (3.1%)
National median $62,520/yr
$63K
National median
2,400
Annual openings
30,500
Estimated US jobs
Pediatric Surgeons
Highest-pay peer · $559K

Typical Entry and Preparation Assignments

Entry education Master's degree

Top Paying States for Athletic Trainers

1. Minnesota $65,390
2. Connecticut $69,960
3. Utah $65,980
4. New Jersey $76,210
5. Massachusetts $70,010
6. District of Columbia $74,450
7. Hawaii $76,320
8. New Mexico $72,440
9. New York $66,230
10. California $78,490

Other Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations titles

  1. 1. Emergency Medicine Physicians $335,550
  2. 2. Obstetricians and Gynecologists $292,910
  3. 3. Anesthesiologists $391,490
  4. 4. Dermatologists $328,730
  5. 5. Ophthalmologists, Except Pediatric $300,080
  6. 6. Pediatric Surgeons $559,030

BLS projects +11% employment change for Athletic Trainers (2024-2034), much faster than average vs the all-occupations baseline of 3.1%. Published median pay is $62,520.

BLS assigns Master's degree as typical entry education. These are occupation-level assignments, not universal employer rules. BLS does not publish a separate occupation-specific safety rate for this role; its broad SOC-group rate is excluded from this career card's grade.

Highest published state median in this ranking: Minnesota at $65,390. The table records differences without proving causes. Highest-pay peer shown here: Pediatric Surgeons at $559,030. Compare the same statistic in the relevant local wage area before treating the national median as a personal benchmark; OEWS excludes employer benefits.

Athletic Trainers pay-rank #59 in Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations

On the Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations median table (71 detailed occupations with OEWS medians), Athletic Trainers lands at #59, in the lower third. That rank is a table position, not a statement about individual workers.

Other lower-third titles · closest medians

Full Salary Details Compare this role

Data from U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May 2025. Projections from BLS Employment Projections program, 2024-2034.

Projected change +11.1% puts Athletic Trainers ahead of most peers. Open the state map or compare it directly against a slower-growing role.

Athletic Trainers salary map

State, metro, and percentile for SOC 29-9091

Minnesota · top state for Athletic Trainers

$65K published median

Connecticut · #2 state pay

$70K · behind Minnesota

Pediatric Surgeons

Highest-pay peer vs Athletic Trainers · $559K

Obstetricians and Gynecologists

Lower-pay peer beside Athletic Trainers · $293K

Compare Athletic Trainers

Head-to-head OEWS medians with another SOC
Compare Athletic Trainers with another occupation →

Growth and outlook next reads

Fastest-Growing Rankings

National projection leaders

Highest-Paying Careers

Where growth meets pay

Frequently Asked Questions

Where does Athletic Trainers land on the Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations median table? ▼
Athletic Trainers is pay-rank #59 of 71 in this major group, lower third of the median table. Closest lower-third titles: Clinical Laboratory Technologists and Technicians ($63K), Recreational Therapists ($62K), Licensed Practical and Licensed Vocational Nurses ($64K), Paramedics ($61K). That position is a table rank, not a worker percentile.
What do athletic trainers do day to day? ▼
O*NET lists published task statements for Athletic Trainers. Leading ones include: Conduct an initial assessment of an athlete's injury or illness to provide emergency or continued care and to determine whether they shou…; 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. These are occupation-level task descriptions, not every employer's job description.
Which O*NET skills rank highest for athletic trainers? ▼
For SOC 29-9091, O*NET importance scores lead with Active Listening (4.0), Speaking (3.9), Critical Thinking (3.9), Monitoring (3.9). Knowledge areas emphasize Medicine and Dentistry, Customer and Personal Service, Psychology. These are occupation-level profiles, not a hiring checklist for every employer.
What is the OEWS national median for Athletic Trainers? ▼
May 2025 OEWS reports $62,520 as the national median for Athletic Trainers. The published 10th-90th range is $48,180 to $88,760. Beside Pediatric Surgeons ($559,030), this is the occupation-level national figure, not a local offer.
How fast is Athletic Trainers projected to grow? ▼
BLS Employment Projections put Athletic Trainers at +11% change for 2024-2034, with about 2,400 annual openings. Versus the all-occupations baseline (3.1%): much faster than average.
What typical entry education does BLS assign to Athletic Trainers? ▼
BLS assigns Master's degree as the typical-education-needed-for-entry category for Athletic Trainers. These are occupation-level labels, not every employer's hiring rule.
Which three states show the highest OEWS medians for Athletic Trainers? ▼
Minnesota ($65,390), Connecticut ($69,960), Utah ($65,980) lead this ranking. The table does not identify why those state estimates differ.

Source data and WageDex calculations are identified in context on this page. Wage and state figures use BLS OEWS May 2025; growth and education use BLS Employment Projections for 2024-2034; safety fields cite BLS CFOI/SOII; task statements cite O*NET where shown. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error.

Disclaimer: Wage and outlook figures on this page are provided for informational purposes only and do not constitute career, financial, or salary-negotiation advice. Actual pay varies by employer, experience, and local conditions; consult a career counselor or the hiring employer for guidance specific to your situation.

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, OES Occupational wage estimates by area and industry · 2025

Federal sources on this Athletic Trainers card
  • BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS / OES) - national median and percentiles for SOC 29-9091. bls.gov/oes
  • O*NET OnLine - task and skill statements for Athletic Trainers. onetcenter.org
  • BLS Employment Projections - 2024-2034 change and openings for this occupation. bls.gov/emp
  • U.S. Census Bureau ACS - demographic and labor-force context for state and metro geography. census.gov/programs-surveys/acs
  • IRS Statistics of Income (SOI) - payroll-tax aggregate context for wage comparisons. irs.gov/statistics