Sqwod Coach Pricing Index · US · October 2026
How much should you charge as a personal trainer?
As of October 2026, employed US fitness trainers earn a median $22.67 an hour ($47,160 a year, BLS May 2025). What independent coaches charge is what this index collects. It opened in October 2026: work out your floor below, then add your rate.
Step 1 of 5
The index so far
Medians publish once a group reaches 30 rates. Percentiles in the calculator switch on at 100.
Employed trainer pay by state
Median pay for employed fitness trainers and instructors, May 2025, from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. This is what employers pay trainers, not what clients pay a coach. It is still a useful reference point: an independent rate has to cover costs an employer would otherwise carry.
| # | State | Median hourly | Median yearly |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Massachusetts | $31.07 | $64,620 |
| 2 | Connecticut | $29.61 | $61,580 |
| 3 | New Jersey | $28.79 | $59,870 |
| 4 | Oregon | $28.13 | $58,510 |
| 5 | California | $27.88 | $57,990 |
| 6 | Nevada | $27.87 | $57,960 |
| 7 | Vermont | $27.55 | $57,300 |
| 8 | Washington | $24.44 | $50,830 |
| 9 | Wyoming | $24.16 | $50,250 |
| 10 | Colorado | $23.99 | $49,900 |
| 11 | Idaho | $23.94 | $49,780 |
| 12 | New Hampshire | $23.73 | $49,360 |
| 13 | Hawaii | $23.22 | $48,290 |
| 14 | Arizona | $23.07 | $47,980 |
| 15 | Maryland | $22.80 | $47,420 |
| 16 | Tennessee | $22.78 | $47,380 |
| 17 | Georgia | $22.67 | $47,150 |
| 18 | New York | $22.64 | $47,090 |
| 19 | Maine | $22.63 | $47,060 |
| 20 | Illinois | $22.50 | $46,800 |
| 21 | North Carolina | $22.33 | $46,450 |
| 22 | Alaska | $22.22 | $46,210 |
| 23 | Rhode Island | $21.94 | $45,640 |
| 24 | Michigan | $21.88 | $45,520 |
| 25 | Kentucky | $21.77 | $45,280 |
| 26 | Pennsylvania | $21.75 | $45,250 |
| 27 | Utah | $21.54 | $44,800 |
| 28 | New Mexico | $21.48 | $44,680 |
| 29 | Oklahoma | $21.40 | $44,520 |
| 30 | Louisiana | $21.35 | $44,410 |
| 31 | Delaware | $21.32 | $44,340 |
| 32 | Wisconsin | $21.25 | $44,200 |
| 33 | Montana | $21.13 | $43,940 |
| 34 | South Carolina | $20.98 | $43,630 |
| 35 | Minnesota | $20.97 | $43,620 |
| 36 | Arkansas | $20.26 | $42,140 |
| 37 | Texas | $19.65 | $40,880 |
| 38 | Virginia | $19.63 | $40,820 |
| 39 | South Dakota | $19.26 | $40,070 |
| 40 | District of Columbia | $18.85 | $39,210 |
| 41 | Alabama | $18.84 | $39,180 |
| 42 | Florida | $18.65 | $38,800 |
| 43 | West Virginia | $18.33 | $38,120 |
| 44 | North Dakota | $18.15 | $37,760 |
| 45 | Missouri | $17.52 | $36,450 |
| 46 | Ohio | $17.49 | $36,370 |
| 47 | Iowa | $17.39 | $36,160 |
| 48 | Kansas | $17.26 | $35,900 |
| 49 | Indiana | $16.81 | $34,960 |
| 50 | Nebraska | $15.11 | $31,440 |
| 51 | Mississippi | $14.68 | $30,540 |
National median: $22.67 an hour, $47,160 a year. Source: BLS Public Data API, OEWS series 39-9031.
Free for subscribers and for coaches who add their rate
The Coach Pricing Playbook
Four moves that turn your floor into prices clients say yes to. Every number below is a worked example built on the calculator's logic, not a market average.
1. Set a price, not just a floor
Your floor pays your costs and your income goal only if every booked hour happens. Real calendars have cancellations, quiet months and admin time. Add a buffer on top, for example 15 to 25 percent, and make the result your standard rate.
Example: floor $74, plus a 20 percent buffer is about $89, so a standard 60-minute rate of $90.
2. Package it in three tiers
Clients compare packages, not single sessions. Offer three, and keep every per-session price inside them above your floor.
- Single session: $90. The reference price that makes the others look good.
- 10-session pack, paid upfront, valid for 12 weeks: $810, which is $81 a session and 10 percent off.
- Monthly plan, 8 sessions a month, renews automatically, 30 days' notice to cancel: $680 a month, which is $85 a session.
The pack and the plan book your calendar in advance. Steer most clients toward them.
3. Price online coaching by your time
Count the hours one online client takes you each month: check-ins, programme updates, messages. Multiply by your floor. That is your minimum monthly price.
Example: 3 hours a month × $74 floor = $222 minimum, so a monthly price of $249. If that is more than clients in your niche will pay, cut the hours (fewer check-ins, reusable programme templates), not the floor.
4. Raise your rates once a year
Good moments: your calendar is mostly full, your floor went up, or you added a qualification. Give existing clients 30 days' notice, let anything already paid for keep today's price, and charge new clients the new rate from day one.
Email script (copy and edit):
Subject: My rates from [date]
Hi [name],
Thank you for training with me. Seeing your progress on [specific win] is the best part of my week.
From [date], my rate for a 60-minute session goes from $[old] to $[new]. Packs and monthly plans change by the same amount. Anything you have already paid for stays at today's price.
This lets me keep investing in [education / equipment / your programme] and keep my schedule small enough to give you real attention.
If you would like to lock in a pack at today's rate before [date], just reply and I will set it up.
See you [next session],
[your name]Text message version:
Hi [name], quick heads-up: from [date] my session rate goes from $[old] to $[new]. Anything you have prepaid stays at today's price, and you can grab a pack at the current rate until [date]. Thanks for training with me!Want the numbers behind your price? The first Sqwod Coach Pricing Report goes to subscribers first, as soon as the index has enough rates.
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How the index works
Your floor is your yearly income goal plus your yearly business costs, divided by the hours you can really bill: weekly client hours times the weeks you work. It is the lowest rate that still pays you what you set out to earn.
Coach rates come from coaches who use the calculator and tick the box. We publish medians, never averages, so a few very high rates can't pull the number up. Every number shows how many rates it is based on, and a group publishes only once it reaches 30.
Trainer pay comes from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (OEWS, May 2025, occupation 39-9031). It measures what employers pay trainers, not what clients pay coaches, so we show it next to the rates and never as a rate.
Who answers: coaches who find this page choose to take part, so the sample leans toward engaged coaches. Read the numbers as a guide, not a census.
Questions
How much should I charge as a personal trainer?
Start from your floor: the hourly rate that covers your business costs and your income goal at the hours you can really coach. The calculator above works it out in five steps. Then compare it with what other coaches charge, which is what the Sqwod Coach Pricing Index collects.
How much do personal trainers make in the US?
Employed fitness trainers earned a median of $47,160 a year ($22.67 an hour) in May 2025, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. That is pay from an employer. Independent coaches set their own rates, and the BLS does not track those.
Is the data I add anonymous?
Yes. Saving is off unless you tick the box. We keep your state, how you coach, your setting, your rates, and your years and weekly hours as ranges. We never store your name, email, income goal or costs.
When will rates for my state appear?
When 30 coaches in your state have added their rates. Until then you see the national picture and BLS pay for your state. Every number we publish shows its sample size.
Who runs the Sqwod Coach Pricing Index?
Sqwod, the team behind sqwod.life and Sqwod Pod private training rooms in Berlin. We publish the index so coaches can price from real numbers instead of guesses.
Cite as: Sqwod Coach Pricing Index, sqwod.life, October 2026. Trainer pay: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May 2025, SOC 39-9031 Exercise Trainers and Group Fitness Instructors.