Personal trainers rate their happiness above average.
At CareerExplorer, we conduct an ongoing survey with millions of people and ask them how satisfied they are with their careers. As it turns out, personal trainers rate their career happiness 3.5 out of 5 stars which puts them in the top 31% of careers.
To put this into perspective, we compared how happy personal trainers are to similar careers in the industry. Take a look at the results below:
Salaries and satisfaction ratings in similar careers
| Career | Satisfaction | Avg Salary |
|---|---|---|
| Sports scout | 4.0 | $39k |
| Coach | 3.7 | $26k |
| Sports writer | 3.6 | $28k |
| Fitness trainer | 3.6 | $41k |
| Golf pro | 3.5 | $36k |
| Personal trainer | 3.5 | $35k |
| Physical education teacher | 3.5 | $72k |
| Fitness coordinator | 3.5 | $91k |
| Recreation worker | 3.4 | $30k |
| Athletic trainer | 3.3 | $48k |
So what does it mean to be happy in your career? Let’s break it down into different dimensions:
- Salary: Are personal trainers happy with their salary?
- Meaning: Do personal trainers find their jobs meaningful?
- Personality fit: How well suited are people’s personalities to their everyday tasks as personal trainers?
- Work environment: How enjoyable are personal trainer’s work environments?
- Skills utilization: Are personal trainers making the best use of their abilities?
Are personal trainers happy with their salary?
Personal trainers rated their satisfaction with their salaries 2.7/5. Personal trainers tend to be quite unhappy with their salary, with very few reporting satisfaction with their pay.
We asked personal trainers how fairly compensated they are for their work.
Their response was:
2.7 out of 5 stars
1345 personal trainers
7% of personal trainers rated their compensation 5 stars
17% of personal trainers rated their compensation 4 stars
30% of personal trainers rated their compensation 3 stars
28% of personal trainers rated their compensation 2 stars
18% of personal trainers rated their compensation 1 stars
Do personal trainers find their jobs meaningful?
On average, personal trainers rate the meaningfulness of their work a 3.4/5. Most tend to be satisified with the level of meaning they find in their careers.
We asked personal trainers how meaningful they found their work.
Their response was:
3.4 out of 5 stars
1348 personal trainers
22% of personal trainers rated how meaningful they found their career 5 stars
29% of personal trainers rated how meaningful they found their career 4 stars
26% of personal trainers rated how meaningful they found their career 3 stars
16% of personal trainers rated how meaningful they found their career 2 stars
7% of personal trainers rated how meaningful they found their career 1 stars
How well are people’s personalities suited to everyday tasks as personal trainers?
Personal trainers rated their personality fit with their work an average of 4.1/5. The majority of personal trainers find their personalities quite well suited to their work, with relatively few having complaints about their fit.
We asked personal trainers how well their personalities fit into their careers.
Their response was:
4.1 out of 5 stars
1463 personal trainers
44% of personal trainers rated their career fit 5 stars
33% of personal trainers rated their career fit 4 stars
15% of personal trainers rated their career fit 3 stars
5% of personal trainers rated their career fit 2 stars
3% of personal trainers rated their career fit 1 stars
How enjoyable is a personal trainer’s work environment?
As a whole, personal trainers rated their enjoyment of their work environment 3.8/5. A solid majority of personal trainers enjoy their work environment, probably contributing to overall higher satisfaction with working as a personal trainer.
We asked personal trainers how much they enjoyed their work environment.
Their response was:
3.8 out of 5 stars
1455 personal trainers
33% of personal trainers rated their work environment 5 stars
33% of personal trainers rated their work environment 4 stars
21% of personal trainers rated their work environment 3 stars
9% of personal trainers rated their work environment 2 stars
3% of personal trainers rated their work environment 1 stars
Are personal trainers making the best use of their abilities?
Former personal trainers on CareerExplorer have rated their skills utilization 3.2/5. Most personal trainers are satisfied with how well their abilities are skills are made of use.
We asked personal trainers how well their abilities were used in their careers.
Their response was:
3.2 out of 5 stars
1458 personal trainers
19% of personal trainers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 5 stars
23% of personal trainers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 4 stars
30% of personal trainers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 3 stars
19% of personal trainers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 2 stars
8% of personal trainers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 1 stars