Athletic Trainers: Survey Insights from the State of the Profession Guide

Here’s a snapshot from our 2024 State of the Therapies Guide: Insights from the Rehabilitation Professionals. 

Athletic trainers specialize in the prevention and treatment of musculoskeletal injuries, improving strength and flexibility, and creating training programs that keep people healthy and safe. Athletic trainers are becoming more in demand as healthcare organizations and the general population begin to recognize the benefits of athletic training.  

In addition, as high school, college, and professional sports programs grow and become increasingly competitive, the need for athletic trainers increases. People who are passionate about wellness, athletics, and helping others are often drawn to the profession.  

Download the 2024 State of the Rehabilitation Therapies Guide

Demographics 

The ATs included in our survey come from a variety of backgrounds, ethnicities, ages, specialties, and years of experience. Most respondents in the survey are White/Caucasian (67.4%). Only 3.7% of respondents are Hispanic, and even fewer (2.8%) are African American. The distribution of different genders was more evenly distributed, with close to half of them being men (39.1%) and half being women (41.4%). 18.1% did not disclose their gender information.  

Survey responses were evenly distributed among different age groups. The youngest respondent was 25 years old and the oldest was 64.   

The National Athletic Trainers Association requires athletic trainers to earn either a bachelor's or master's degree from an accredited athletic training program before candidates can take the test to earn their certification. As of 2022,48 states and the District of Columbia require ATs to hold the Board of Certification credential of “Athletic Trainer, Certified” (ATC).   

In our survey, most respondents (55.4%) had a master's degree, and 4.7% had continued on to earn a doctoral degree. 21.6% had some other degree and only 8.1% had a diploma. 

Employment profile 

The BLS reports that the job outlook for athletic trainers is expected to increase by 14% between 2022 and 2032, making it one of the fastest-growing fields in the United States. According to a 2020 report by the Board of Certification for the Athletic Trainer (BOC), there are currently 56,906 certified athletic trainers in the United States. As with many other healthcare careers, staffing issues are common among athletic trainers. Our survey results indicated that 45.93% of athletic trainers do not feel that their workplace is efficiently staffed, meaning they cannot give each of their patients the time or attention required to effectively treat their conditions. 

Research published by the University of Wisconsin shows that athletic trainers are not able to spend enough time with their patients. On average, an athletic trainer spends 33.3 minutes evaluating a new patient, and only 16 minutes with a postoperative patient.  

While most ATs would agree that 16 minutes is a short time to work with a patient, the work they do still benefits the patient and has a positive impact on the entire healthcare organization. In fact, orthopedic clinics that hire athletic trainers can see 10-20% more patients in a day than those that employ only physicians, nurses, and medical assistants.  

Work satisfaction  

Although staffing is an issue for many athletic trainers, most of them report feeling valued in their workplace. 66.67% of ATs in our survey either strongly agree or somewhat agree that they feel valued in their workplace, and their job satisfaction rates are generally positive.  

Both experience and work setting make a big difference in job satisfaction experienced by athletic trainers. ATs working in schools report having the highest job satisfaction, with 73% reporting feeling “somewhat satisfied” or “extremely satisfied” with their jobs. Private practice workers have the lowest rates of satisfaction, but over 50% still report feeling at least somewhat satisfied in their careers.  

Athletic trainers with more than 30 years of experience are the most likely to be satisfied by their role, of those with 30-39 years of experience, 27% report feeling “somewhat satisfied” and 55% report feeling “extremely satisfied.”   

While work satisfaction among ATs is relatively good, many still worry about the state of the profession in athletic training. 80% of survey respondents stated that they felt somewhat concerned or extremely concerned about the state of the profession, and only 3% stated that they were not concerned. Every athletic trainer in our survey with more than 30 years of experience stated that they were at least somewhat concerned.  

Concerns and challenges for Athletic Trainers 

Athletic trainers who participated in our survey had various reasons for worrying about their profession. Some of the most common complaints included long working hours, low pay, and having too many responsibilities. One AT stated, “In general, we are overworked, have a high-risk job, and are underpaid.” 

In addition to concerns about the profession, many athletic trainers experience burnout. 56% of survey respondents stated that they had experienced burnout in the 12-18 months. Employees in private practice experienced the lowest rates of burnout, and in-patient providers experienced the highest rates of burnout.  

As one might expect, long hours are closely related to higher rates of fatigue and burnout among athletic trainers. Only 20% of those working less than 10 hours per week reported feeling burnt out, while 54% of those working 40-49 hours per week reported feeling burnt out. Three-quarters of our survey respondents reported working full-time or between 40-49 hours per week.  

Salary guide 

According to the BLS, the average salary for an athletic trainer in the United States is $61,540. Those with 1-9 years of experience report earning around $55,000 per year, and those with more than 40 years of experience report earning $75,000 per year. Approximately 60% of ATs in our survey reported receiving a salary raise in the year prior to the survey.  

Between 15 and 23% of survey respondents reported feeling “extremely dissatisfied” with their annual salary. According to the BLS, their dissatisfaction is justified. The average salary of someone with a master’s degree in the United States is $1,661 per week, or $86,372 per year — nearly $20,000 more than the average salary of an athletic trainer. Since most ATs have earned a Master’s degree, wages should logically increase to match their education and skill set.  

Those in comparable careers with similar education requirements typically earn more than athletic trainers. For example, the average salary for an occupational therapist in the United States is $96,370.  

Fortunately, salaries for athletic trainers have been steadily increasing over the last few years. Between 2008 and 2021, the average salary for an athletic trainer rose by just over 8%.