Recreation and Fitness Studies Teachers, Postsecondary salary

SOC 25-1193 · BLS OEWS May 2025

Median

$77,270

per year, nationally

Middle half

$59,990–$101,450

25th to 75th percentile

Employed

12,630

in the U.S.

Growth 2024–34

+2.4%

1,100 openings/yr

What the range looks like

A single median hides most of what a job pays. The bar below is the full national range: the wash spans the 10th to 90th percentile, the solid bar is the middle half, and the tick is the median.

$44,900$134,890

10th: $44,900
25th: $59,990
Median: $77,270
75th: $101,450
90th: $134,890

Getting in

Typical education to enter: Doctoral or professional degree
Related work experience: None
On-the-job training: None

Entry requirements describe what is typical, not mandatory. Source: BLS Employment Projections, 2024–34.

Where recreation and fitness studies teachers, postsecondary earn the most

Nominal pay and pay adjusted for local prices rank states differently — a high-wage state with high costs can be worse off in real terms than a middling one. Switch between the two below.

The median wage as published, before local prices are taken into account.

#	State	Median	Cost of living	Employed	Concentrationvs. national
1	California	$127,780	110.7	1,950	1.32×
2	Maryland	$97,640	105.0	90	0.42×
3	Massachusetts	$87,960	105.8	290	0.99×
4	Michigan	$83,690	96.2	320	0.90×
5	Wyoming	$83,260	92.7	30	1.38×
6	Pennsylvania	$83,150	97.6	640	1.30×
7	Wisconsin	$80,500	94.1	40	0.16×
8	Minnesota	$80,410	98.6	260	1.09×
9	New York	$80,190	107.9	670	0.86×
10	Connecticut	$79,200	103.6	190	1.35×
11	New Mexico	$79,090	92.2	40	0.59×
12	South Carolina	$78,800	93.7	280	1.51×
13	Texas	$76,480	97.1	1,460	1.28×
14	Utah	$76,350	98.9	110	0.77×
15	Florida	$76,100	103.4	140	0.17×
16	Iowa	$75,130	87.8	100	0.81×
17	Washington	$74,850	107.0	240	0.84×
18	North Carolina	$73,860	94.3	730	1.81×
19	Tennessee	$73,280	91.9	220	0.82×
20	Missouri	$73,180	90.8	200	0.82×
21	Alabama	$72,680	88.8	110	0.66×
22	Arizona	$71,230	100.7	90	0.34×
23	Ohio	$70,260	92.8	420	0.93×
24	Maine	$67,670	97.0	40	0.77×
25	Illinois	$67,180	100.0	630	1.27×
26	Indiana	$67,060	93.3	410	1.59×
27	West Virginia	$66,440	89.5	100	1.73×
28	Georgia	$66,410	96.3	160	0.41×
29	Louisiana	$65,940	88.2	100	0.64×
30	New Jersey	$65,900	108.8	520	1.50×
31	Colorado	$65,730	103.1	180	0.78×
32	Virginia	$65,320	101.1	310	0.94×
33	Kentucky	$64,890	90.2	230	1.43×
34	Oklahoma	$63,590	87.8	110	0.80×
35	Oregon	$63,090	103.4	480	2.99×
36	Arkansas	$63,020	86.9	110	1.05×
37	South Dakota	$62,280	88.6	60	1.53×
38	Mississippi	$60,560	87.0	190	2.01×
39	Kansas	$59,730	90.1	60	0.51×
40	Idaho	$58,720	95.5	70	0.95×
41	Alaska	$58,330	102.4	60	2.41×

Cost of living is the BEA regional price parity for all items, where 100 is the national average. Concentration is the BLS location quotient: how much more of the local workforce does this job than the national average, so 2.00× means twice the national share. It is often the reason wages differ — a place that concentrates an occupation has the employers and the competition for it. States where recreation and fitness studies teachers, postsecondary wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Best paying metro areas for recreation and fitness studies teachers, postsecondary

The 40 highest-paying metros with a published estimate. BLS suppresses roughly half of all occupation-by-metro cells, so a metro absent here has no local figure rather than a low one.

The median wage as published, before local prices are taken into account.

#	Metro area	Median	Cost of living	Employed	Concentrationvs. national
1	Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA	$159,690	106.4	170	1.25×
2	Fresno, CA	$137,850	102.2	60	1.56×
3	San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA	$134,190	115.6	200	1.03×
4	Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA	$131,850	106.7	60	0.70×
5	San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA	$130,420	111.9	160	1.25×
6	Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA	$106,660	113.6	770	1.50×
7	Pittsburgh, PA	$101,550	94.7	80	0.89×
8	Columbia, SC	$99,340	93.7	90	2.67×
9	Knoxville, TN	$98,230	92.6	60	1.64×
10	Providence-Warwick, RI-MA	$92,910	101.8	30	0.59×
11	Ithaca, NY	$84,820	103.3	40	9.72×
12	New Haven, CT	$84,190	104.6	30	1.48×
13	Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD	$83,600	102.6	240	1.01×
14	Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH	$83,410	108.3	160	0.73×
15	Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV	$82,780	108.9	140	0.55×
16	Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX	$82,100	98.6	240	0.91×
17	Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI	$80,080	104.8	110	0.72×
18	Bridgeport-Stamford-Danbury, CT	$79,610	106.9	—	—
19	Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX	$79,310	103.1	310	0.96×
20	Durham-Chapel Hill, NC	$79,030	97.6	80	2.73×
21	St. Louis, MO-IL	$79,030	95.1	90	0.82×
22	College Station-Bryan, TX	$78,930	91.0	150	14.01×
23	New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ	$78,730	112.6	750	0.97×
24	Amherst Town-Northampton, MA	$78,550	100.2	60	10.42×
25	Charleston-North Charleston, SC	$78,240	101.0	100	3.08×
26	Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA	$78,140	111.1	70	0.41×
27	Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood, MI	$78,030	95.5	90	1.82×
28	Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, TX	$77,740	98.1	110	1.09×
29	Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL	$77,310	114.2	40	0.19×
30	Columbus, OH	$77,270	95.5	80	0.94×
31	Santa Maria-Santa Barbara, CA	$77,160	108.8	130	7.84×
32	Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT	$76,910	102.7	—	—
33	Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN	$76,650	95.4	50	0.55×
34	Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA	$73,840	105.4	280	2.87×
35	Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC	$73,450	97.3	80	0.75×
36	Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ	$71,230	103.3	50	0.28×
37	Toledo, OH	$66,810	91.5	50	2.10×
38	Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA	$66,410	100.1	70	0.29×
39	Springfield, MO	$65,700	88.6	30	1.67×
40	Raleigh-Cary, NC	$65,400	98.2	150	2.49×

Cost of living is the BEA regional price parity for all items, where 100 is the national average. Concentration is the BLS location quotient: how much more of the local workforce does this job than the national average, so 2.00× means twice the national share. It is often the reason wages differ — a place that concentrates an occupation has the employers and the competition for it. Metro areas where recreation and fitness studies teachers, postsecondary wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Similar occupations

Other jobs in the same field, with what each pays nationally.

Health Specialties Teachers, Postsecondary$107,310
Postsecondary Teachers, All Other$77,640
Career/Technical Education Teachers, Postsecondary$63,820
Art, Drama, and Music Teachers, Postsecondary$78,620
Business Teachers, Postsecondary$99,080
Nursing Instructors and Teachers, Postsecondary$80,250
Education Teachers, Postsecondary$75,350
English Language and Literature Teachers, Postsecondary$78,760

Recreation and Fitness Studies Teachers, Postsecondary salary

What the range looks like

Getting in

Where recreation and fitness studies teachers, postsecondary earn the most

Best paying metro areas for recreation and fitness studies teachers, postsecondary

Similar occupations

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