Exercise Physiologists salary

SOC 29-1128 · BLS OEWS May 2025

Median

$59,460

per year, nationally

Middle half

$49,620–$67,230

25th to 75th percentile

Employed

8,560

in the U.S.

Growth 2024–34

+9.5%

1,700 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.

$42,760$80,560

10th: $42,760
25th: $49,620
Median: $59,460
75th: $67,230
90th: $80,560

Getting in

Typical education to enter: Bachelor's 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 exercise physiologists 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	Washington	$81,310	107.0	160	0.79×
2	Oregon	$71,630	103.4	80	0.72×
3	Minnesota	$67,230	98.6	250	1.51×
4	Massachusetts	$65,950	105.8	180	0.90×
5	New Jersey	$64,680	108.8	130	0.53×
6	Colorado	$63,800	103.1	370	2.36×
7	New Hampshire	$63,590	104.2	50	1.32×
8	Wisconsin	$63,210	94.1	340	2.08×
9	Connecticut	$62,510	103.6	100	1.03×
10	California	$62,440	110.7	640	0.64×
11	Arizona	$62,350	100.7	220	1.24×
12	Maryland	$62,220	105.0	90	0.60×
13	Wyoming	$62,070	92.7	—	—
14	Illinois	$60,130	100.0	300	0.89×
15	Florida	$60,100	103.4	330	0.60×
16	New York	$59,940	107.9	360	0.67×
17	Kansas	$59,090	90.1	60	0.72×
18	Georgia	$58,170	96.3	210	0.77×
19	Delaware	$57,940	99.8	90	3.51×
20	Texas	$56,780	97.1	520	0.67×
21	Idaho	$56,750	95.5	40	0.76×
22	Iowa	$56,640	87.8	50	0.54×
23	Nevada	$55,240	100.0	—	—
24	Michigan	$55,080	96.2	570	2.34×
25	Tennessee	$53,570	91.9	140	0.80×
26	Missouri	$52,570	90.8	160	1.00×
27	North Carolina	$52,450	94.3	370	1.35×
28	Louisiana	$52,450	88.2	40	0.38×
29	Virginia	$52,400	101.1	240	1.07×
30	Ohio	$51,660	92.8	340	1.13×
31	South Dakota	$51,630	88.6	30	1.21×
32	Kentucky	$51,070	90.2	60	0.51×
33	Alabama	$50,820	88.8	70	0.56×
34	North Dakota	$50,430	89.0	50	2.00×
35	West Virginia	$50,270	89.5	60	1.54×
36	Indiana	$49,740	93.3	310	1.76×
37	Oklahoma	$49,190	87.8	80	0.88×
38	Arkansas	$48,850	86.9	40	0.50×
39	Pennsylvania	$48,040	97.6	640	1.90×
40	South Carolina	$46,550	93.7	230	1.83×
41	Utah	$43,850	98.9	220	2.26×
42	Mississippi	$43,060	87.0	30	0.53×

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 exercise physiologists wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Best paying metro areas for exercise physiologists

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	Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA	$84,300	111.1	100	0.84×
2	Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA	$79,840	113.6	—	—
3	Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA	$74,380	105.4	50	0.72×
4	Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO	$72,760	105.8	260	2.89×
5	Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI	$68,560	104.8	180	1.67×
6	Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ	$66,210	103.3	180	1.40×
7	Madison, WI	$66,100	97.3	50	2.37×
8	Raleigh-Cary, NC	$66,060	98.2	30	0.85×
9	Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin, TN	$64,610	96.3	40	0.74×
10	Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH	$64,170	108.3	150	0.98×
11	San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA	$63,960	110.4	40	0.69×
12	Richmond, VA	$63,840	97.9	60	1.70×
13	Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA	$63,730	106.7	—	—
14	Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN	$63,570	103.6	220	0.88×
15	Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV	$63,480	108.9	90	0.54×
16	Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL	$62,680	114.2	90	0.59×
17	Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT	$62,670	102.7	30	0.95×
18	San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA	$62,440	115.6	—	—
19	Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL	$62,200	100.9	60	0.71×
20	Milwaukee-Waukesha, WI	$61,640	96.9	90	1.97×
21	Kansas City, MO-KS	$61,600	92.5	70	1.14×
22	Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN	$61,510	95.4	40	0.73×
23	Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD	$61,430	104.5	40	0.50×
24	New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ	$61,380	112.6	330	0.63×
25	Ogden, UT	$61,170	100.3	40	2.60×
26	Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA	$60,360	100.1	120	0.75×
27	Dayton-Kettering-Beavercreek, OH	$59,650	92.7	—	—
28	Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood, MI	$58,770	95.5	50	1.65×
29	Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX	$58,580	103.1	130	0.59×
30	Jacksonville, FL	$58,520	99.5	30	0.72×
31	Cleveland, OH	$58,400	93.9	70	1.18×
32	Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton, PA-NJ	$58,260	100.0	50	2.39×
33	Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, TX	$57,640	98.1	30	0.46×
34	Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX	$57,590	98.6	120	0.69×
35	San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA	$55,770	111.9	80	0.91×
36	Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI	$55,700	100.3	220	2.06×
37	Las Vegas-Henderson-North Las Vegas, NV	$55,230	100.2	—	—
38	Wilmington, NC	$55,200	96.4	40	4.24×
39	San Antonio-New Braunfels, TX	$53,480	94.7	50	0.74×
40	Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC	$53,250	97.3	110	1.48×

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 exercise physiologists wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Similar occupations

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