Personal Trainer Facts & Stats for a Career in Fitness (2024)

Being aware of important personal trainer facts and statistics can be greatly beneficial when looking for a career in the fitness industry. To ensure you’re up to date with relevant information, this article will cover the following topics:

• 6 Key Personal Trainer Facts About The Industry
• Personal Trainer Statistics: An OriGym Survey 
• Facts About Personal Training Qualifications You Need to Know!

The first step to securing this career is earning a personal training diploma. In doing so, you can ensure you’re qualified to create and offer bespoke training programmes to individual clients. Alternatively, download our FREE course prospectus to learn more about every qualification available at OriGym.

6 Key Personal Trainer Facts About The Industry 

Researching key personal trainer statistics and facts can help to ensure that you’re prepared for a future career within the fitness industry. The following section will cover 6 such examples:

#1 - Facts About the Demand for Personal Trainers

Before making a career change to a personal training role you will naturally want reassurance that there is a consumer demand for these services. 

According to Statista, there are over 7,200 health and fitness clubs in the UK, which provide a workout space for a record breaking 10.3 million members.  

This same report highlighted other interesting facts about personal trainers and the demand they face - Such as the graph below, which shows that there are over 25,000 registered trainers in the UK as of 2022: 

These personal trainer stats prove that current demand for this role is ever growing, as a higher number of students are qualifying to earn their Personal Training Diploma.

IBIS World also reports that there is no better time to become a personal trainer, as facts collected by their team estimated the industry to be worth £631m in the UK alone.

The same study also collected statistics about personal training’s industry growth, which is estimated to expand at an annual rate of 1.5% over the next 5 years.

As an aspiring personal trainer the facts presented in this section prove that the job role is secure, and that there will be a high demand for PTs for the foreseeable future.

#2 - Personal Trainer Statistics: What is an Average Yearly Salary?

Calculating an average salary for a personal trainer can be somewhat difficult, as there are a variety of factors that could influence your overall earnings, such as:

• Location - Personal trainers who work in London on average earn more than those outside of the city.
• Experience - Those who have just earned their Personal Training Diploma will likely earn significantly less than those with years of experience. 
• What Capacity You Work In - PTs who own work on a self-employed basis will earn more than those in contracted positions. This is because they will have more control over the prices of their services.
• What Qualifications You Hold - If you hold a specialist Level 4 Personal Training qualification, you can arguably charge more for your services as you’ll be regarded as an expert in that particular field.

These influencing factors will become evident when researching statistics about a personal trainers’ average earnings. 

For example, PayScale estimates that personal trainers can earn anywhere from £16k-£56k:

In contrast, these personal training statistics differ on the site Glassdoor, which reports average annual earnings between £16k-£56k:

These statistics about personal trainers’ earnings should be taken with a pinch of salt, as they are only reflective of users who have provided data to the site - meaning that neither can be wholly representative of the entire industry.

When researching personal trainer stats relating to salary, instead of trying to calculate an average, you should treat each job opportunity as individually as possible.

#3 - Statistics About Personal Trainers’ Job Satisfaction 

Researching personal training stats relating to job satisfaction highlights the many benefits associated with this position.

For example, a study by Wellness Creative Co showed that 57% of trainers felt consistently fulfilled by their career, never feeling that they were in a rut.

This was supported by an additional 51% of PTs who claimed that they never felt stressed when working in this position. 

Career Explorer conducted further research into this area, analysing PTs from across the world. The released statics about trainers’ job satisfaction levels highlighted that those in this position are on average happier than most other professions:

This particular study found that the increased satisfaction rate was influenced by the following factors:

• How meaningful personal trainers found their job to be
• A positive relationship with their working environment 
• Whether the trainer felt their personality was suited for the position’s responsibilities 

Taking all of these stats into consideration, when becoming a personal trainer you can expect to find great satisfaction and fulfilment in your job role.

#4 - Female Personal Trainer Statistics: Is the Industry Male Dominated?

Historically, the fitness industry has been regarded as a male-dominated space. This unfortunate fact about personal training has previously stopped women from pursuing this position, thankfully things are changing.

According to personal trainer stats collected by Insure4Sport, women now make up for 35% of the UK’s trainers, meaning that the split is slowly closing as the years pass.

Some interesting personal training facts that you will be interested to learn is that female clients prefer to work with female PTs. 

This is reported by an American study entitled Women's Perspectives of Personal Trainers: A Qualitative Study, which states -

“Female clients' expressed a preference for female trainers because they believed female trainers would empathise with them more than a male trainer could. In fact, the clients discussed empathy to such an extent that it was designated as a major theme”

Therefore, if you’re a female PT looking to start your own personal training business, you should consider making female clients your target demographic. This is because they are more likely to invest in your services than male competitors.

#5 - Statistics About Personal Trainers’ Average Age

One question that many fitness enthusiasts often ask themselves is - am I too old to become a personal trainer?

Much like the aforementioned point on gender, many fitness enthusiasts believe that they cannot become a PT after a certain age. This is linked to preconceived notions that you need to be ‘young’ in order to find success.

Recent personal training stats collected by Insure4Sport dispel this belief, highlighting the average age of a PT in the UK to be 39 years old.

Other personal trainer facts you may find of interest, is that the oldest living PT is 77 years old Tim Minnick - who currently holds the Guinness World Record! 

With both of these points in mind, remember it’s never too late to pursue your dream career as a personal trainer. At OriGym we ask all our students to be over the age of 16, but after that there is no age limit, if you are a fit and healthy adult you can enrol whenever you wish! 

#6 - Personal Trainer Stats Prove Referrals Lead to More Clients

A referral scheme is when your clients will recommend your PT services to those within their immediate circle, such as friends and family. This acts as a form of social proofing for your business, reassuring new prospective customers that they can trust you.

The effectiveness of a referral scheme can be seen in the following infographic below, sourced from the American-run company Nilsen:

Nilsen’s research isn’t the only example that supports the use of a referral scheme, as the following statistics should also be considered: 

• Entrepreneur discovered that a business could increase its total earnings by 10-20% once this scheme is set up.
• The same study also found businesses can expect to experience 86% worth of growth with a referral scheme.
• Insure4Sport’s research also shows that 72% of PTs gain referrals through word of mouth.

When working in a personal trainer job the facts presented above can reassure you of the effectiveness of a referral scheme. For more information on how you can specifically integrate this approach, check out our in-depth exploration of referral schemes for personal trainers.

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If these personal trainer facts and statistics interest you, then you may also want to check out these other OriGym articles:

• The Different Types Of Personal Trainer
• How To Become A Personal Trainer
• How Long Should You Have A Personal Trainer?

Personal Trainer Statistics: An OriGym Survey 

In order to provide our readers with insightful personal training facts and stats, OriGym has conducted an independent study made up of 3,011 students completing their Level 3 Qualification in Personal Training.

The first question collected personal trainer statistics to show why students entered the industry to begin with:

When observing the statistics about personal trainers, you can see that people predominantly pursued their qualification due to an existing passion they already have for fitness. 

The next question we asked centred on where the participants wished to work following their graduation:

These personal trainer stats highlight that salaried jobs at gyms are the most sought after positions among aspiring PTs. There are many factors which contribute to this popularity, such as a dependable fixed salary that provides financial stability.

With that being said, these varied answers highlight the vast career opportunities available within the fitness industry, following the completion of your PT qualification.

To support this, we conducted another survey, this time made up of 426 former OriGym students, all of whom had graduated within the previous 12 months - The following results showed were these individuals where working within this time frame:

The personal training stats found over 73% of graduates remained within the fitness industry following the completion of their Level 3 PT course - With an impressive 49% of these individuals securing a job as a personal trainer. 

These statistics highlight the importance of receiving proper training. In doing so, you can set yourself up for a successful career as a personal trainer, in a variety of capacities be it contracted in a gym, or within your own business.

Facts About Personal Training Qualifications You Need to Know

Knowing the aforementioned facts about a personal trainers’ job roles will ensure you’re adequately prepared to step into the industry. 

But before you can begin to pursue these roles you will need to obtain the appropriate qualifications, such as:

• Level 2 Fitness Instructor Certification
• Level 3 Personal Training Qualification 

At OriGym we offer a Personal Training Diploma, which combines both of these courses together. Choosing this option will be more convenient for unqualified individuals, as it will be cheaper than enrolling on each course separately. 

Once enrolled, you will learn beneficial skills that will inform your future career as a PT, such as how to develop and lead bespoke workout programmes, tailored for specific clients.

When researching facts about personal training roles, keep in mind that these qualifications are essential in order to find employment. This is evident from the following example from Virgin Active, which lists the Level 3 as a necessary requirement: 

One thing to keep in mind is that these personal training stats won’t be universally applicable to every job applicable. In truth, every employer will have their own hiring process and will have different requirements in place. 

For example, some employers may be looking to hire a candidate who holds a qualification as a Level 4 Personal Trainer. This may be worded similarly to the following advertisement from Nuffield Health: 

For reference - CIMSPA refers to The Chartered Institute for the Management of Sport and Physical Activity, a professional development body for the sport and physical activity sector in the UK. 

CIMSPA ensures that all vocational training providers (including OriGym) are working to the same standards, in order to promote a high level of consistency within the UK’s fitness industry.

When discussing important personal trainer facts it’s worth noting that employers will check to see if your qualification is endorsed by CIMSPA.

It’s therefore important to ensure you earn a genuine personal training qualification, that is endorsed by CIMSPA. Should employers find you have a fake certificate, or have received one for an unregulated provider, they can reject your job application immediately. 

Before You Go! 

The personal trainer facts and statistics presented within this article have given you clear insight into the existing fitness industry. With this information in mind, you can begin to pursue a career as PT, armed with knowledge that can ensure your future success. 

This all begins with earning a Diploma in Personal Training, which will qualify you to work with clients on a 1-to-1 basis, creating bespoke training programmes specifically for them! You can also download OriGym’s course prospectus for FREE!