Also called: Exercise Trainers and Fitness Instructors
Exercise Trainers and Group Fitness Instructors build instructing, service orientation and social perceptiveness skills that carry over to other work. Below are 25 careers ranked by how closely their skills match, with pay from BLS May 2025. The closest match is Physical Therapist Assistants (80%).
Updated October 2026 · Data: O*NET 31.0 and BLS OEWS May 2025 · How we match careers
Sorted by skill match.
| # | Career | Skill match | Median pay | Pay change | Extra education |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Physical Therapist Assistants | 80% | $68,380 | +45% | None |
| 2 | Self-Enrichment Teachers | 79% | $46,800 | −1% | None |
| 3 | Occupational Therapy Assistants | 79% | $72,300 | +53% | None |
| 4 | Exercise Physiologists | 79% | $59,460 | +26% | Bachelor's degree |
| 5 | Occupational Therapy Aides | 78% | $39,160 | −17% | None |
| 6 | Recreational Therapists | 78% | $61,960 | +31% | Bachelor's degree |
| 7 | Coaches and Scouts | 77% | $47,320 | 0% | Bachelor's degree |
| 8 | Massage Therapists | 74% | $58,450 | +24% | None |
| 9 | Skincare Specialists | 73% | $45,330 | −4% | None |
| 10 | Animal Trainers | 73% | $39,990 | −15% | None |
Compared with Exercise Trainers and Group Fitness Instructors, median $47,160. Skill match is our estimate (0–99) from O*NET 31.0 skills, knowledge, work activities and interests, adjusted for preparation and big pay drops. Pay: BLS OEWS May 2025, national median.
How important each skill is in work as exercise trainers and group fitness instructors (O*NET importance, scale 1–5).
The gaps that show up most often across your top 10 matches.
Free and low-cost training: use the CareerOneStop training finder below.
A concrete first step, the skills to add, and the hard parts of each job, from O*NET 31.0 education, training and work context data.
80% skill match · $68,380 · +45% pay
Management of Financial Resources · Operations Monitoring · Quality Control Analysis
79% skill match · $46,800 · −1% pay
Programming · Management of Personnel Resources · Complex Problem Solving
No work-context factor stands out as unusually hard in O*NET data.
79% skill match · $72,300 · +53% pay
Negotiation · Social Perceptiveness · Systems Evaluation
If you want to stay close to what you do now, these roles are the nearest.
The closest matches are Physical Therapist Assistants (80% skill match, median $68,380), Self-Enrichment Teachers (79% skill match, median $46,800) and Occupational Therapy Assistants (79% skill match, median $72,300), based on O*NET 31.0 data and BLS May 2025 pay.
Among the 25 matches, 10 pay more than exercise trainers and group fitness instructors at the median. The biggest increases: Occupational Therapy Assistants (+53%, $72,300), Physical Therapist Assistants (+45%, $68,380) and Licensed Practical and Licensed Vocational Nurses (+37%, $64,400).
19 of the 25 matches usually need no more education than you have now, based on O*NET Job Zones.
We compare the importance of skills, knowledge, work activities and interests in O*NET 31.0 for your job and every other career, then adjust for extra preparation and big pay drops. The full method is on our Methodology page.