How much do health coaches make?
In today’s post, you’ll learn what the average health coach salary is. Plus, we’ll also look at how you can set your rates and become a well-paid health coach yourself.
Want to learn more? Read on!
You’ll learn:
How much do health coaches make?
What is the average health coach salary per hour?
Is there demand for health coaches?
Where can you work as a health coach?
How can you start a health coaching business?
What is a health coach?
A health coach is a coach who focuses on improving their clients’ health and wellness.
So, clients will come to health coaches with a variety of different goals.
For example:
- Losing weight
- Quitting cigarettes/alcohol/substance use
- Building an exercise plan
- Creating a sustainable diet
Because of how broad health is, there are many subcategory niches for health coaches.
Such as:
- Fitness coaching
- Pregnancy coaching
- Stress coaching
- Wellness coaching
- Nutrition coaching
- Recovery coaching
As a health coach, you can work inside organizations or start your own business.
We’re going to talk about both of these health coach career options today. But first, let’s answer the question you came here for.
How much do health coaches make?
Here are the numbers:
According to Salary.com, health and wellness coaches make $63,493 on average.
Glassdoor says that certified health coaches have an average salary of $77,683, with a total range of around $61k – $100k.
And, according to ZipRecruiter, here are the average health coach salaries in each state:
| State | Average salary |
|---|---|
| Alabama | $44,578 |
| Alaska | $42,769 |
| Arizona | $51,424 |
| Arkansas | $50,225 |
| California | $44,136 |
| Colorado | $43,622 |
| Connecticut | $60,512 |
| Delaware | $43,292 |
| Florida | $50,220 |
| Georgia | $41,210 |
| Hawaii | $50,364 |
| Idaho | $44,936 |
| Illinois | $50,982 |
| Indiana | $40,539 |
| Iowa | $44,753 |
| Kansas | $42,322 |
| Kentucky | $43,535 |
| Louisiana | $48,929 |
| Maine | $50,170 |
| Maryland | $55,537 |
| Massachusetts | $53,789 |
| Michigan | $49,352 |
| Minnesota | $42,280 |
| Mississippi | $36,198 |
| Missouri | $40,229 |
| Montana | $49,110 |
| Nebraska | $44,548 |
| Nevada | $49,964 |
| New Hampshire | $53,534 |
| New Jersey | $51,179 |
| New Mexico | $37,525 |
| New York | $57,835 |
| North Carolina | $35,751 |
| North Dakota | $46,537 |
| Ohio | $45,691 |
| Oklahoma | $41,262 |
| Oregon | $47,623 |
| Pennsylvania | $47,592 |
| Rhode Island | $47,701 |
| South Carolina | $42,667 |
| South Dakota | $55,062 |
| Tennessee | $50,455 |
| Texas | $51,326 |
| Utah | $44,734 |
| Vermont | $43,333 |
| Virginia | $54,046 |
| Washington | $49,502 |
| West Virginia | $41,247 |
| Wisconsin | $46,164 |
| Wyoming | $55,330 |
So, how much can YOU make as a health coach? It depends on what type of health coach you are, your experience, and your credentials.
For example, if you work for an employer, you can earn more if you’re a board-certified health coach rather than a non-accredited one. But again, this depends on the industry.
And, if you go the employee route, you’ll probably make less than if you ran your own successful health coaching business.
Get the Ultimate Guide
for building a
6-Figure Coaching Business so you can achieve more freedom!
Why? Because, as an employee, you have an upper salary limit – meaning others decide how much you can earn.
But when you work for yourself, your salary depends on you.
So, as a business owner, you can eventually earn six or even seven figures.
It all comes down to:
- How you market your business
- Who your target audience is
- How you diversify your income
…And how you price your packages. We’ll look more at pricing below.
But first, let’s take a look at the average hourly health coaching salary.
What is the average health coach salary per hour?
According to Glassdoor, the average hourly health and wellness coach salary is ~$40.
But if you learn how to market yourself as a health coach, you can earn more. By offering services that are in demand and positioning yourself as an expert, you can charge $100+ per hour for your work.
You won’t necessarily charge an hourly rate (I don’t recommend that you do), but this is a good benchmark.
Is there demand for health coaches?
Yes! Coaching is a $2.85 billion industry – and it’s growing fast.
The health and wellness industry is even more lucrative. It’s estimated to be a $4.2 trillion market. In other words? This is one of the best industries to start a business in because there’s so much earning potential.
As the world becomes more and more health conscious, the demand for experts will keep on growing. For example, McKinsey expects the wellness market to grow by 5%-10% every year.
You can also create more opportunities for success by specializing in a specific niche.
A few examples include supporting people in:
- Adopting vegan, paleo, or other specialty diets
- Taking care of their skin with holistic health
- Using alternative therapies such as acupuncture, homeopathy, and somatic healing
- Taking care of their health after menopause
There are MANY different ways to be a health coach. No matter what your niche is, there’s a space for you in the industry.
For example, my student David is a health coach who uses herbs to help clients achieve their health goals:
In this short video, I share how to pick your niche:
But where are health coaches in demand? Let’s take a look.
Where can you work as a health coach?
Now you know the health coach salary you can earn and how much demand there is for health coaches. But what kinds of settings can you work in as a health coach? You’re about to find out.
Corporations
In recent years, health and wellness have become way more important in the corporate world. Companies are hiring in-house therapists, wellness experts, and – yes – health coaches.
Why? Because a healthy workforce is a productive workforce. That means investing in employee health pays off for employers.
So, as a health coach, corporations might hire you to do workshops, help design wellness initiatives, or provide group coaching services to employees.
Insurance companies
Insurance companies can hire health coaches to provide preventive care for customers. In fact, it’s often a perk for the highest tiers of insurance coverage, so this can be a highly lucrative niche to get into.
If you want to work in the insurance world, though, it helps to know a little about how it works and how your services fit within their packages.
Health clubs and fitness centers
Many premier health clubs and fitness centers hire health coaches to create extra value for their customers. So, as a health coach, you can provide a holistic service by also looking at a person’s diet and lifestyle – not just their exercise regime.
If you specialize in fitness, you could also become an in-house personal trainer.
Hospitals, physician practices, and health centers
Unsurprisingly, health coaches work in the medical field, too. So, health centers, hospitals, and general practitioners all hire health coaches to provide preventive care for patients.
Interested in a specific illness or health phase? You could niche your services down even more and cater to specific groups, like post-partum or pre-diabetic people.
Get the Ultimate Guide
for building a
6-Figure Coaching Business so you can achieve more freedom!
Other organizations and institutions
There are plenty of other types of organizations that hire health coaches outside of the fitness/medical industries. A few of them include:
- Universities
- Schools
- Government agencies
- Community centers
- Wellness retreats
And more!
You could join these organizations to give regular preventive care or education to students. Or you could become an entrepreneur and market yourself to these institutions as a guest speaker or consultant.
So, what are some advantages of going the entrepreneurial route? Let’s find out.
Your own business
The final option is to create your own health coaching business and work for yourself.
By becoming an entrepreneur, you set your own hours and decide who you work with and how much you charge.
In fact, many of my own clients have gone on to grow six-figure and multiple six-figure businesses in niches they thoroughly enjoy, with the flexibility and freedom that comes with owning a health coaching business.
Does that sound like you? If so, let’s get into the specifics of how you can start your own business as a health coach.
How can you start a health coaching business?
What do you need to start a health coaching business and achieve your fullest potential as a health coach? It comes down to a few things.
Are you qualified to become a health coach?
To get started as a health coach, you need some kind of qualification.
And no, I don’t necessarily mean a health coach certification specifically – although, if you’d be working as an employee, most companies might ask for one.
But if you run your own business, many clients just want to know you can help THEM get the results they want.
They’re more interested in your experience than any certifications you may have.
With that said, there are some niches within the health coaching space that require a health coach certification – regardless of whether you work for someone else or for yourself. So, make sure you research what applies to your niche before you start your business.
Next, let’s take a look at how to price your health coaching offer.
Price your first offer
If you’re just starting out as a health coach, what should you charge?
Great question! My answer for aspiring health coaches is to keep things simple and price per package.
See, your clients won’t realize your full value with hourly pricing. If they pay per hour, they’ll see your value in terms of those hours.
But with a package, they pay for results. That’s why they’re more likely to be willing to pay a higher rate.
So, to create your first package, start with a three-month coaching program that includes biweekly or monthly calls and unlimited in-between support for $1,500.
Here’s why this structure works:
- Three months is the perfect length to create tangible results for your clients – without dragging on for too long.
- Biweekly or monthly coaching calls are impactful for the client but don’t take up too much of your time (and in my experience, weekly calls are just too frequent for clients to be able to act on the previous call).
- $1,500 is high value enough to be an investment for clients, but low enough to gain clients relatively fast.
After you get your first few clients at this rate, you can slowly increase your prices. Remember: With each client you serve, you’ll become a better coach, so your services will be worth more.
But how do you get your first few clients? That’s what we’ll look at next.
Book your first clients
So many people start a business backward. How? By focusing on the fancy logo or the exciting coaching website. Those are fun to have, but they don’t book clients right away.
Instead, go for the low-hanging fruit to market your services.
So, create a marketing and social media strategy that puts your helpful content in front of your dream clients. For example:
- If you’re a health coach for high-powered professionals, start posting and engaging with people on LinkedIn.
- To reach a millennial audience, start being active on platforms like Instagram or Reddit.
- TikTok is great for reaching GenZ clients.
- Podcasts are an excellent way of reaching people in your specific niche.
For more tips, take a look at this short video on getting your first clients:
Overall, choose one strategy and stick to it. You can expand later on once you’ve mastered that strategy.
Next up: How can you increase your revenue? Let’s take a look.
How can you earn more as a health coach?
So, let’s say you’ve been a health coach for a while and you’re ready to take your business to the next level. It’s time to diversify your income. Here are some great ways to do that.
Keep in mind that these strategies are not for beginners. If you’re new to health coaching, focus on building your brand by working with clients one-on-one. Your private coaching work will help you create these other products eventually.
Once you have about ten private clients, you can move on to these scalable strategies.
Group coaching programs
A great way to build extra income is to build a group coaching program. Your programs can be small and intimate (under 12 students) or huge (500+ students). It depends on your style and what you offer.
The idea is to create a system to live coach a group of people through your special method to achieve a singular goal.
What’s the difference between this and a course? You’re providing live coaching versus a self-study program. (You can combine the two, though.)
My advice? Start with a small group. That way, you can give all your students individual attention before you move on to a bigger group. You can charge between $1,500 – $5,000 for a group coaching offer.
Memberships
Memberships often get mixed up with group programs and courses.
Here’s the difference:
Memberships are built around creating a community.
So, for a monthly fee, clients can have access to an exclusive community of people also following your methods – in addition to a portal full of your resources.
Memberships can be a lot of work, but they are amazing for business growth. A good price point is typically a few hundred dollars per month.
Digital products
Digital products are a great way to engage your audience. These could include e-books, PDF guides, exclusive audio, masterclasses, and more.
The best part? Once you’ve created your digital products, they become an evergreen source of income. All you need to do is keep funneling traffic to your sales page to keep the money flowing.
A good price point for a PDF/ebook is $20. And for a smaller training program, charge between $47 – $197.
Online courses
An online course is a type of digital product, but I think it deserves its own paragraph because it’s the ultimate semi-passive income stream.
Basically, you can distill your coaching practice into a step-by-step course. What’s great about this approach is that you can create the course once and relaunch it several times, which provides a great ROI.
For your first course, a good price point is $197 – $497, but high-end courses can sell for $1,000+.
Over to you!
There you have it! Now you know what the typical health coach salary is.
Get the Ultimate Guide
for building a
6-Figure Coaching Business so you can achieve more freedom!
What determines your income is whether you’re an employee or a business owner, your niche, and your offer.
However, building a profitable and sustainable business comes down to more than just pricing.
And in my free blueprint I show you exactly how to build your own six-figure coaching business!
Read more:
How to Start a Six-Figure Coaching Business
