North Dakota·Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media Occupations·SOC 27-2022

Best Coach programs in North Dakota, ranked by enrollment

Instruct or coach groups or individuals in the fundamentals of sports for the primary purpose of competition. Demonstrate techniques and methods of participation.

10 schools in North Dakota run programs that feed this job, graduating 179 people a year. The job pays a median of $37,100 in North Dakota across about 1,180 jobs (BLS OEWS May 2025).

Also calledCoachFootball CoachBasketball CoachTrack and Field CoachSki CoachGolf CoachSwim CoachTrack Coach
Graduates / yr
179
in North Dakota
Median pay · North Dakota
$37,100
BLS OEWS May 2025
Jobs in state
1,180
people employed
Schools
10
with a feeder program
Avg graduation rate
52%
across those schools
Median net price
$19,583
per year, IPEDS

Fields of study in North Dakota that lead to this job

Grouped at the 4-digit CIP level. Numbers are graduates per year in this state.

3 programs in North Dakota that lead to this job

Ranked by graduates per year in North Dakota (IPEDS completions). Graduate earnings and debt are national College Scorecard figures reported at the 4-digit CIP level, so specializations within one field share a figure. Each program also links to its own North Dakota page.

Degree programs that lead to this occupation, ranked by graduates per year
#ProgramGraduates / yrShare of pipelineSchoolsGrad earnings (1 yr)Median debt
183
46.4%
9$30,426$25,643
259
33.0%
6$43,033$26,044
337
20.7%
5$30,426$25,643

Top 10 schools in North Dakota

Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 4 of the 10 schools in this state.

Schools ranked by graduates per year into this occupation
#SchoolGraduates / yrTop feeder programGrad earnings (1 yr)Grad rateNet priceAcceptance
1North Dakota State University - Main Campus
Fargo, ND Public · 2 feeder programs
41Sport and Fitness Administration/Management$36,64664%95%
2Valley City State University
Valley City, ND Public · 3 feeder programs
41Physical Education Teaching and Coaching$44,88653%99%
3Minot State University
Minot, ND Public · 2 feeder programs
28Sport and Fitness Administration/Management45%65%
4Mayville State University
Mayville, ND Public · 3 feeder programs
20Sports, Kinesiology, and Physical Education/Fitness, General41%
5Dickinson State University
Dickinson, ND Public · 2 feeder programs
13Physical Education Teaching and Coaching$44,84151%37%
6University of Jamestown
Jamestown, ND Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs
13Sport and Fitness Administration/Management49%$19,58388%
7University of Mary
Bismarck, ND Private not-for-profit · 3 feeder programs
11Physical Education Teaching and Coaching$43,29967%$16,75375%
8Williston State College
Williston, ND Public · 1 feeder programs
8Sports, Kinesiology, and Physical Education/Fitness, General42%
9Bismarck State College
Bismarck, ND Public · 1 feeder programs
2Sport and Fitness Administration/Management47%
10University of North Dakota
Grand Forks, ND Public · 1 feeder programs
2Sport and Fitness Administration/Management60%77%

All 10 schools in North Dakota

Every school in North Dakota with a program that feeds this job, ordered by graduates per year. Earnings are shown for the ranked schools above; open a school profile for the rest.

All schools in North Dakota that feed this occupation
SchoolCityControlGraduates / yrFeeder programs
North Dakota State University - Main CampusFargoPublic412
Valley City State UniversityValley CityPublic413
Minot State UniversityMinotPublic282
Mayville State UniversityMayvillePublic203
Dickinson State UniversityDickinsonPublic132
University of JamestownJamestownPrivate not-for-profit132
University of MaryBismarckPrivate not-for-profit113
Williston State CollegeWillistonPublic81
Bismarck State CollegeBismarckPublic21
University of North DakotaGrand ForksPublic21

What coaches and scouts earn in North Dakota

What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.

Median annual in North Dakota
$37,100
Mean annual
$46,180
Jobs in state
1,180
What the range looks like
10th pct$24,330Median$37,10090th pct$75,210
Versus the national median
-21.6%

U.S. median $47,320. North Dakota pays below the national figure.

Job concentration
1.72×

Concentrated here: North Dakota employs more of this job per worker than the U.S. average.

Metro areas in North Dakota

Grand Forks, ND-MN
$49,130median
130 jobs
Fargo, ND-MN
$41,240median
480 jobs
Minot, ND
$34,600median
120 jobs
Bismarck, ND
$34,530median
240 jobs

Job outlook

Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections, 2024 to 2034.

Projected growth 2024–34
+6.4%
Faster than average
Openings per year
41,800
new jobs plus replacements
Employment change
19,500
306,500 → 326,000
Typical entry education
Bachelor's degree

Growth and openings are national. The Bureau of Labor Statistics does not publish employment projections at state level, so these figures describe the occupation across the whole U.S., not this state alone.

How to get in

The full skills, tools, and day-to-day breakdown lives on the national Coaches and Scouts page.

How to become a Coach

Job zone 4 of 5 · SVP 7.0 to < 8.0
Typical entry education
Bachelor's degree

Most of these occupations require a four-year bachelor's degree, but some do not.

A considerable amount of work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is needed for these occupations. For example, an accountant must complete four years of college and work for several years in accounting to be considered qualified.

Employees in these occupations usually need several years of work-related experience, on-the-job training, and/or vocational training.

Top skills

SpeakingLearning StrategiesMonitoringReading ComprehensionActive ListeningCritical Thinking

The same job in other states

Where else this occupation employs the most people, and what it pays there.

Related careers in North Dakota

Every major mapped to this job

The official federal mapping behind the rankings above.

All 4 majors mapped to Coaches and Scouts4 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
  • 13.1314Physical Education Teaching and Coaching
  • 31.0501Sports, Kinesiology, and Physical Education/Fitness, General
  • 31.0504Sport and Fitness Administration/Management
  • 42.2815Performance and Sport Psychology

Common questions

Answers for people weighing coaches and scouts programs in North Dakota.

What degree do you need to become a Coach?+

Bachelor's degree is the typical entry-level education BLS reports for this occupation. The most common program people actually graduate from is Sport and Fitness Administration/Management, which awarded 83 degrees in North Dakota in 2024-25, 46.4% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.

Which college majors lead to becoming a Coach?+

The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 3 programs to this occupation. The largest are Sports, Teacher Education and Professional Development. Together they graduate about 179 people a year in North Dakota.

How much do coaches and scouts earn in North Dakota?+

The median is $37,100 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 21.6% below the U.S. median of $47,320. This is pay for people already working in the occupation, not the same thing as graduate earnings one year after finishing a degree.

Is demand for coaches and scouts growing?+

BLS projects a +6.4% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, faster than average, with roughly 41,800 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.

How many schools offer programs for this career in North Dakota?+

10 institutions in North Dakota reported graduates from at least one of the 3 programs that feed this occupation in IPEDS 2024-25. Rankings on this page use graduates per year, because the federal data publishes no enrollment count by program.

What other job titles do coaches and scouts work under?+

Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Coach, Football Coach, Basketball Coach, Track and Field Coach among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 27-2022.

About the data on this page

Rankings use IPEDS completions 2024–25, degrees awarded per year. That is the closest federal measure of how many people a program puts into a career, because no federal dataset publishes enrollment by program. Wages and employment come from BLS OEWS May 2025, growth and openings from BLS Employment Projections 2024-34, and which majors lead to which jobs from the NCES CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk. Occupation descriptions, tasks, skills and tools are O*NET 30.3 (CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor/ETA).

  • BLS Occupational Employment & Wage Statistics

    May 2025

    Wages, employment counts, location quotients and metro breakdowns.

  • BLS Employment Projections

    2024–34

    Projected growth, annual openings and typical entry-level education.

  • IPEDS Completions

    2024-25 (provisional)

    Graduates per year by program and institution — the ranking metric.

  • College Scorecard, Field of Study

    2020-21 cohorts

    Median graduate earnings one year after completion, and median debt.

  • Census Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes

    latest available

    Graduate earnings 1/5/10 years out, where the state participates.

  • NCES CIP 2020 and the CIP-to-SOC 2018 crosswalk

    CIP 2020 / SOC 2018

    Which college programs officially lead to this occupation.

  • O*NET Database 30.3

    30.3

    Tasks, skills, knowledge, tools, job zone and alternate job titles.

    Official source →CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor / ETA

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