Best degree programs for Exercise Physiologists, ranked by enrollment
3 college programs and 921 schools train Exercise Physiologists. Compare graduates per year, cost and pay, $59,460 median wage, 8,560 U.S. jobs. Federal data.
3 college programs at 921 schools train exercise physiologists, graduating 41,283 people a year (IPEDS completions). The largest is Exercise Science and Kinesiology. The job pays a median of $59,460 (BLS OEWS May 2025).
About exercise physiologists
Assess, plan, or implement fitness programs that include exercise or physical activities such as those designed to improve cardiorespiratory function, body composition, muscular strength, muscular endurance, or flexibility.
Fields of study that lead to this job
Grouped at the 4-digit CIP level, the tier our program pages are built on. Numbers are graduates per year.
3 degree programs that lead to this job
Ranked by graduates per year (IPEDS completions). Graduate earnings and debt are College Scorecard figures for people who finished the program, reported at the 4-digit CIP level, so specializations within one field share a figure. That is a different measurement from the occupation-wide wages further down this page.
| # | Program | Graduates / yr | Share of pipeline | Schools | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Median debt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Exercise Science and Kinesiologymain feeder CIP 31.0505 | 32,855 | 79.6% | 823 | $30,426 | $25,643 |
| 2 | Exercise Physiology and Kinesiologymain feeder CIP 26.0908 | 8,332 | 20.2% | 155 | $31,146 | $23,384 |
| 3 | CIP 51.2311 | 96 | 0.2% | 6 | $35,966 | $26,323 |
Top 50 schools by graduates into this job
Counting every feeder program a school offers, not just its largest one.
What exercise physiologists earn
What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.
Top-paying states
Top-paying metro areas
Job outlook
Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections, 2024 to 2034.
Where the jobs are, state by state
Pick a state for in-state pay, the schools there, and the programs they run.
| State | Median pay | Jobs | Concentration | Schools | Graduates / yr |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Texas | $56,780 | 520 | 0.67× | 60 | 5,211 |
| California | $62,440 | 640 | 0.64× | 139 | 3,338 |
| North Carolina | $52,450 | 370 | 1.35× | 33 | 1,933 |
| Florida | $60,100 | 330 | 0.60× | 22 | 1,879 |
| Illinois | $60,130 | 300 | 0.89× | 35 | 1,413 |
| Michigan | $55,080 | 570 | 2.34× | 30 | 1,407 |
| Indiana | $49,740 | 310 | 1.76× | 26 | 1,383 |
| Ohio | $51,660 | 340 | 1.13× | 41 | 1,328 |
| Tennessee | $53,570 | 140 | 0.80× | 19 | 1,295 |
| Pennsylvania | $48,040 | 640 | 1.90× | 42 | 1,280 |
| Georgia | $58,170 | 210 | 0.77× | 21 | 1,259 |
| New York | $59,940 | 360 | 0.67× | 36 | 1,175 |
| Iowa | $56,640 | 50 | 0.54× | 30 | 1,092 |
| Alabama | $50,820 | 70 | 0.56× | 15 | 962 |
| Virginia | $52,400 | 240 | 1.07× | 15 | 912 |
| Wisconsin | $63,210 | 340 | 2.08× | 18 | 911 |
| South Carolina | $46,550 | 230 | 1.83× | 16 | 902 |
| Minnesota | $67,230 | 250 | 1.51× | 33 | 855 |
| Colorado | $63,800 | 370 | 2.36× | 16 | 815 |
| Utah | $43,850 | 220 | 2.26× | 6 | 782 |
| New Jersey | $64,680 | 130 | 0.53× | 21 | 777 |
| Oklahoma | $49,190 | 80 | 0.88× | 16 | 722 |
| West Virginia | $50,270 | 60 | 1.54× | 10 | 708 |
| Missouri | $52,570 | 160 | 1.00× | 20 | 700 |
| Mississippi | $43,060 | 30 | 0.53× | 8 | 676 |
| Arizona | $62,350 | 220 | 1.24× | 12 | 645 |
| Kansas | $59,090 | 60 | 0.72× | 13 | 556 |
| Massachusetts | $65,950 | 180 | 0.90× | 18 | 551 |
| Maryland | $62,220 | 90 | 0.60× | 7 | 546 |
| Washington | $81,310 | 160 | 0.79× | 14 | 526 |
| Arkansas | $48,850 | 40 | 0.50× | 11 | 515 |
| Oregon | $71,630 | 80 | 0.72× | 9 | 419 |
| Kentucky | $51,070 | 60 | 0.51× | 15 | 417 |
| Idaho | $56,750 | 40 | 0.76× | 6 | 369 |
| Louisiana | $52,450 | 40 | 0.38× | 9 | 363 |
| Nevadamoderate | $55,240 | — | — | 3 | 327 |
| Connecticut | $62,510 | 100 | 1.03× | 8 | 279 |
| South Dakota | $51,630 | 30 | 1.21× | 7 | 240 |
| Delawaremoderate | $57,940 | 90 | 3.51× | 3 | 210 |
| North Dakota | $50,430 | 50 | 2.00× | 7 | 176 |
| New Hampshire | $63,590 | 50 | 1.32× | 7 | 121 |
| Wyoming | $62,070 | — | — | 5 | 112 |
Skills and tools
From O*NET, the U.S. Department of Labor's occupational database. Importance is a 1 to 5 scale.
What they do day to day
- Develop exercise programs to improve participant strength, flexibility, endurance, or circulatory functioning, in accordance with exercise science standards, regulatory requirements, and credentialing requirements.
- Provide emergency or other appropriate medical care to participants with symptoms or signs of physical distress.
- Demonstrate correct use of exercise equipment or performance of exercise routines.
- Recommend methods to increase lifestyle physical activity.
- Interpret exercise program participant data to evaluate progress or identify needed program changes.
- Prescribe individualized exercise programs, specifying equipment, such as treadmill, exercise bicycle, ergometers, or perceptual goggles.
- Provide clinical oversight of exercise for participants at all risk levels.
- Explain exercise program or physiological testing procedures to participants.
Skills
- Reading Comprehension4.0
- Active Listening4.0
- Critical Thinking4.0
- Speaking4.0
- Writing3.9
- Monitoring3.8
- Active Learning3.3
- Learning Strategies3.3
Knowledge areas
- Customer and Personal Service4.4
- Medicine and Dentistry3.9
- Therapy and Counseling3.8
- Education and Training3.8
- English Language3.7
- Biology3.5
Abilities
- Oral Expression4.1
- Problem Sensitivity4.1
- Oral Comprehension4.0
- Deductive Reasoning4.0
- Inductive Reasoning4.0
- Speech Clarity4.0
Core activities
- Assisting and Caring for Others4.7
- Establishing and Maintaining Interpersonal Relationships4.4
- Getting Information4.4
- Interpreting the Meaning of Information for Others4.2
- Documenting/Recording Information4.1
- Performing General Physical Activities4.1
Tools and technology
hotmarks an O*NET hot technologyHow to get in
How to become a Exercise Physiologist
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.
Every major mapped to this job
The official federal mapping behind the rankings above.
All 3 majors mapped to Exercise Physiologists3 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
- 26.0908Exercise Physiology and Kinesiology
- 31.0505Exercise Science and Kinesiology
- 51.2311Kinesiotherapy/Kinesiotherapist
Related careers
Jobs O*NET identifies as close to this one, with their own pay and outlook.
Common questions
What degree do you need to become an Exercise Physiologist?+
Bachelor's degree is the typical entry-level education BLS reports for this occupation. The most common program people actually graduate from is Exercise Science and Kinesiology, which awarded 32,855 degrees in 2024-25, 79.6% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.
Which college majors lead to becoming an Exercise Physiologist?+
The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 3 programs to this occupation. The largest are Sports, Physiology, Rehabilitation and Therapeutic Professions. Together they graduate about 41,283 people a year.
How much do exercise physiologists earn?+
The median is $59,460 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). The middle range runs from $42,760 at the 10th percentile to $80,560 at the 90th. 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 exercise physiologists growing?+
BLS projects a +9.5% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, much faster than average, with roughly 1,700 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.
How many schools offer programs for this career?+
921 institutions 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 exercise physiologists work under?+
Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Exercise Specialist, Exercise Physiologist, Clinical Exercise Physiologist, Lifestyle and Weight Management Consultant among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 29-1128.
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 2025Wages, employment counts, location quotients and metro breakdowns.
BLS Employment Projections
2024–34Projected 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 cohortsMedian graduate earnings one year after completion, and median debt.
Census Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes
latest availableGraduate earnings 1/5/10 years out, where the state participates.
NCES CIP 2020 and the CIP-to-SOC 2018 crosswalk
CIP 2020 / SOC 2018Which college programs officially lead to this occupation.
O*NET Database 30.3
30.3Tasks, skills, knowledge, tools, job zone and alternate job titles.
Official source →CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor / ETA
Explore every U.S. college in one conversation
Clema turns plain-language questions into sourced answers across every U.S. institution — earnings, aid, acceptance, graduation, safety, and athletics from IPEDS, College Scorecard, and 10+ federal datasets, built in.
Free for teams up to 3 · No credit card