Athletes and sports competitors
Salary, job outlook, AI risk & career information
Athletes and sports competitors in the United States earn a median salary of $66,710 per year — about $32 per hour, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Roughly 19K people work in this occupation nationwide, with projected employment growth of +5%.
AI & Automation Risk
The core of this occupation is physical performance, manual dexterity, and real-time human presence in the physical world, which AI cannot replicate. While AI is used as a peripheral tool for performance analytics, strategy optimization, and diet planning, it does not replace the athlete's physical labor or the entertainment value of human competition.
Salary by City — What You Actually Take Home
Real purchasing power = salary adjusted for cost of living. Higher = more money in your pocket.
| City | Local Salary | Cost of Living | Real Purchasing Power |
|---|---|---|---|
| St. Louis, MO-ILBEST VALUE | $203,390 | Below avg (95.1) | $213,897 |
| Las Vegas-Henderson-North Las Vegas, NV | $124,130 | Average (100.2) | $123,864 |
| Salt Lake City-Murray, UT | $123,140 | Average (100.9) | $122,080 |
| Cape Coral-Fort Myers, FL | $107,590 | Average (102.3) | $105,121 |
| Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, FL | $106,060 | Average (101.4) | $104,577 |
| Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA | $94,530 | Average (100.1) | $94,475 |
| New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ | $100,130 | Above avg (112.6) | $88,955 |
| Provo-Orem-Lehi, UT | $84,810 | Average (98.2) | $86,336 |
| Kansas City, MO-KS | $78,790 | Below avg (92.5) | $85,139 |
| Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX | $75,550 | Average (98.6) | $76,600 |
| Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL | $76,860 | Average (100.9) | $76,182 |
| Deltona-Daytona Beach-Ormond Beach, FL | $74,440 | Average (99.4) | $74,914 |
| Baton Rouge, LA | $63,920 | Below avg (90.8) | $70,412 |
| Louisville/Jefferson County, KY-IN | $63,650 | Below avg (93.1) | $68,386 |
| Pittsburgh, PA | $61,160 | Below avg (94.7) | $64,603 |