Yoga teachers are counted in U.S. labor statistics within the broader occupation of exercise trainers and group fitness instructors. That category reported 388,400 jobs in 2025, with a projected 416,900 jobs by 2035. The figures below show what the available employment data says about the occupation’s size, pay, geography, workplaces, and outlook.
Contents
- How employment is counted
- Pay distribution and annual earnings
- States with the most jobs
- Concentration and pay by state
- Industries and workplaces
- Employment settings and recent benchmarks
- Training and projected outlook
How employment is counted
The Bureau of Labor Statistics does not publish a separate national employment series labeled only “yoga teachers” in the supplied occupational figures. Instead, yoga instruction is included in the BLS occupation “exercise trainers and group fitness instructors.” This broader category can include several kinds of group fitness work, so its totals should be read as the labor-market context for yoga teaching rather than as a precise count of yoga-only teachers.
The BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook reported 388,400 jobs for exercise trainers and group fitness instructors in 2025. Its 2025–2035 projection is 416,900 jobs by 2035, an increase of 28,500 jobs. The projected growth rate is 7% over that period, and the BLS expects about 68,000 openings per year on average from 2025 through 2035. These are projections and annual-opening estimates, not guarantees of individual hiring outcomes. (Fitness Trainers and Instructors: Occupational Outlook Handbook; Occupational projections and worker characteristics)
The Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics program provides a different measure. Its May 2025 estimate recorded 303,620 wage-and-salary jobs for the occupation. The May 2024 estimate also recorded 303,620 jobs, while the May 2023 estimate counted 279,450 nationally. These series should not be treated as interchangeable with the Occupational Outlook Handbook total: the published measures have different scopes and purposes. (Occupational Employment and Wages, May 2025; Occupational Employment and Wages, May 2024; Occupational Employment and Wages, May 2023: Exercise Trainers and Group Fitness Instructors)
Pay distribution and annual earnings
The May 2023 national BLS wage distribution shows a wide range of reported pay. The median hourly wage was $22.35, while the mean hourly wage was $24.65. The median annual wage was $46,480, compared with a mean annual wage of $51,270. Median and mean figures answer different questions: the median identifies the midpoint of the distribution, while the mean is affected by higher and lower values across reported jobs.
| May 2023 national measure | Hourly wage | Annual wage |
|---|---|---|
| 10th percentile | $12.91 | $26,840 |
| 25th percentile | $16.20 | — |
| Median | $22.35 | $46,480 |
| Mean | $24.65 | $51,270 |
| 75th percentile | $29.62 | $61,610 |
| 90th percentile | $38.82 | $80,740 |
At the lower end, the May 2023 10th-percentile hourly wage was $12.91 and the corresponding annual wage was $26,840. The 25th-percentile hourly wage was $16.20. At the upper end, the 75th-percentile hourly wage was $29.62 and annual wage was $61,610; the 90th-percentile hourly wage was $38.82 and annual wage was $80,740. These are national occupational estimates for exercise trainers and group fitness instructors, not a yoga-teacher-only pay scale. (Occupational Employment and Wages, May 2023)
States with the most jobs
The May 2024 BLS state chart places California first for employment in this occupation, with 48,580 exercise trainers and group fitness instructors. New York had 19,550, followed by Florida with 16,720, Texas with 16,590, and Illinois with 16,150.
The next five listed states were Ohio with 12,310 jobs, Arizona with 11,820, Michigan with 11,370, Massachusetts with 10,730, and Pennsylvania with 10,540. These are employment levels, not rates adjusted for population or the size of each state’s overall workforce. A large state can have more total jobs without having the highest occupational concentration.
| State | Jobs, May 2024 |
|---|---|
| California | 48,580 |
| New York | 19,550 |
| Florida | 16,720 |
| Texas | 16,590 |
| Illinois | 16,150 |
| Ohio | 12,310 |
| Arizona | 11,820 |
| Michigan | 11,370 |
| Massachusetts | 10,730 |
| Pennsylvania | 10,540 |
For someone comparing potential markets, these numbers describe the overall pool of exercise and group fitness instructor jobs. They do not identify how many positions are specifically yoga teaching roles, nor do they show whether jobs are full-time, part-time, employee, or independent arrangements. (OEWS Chart: States with the highest employment level for Exercise Trainers and Group Fitness Instructors)
Concentration and pay by state
Employment concentration gives a different view from total jobs. In May 2023, Colorado had 3.50 exercise trainers and group fitness instructors per 1,000 jobs and a location quotient of 1.90. Kansas had 3.34 per 1,000 jobs and a location quotient of 1.81. Utah recorded 3.10 per 1,000 and a location quotient of 1.69.
Montana had 3.00 instructors per 1,000 jobs and a location quotient of 1.63, while Virginia had 2.75 per 1,000 and a location quotient of 1.50. A location quotient above 1 indicates a higher occupational concentration than the national comparison used by the BLS table; it is not a wage measure and does not represent a share of yoga teachers specifically.
The same May 2023 data reports different mean annual wages across these states. Utah’s mean annual wage was $53,630, Colorado’s was $51,620, Montana’s was $43,500, Virginia’s was $45,590, and Kansas’s was $39,730. The concentration figures and wage figures measure different characteristics, so a state can rank highly on concentration without ranking highest on mean pay. (Occupational Employment and Wages, May 2023)
| State | Instructors per 1,000 jobs | Location quotient | Mean annual wage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Colorado | 3.50 | 1.90 | $51,620 |
| Kansas | 3.34 | 1.81 | $39,730 |
| Utah | 3.10 | 1.69 | $53,630 |
| Montana | 3.00 | 1.63 | $43,500 |
| Virginia | 2.75 | 1.50 | $45,590 |
Industries and workplaces
The May 2024 industry chart shows that “other amusement and recreation industries” employed 204,160 exercise trainers and group fitness instructors, by far the largest listed industry group. Civic and social organizations employed 29,490, while other schools and instruction employed 23,220.
Local government, excluding schools and hospitals, employed 14,300. Other personal services employed 8,740. Smaller listed employment groups included offices of other health practitioners with 3,390 jobs, general medical and surgical hospitals with 3,080, traveler accommodation with 2,380, and colleges, universities, and professional schools with 2,360. Personal care services employed 1,600.
These categories show why yoga teaching can appear in varied settings: recreation businesses, community organizations, schools, public services, health-practitioner offices, hospitals, hotels, colleges, and personal-service businesses. The BLS industry labels describe the employer’s industry, not the exact class format or specialty taught by each instructor. (OEWS Chart: Industries with the highest employment level for Exercise Trainers and Group Fitness Instructors)
Employment settings and recent benchmarks
Fitness and recreational sports centers were a major setting in the industry-specific BLS data. These centers employed 183,990 exercise trainers and group fitness instructors in May 2023. In that setting, the median hourly wage was $22.92, the mean hourly wage was $25.28, and the mean annual wage was $52,580. (Fitness and Recreational Sports Centers: May 2023 OEWS Industry-Specific Estimates)
Privately owned other schools and instruction employed 24,550 exercise trainers and group fitness instructors in May 2023. The mean annual wage for the occupation in that industry was $48,350. This category can be relevant to teaching businesses and instructional organizations, but the supplied BLS figure does not separate yoga programs from other instruction. (Other Schools and Instruction, Privately Owned: May 2023 OEWS Estimates)
For a recent historical benchmark, fitness and recreational sports centers employed 166,080 instructors in May 2022. The May 2023 industry-specific estimate was 183,990. Because these are separate annual OEWS estimates, the figures describe reported employment at each measurement date; they do not by themselves establish the cause of the change. (Fitness and Recreational Sports Centers: May 2022 OEWS Industry-Specific Estimates)
The BLS 2025 workplace breakdown also reports that fitness and recreational sports centers accounted for 55% of fitness trainer and instructor employment. Self-employed workers represented 15%, and civic and social organizations represented 8%. These percentages help explain why yoga teachers may work across studios, recreation centers, community organizations, and independent arrangements rather than within one uniform employment model. (Fitness Trainers and Instructors: Occupational Outlook Handbook)
Training and projected outlook
The BLS says fitness-instructor training programs can require up to 500 hours of training at the high end, depending on the credential. That statement describes the broader fitness-instructor pathway and should not be read as a universal hour requirement for every yoga-teaching credential. (Fitness Trainers and Instructors: Occupational Outlook Handbook)
The employment outlook supplies the broadest forward-looking benchmark available here: 416,900 exercise trainer and group fitness instructor jobs are projected for 2035, compared with 388,400 jobs in 2025. The 7% projected growth rate and approximately 68,000 annual openings across 2025–2035 describe the wider occupation. For yoga teachers, the practical meaning is that yoga-related instruction sits within a larger, growing group fitness labor market whose opportunities vary by state, industry, wage level, and employment arrangement. (Fitness Trainers and Instructors: Occupational Outlook Handbook; Occupational projections and worker characteristics)