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If you seek a professional life as a life coach, you are probably wondering, how much a life coach makes? What your salary depends on? And how to increase your earnings from your coaching business? Well, to answer your questions, this ultimate guide will give you a complete understanding of what to expect from the coaching industry and how to grow as a successful life coach.
What is a Life Coach?
A life coach is a professional who helps people to achieve some specific goals and desires by targeting their unique gifts and skills. Life coaching is about helping clients reach their full potential by asking the right questions and finding the logical answers within themselves.
According to the International Coaching Federation (ICF), there are more than 54,000 life coach practitioners globally and over 16,000 in just North America alone. So, clearly, this field is rich with clientele, and there is a real market for it.
Average Salary of Life Coach Globally
A study conducted by PriceWaterHouseCoopers in 2020, shows that the estimated revenue from coaching in 2019 was around $2.85 Billion, representing a 20% increase over the 2015 estimate. On the other hand, according to ICF, the average global salary of life coaches is $51000. That’s around $4250 per month, which is not too shabby.
The demand for professional and personal coaches is on the rise. This field is ranked right up there with content creators, education professionals, and healthcare supporting staff. According to the ICF’s Global Coaching Study, different territories and countries have different average life coaching salaries. The study received the following results:
- North America — $62500
- Eastern Europe – 19100
- Oceania — $61100
- Latin America and Caribbean — $20900
- Asia — $33600
- The Middle East and Africa – 34900
- Western Europe — $51100
Factors That Affect Your Salary
There are some different factors that affect a life coach’s salary. These factors include your:
Niche
Specific niche determines the income of a life coach. Most people select a more general approach, while others specialize in a single niche. These niches include:
- Career Coaching
- Relationship Coaching
- Spiritual Coaching
- Business Coaching, and More
Geological Location
Another factor that affects your salary as a life coach is your geological location. The cost of living varies in various regions and cities. For instance, a life coach in Honolulu, Hawaii, will not charge the same amount as a coach in Twin Falls, Idaho.
Level of Experience
The level of experience and amount of experience also can determine how much you can earn as a life coach. For instance, a new life coach with less than one year of experience cannot charge the same fees, a seasoned coach or a veteran with over ten years of practicing.
Life Coaching Hourly Rates
The average hourly rate of life coaches depends upon their experience and success rate. If you have helped a lot of clients in your specific niche, you’ll get more clients and can charge more money per session. The average fees for a one-hour coaching session are about $240.
However, the fees quoted per hour session varied by coach’s experience:
- Less than 1 year $130 per hour
- 1 – 2 years $155 per hour
- 3 – 4 years $195 per hour
- 5 –10 years $255 per hour
- 10+ years $325 per hour
Average Hours Worked and Number of Clients
Your yearly revenue as a life coach will be determined by hours worked and the number of clients you have. The average working hours per week for a life coach are 14 hours, and the average number of clients that a coach can maintain at a time is 10. However, 75% of life coaches expect an increase in revenue and clients within the coming year.
Executive Coach Salary and Business Coach Salary
An executive coach is a professional who works with companies and their employees to improve business behavior and enhance their skills.
According to a survey conducted by Sherpa Executive Coaching, the coaches with:
- 10 –15 years of experience earn $122K
- 15+ years of experience can charge $450 per hour and earn $160K.
On the other hand, a business coach helps clients to develop skills and knowledge and helps clients to start, run and expand their businesses.
According to Sherpa Executive Coaching Study, business coaches can charge $279 per hour and earn about $61000 per year, up 10% since 2014.
Note that, Executive and Business coaches deal with a different number of clients, which affects their overall earning but does not affect hourly earnings. For instance, the annual earnings of new coaches are less than the professional ones, but their hourly rates are high.
Internal Coaches VS External Coaches
An internal coach works within an organization as an employee, while the external coaches are self-employed. According to a study, up to 94% of coaches consider themselves as external coaches. Generally, external coaches earn more money because they are not salaried employees and can see as many clients as they want.
Highest Paying Life Coaching Jobs
We have found the top 5 highest paying jobs related to the life coaching category that pay more than a typical life coach salary. So, if you specialize in these niches, these life coaching jobs may help you make more money than average paying life coach positions.
The top 5 highest paying life coach jobs are:
- Product coach
- Running coach
- Coach Up
- Head of Instructional Coach
- Money Coach
All these jobs are quite rewarding. For example, product coaches can earn up to $112600 per year, while others can make $99800, $97200, $85300, and $84600 per year, respectively.
Highest Paying Cities for Life Coach Business
As we have discussed before, some territories and countries have a better life coach job market than others. Therefore, in this part of the article, we have identified the top ten cities where the typical salary for a common life coach job is above the average. Topping the list is Sunnyvale, CA. Sunnyvale, CA, has a quite profitable life coach job market as there are various companies hiring life coaches.
Here are our top 10 cities for life coach business with average annual salary:
- Sunnyvale, CA — $74000
- Santa Rosa, CA — $71900
- Williston, ND — $70500
- Manhattan, NY — $ $70200
- Cambridge, MA — $69400
- Arlington, VA — $68900
- Dickinson, ND — $68500
- Ketchikan, AK — $68300
- Vacaville, CA — $68000
- New York City, NY — $67500
How Pandemic Impacted the Life Coach Business?
Even in times of disruption, the life coaching business remains relevant. As with most fields, life coaches do have concerns about the effect that any recession could have on the industry. However, recent research conducted by the International Coaching Federation (ICF) related to COVID-19 revealed some hopeful outlooks:
- While 50% of coaches, out of 10,000, reported a drop in income during this pandemic, 40% rated that impact as minimal.
- More than 24% of coach practitioners reported that they are experiencing a positive effect on their coaching business as a result of the pandemic.
- There have been some positive effects of COVID-19 on the life coaching industry. For instance, around 14% of coaches have reported an increase in income, 27% of coaches have experienced their hours’ increase, and 21% of life coaches have seen an increase in their number of clients.
- Business coaches felt the effects of the pandemic more acutely than any other type of life coach. Because many business coaches are directly working with companies, they are more likely to experience a loss of income.
How to Maximize Your ?
The life coaching business is quite rewarding, and there are a lot of ways to earn six figures as a life coach. Coaching is basically classified as one-on-one or collaborative group coaching sessions, but in order to earn more, you can combine coaching with some other services, such as:
- Coaching One-on-One through VIP Days
- Start Coaching Blog and/or YouTube Channel
- Start a Membership Website
- Start a Mentorship Program
- Mix Business Coaching with Consulting Services
- Sell self-paces Programs
- Develop a Coaching App
- Create a Course
- Write coaching and personal development books
- Become a motivational speaker
- Host retreats
- Conduct Workshops
- Host Webinars and Seminars
Conclusion
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) includes life coaches in the category of advisors, educational, guidance, and career counselors, who earn more than $61000 per year on average. The salary of life coaches depends upon different factors, such as:
- Education
- Experience
- Structure of Business
- Location, and more.
Even with the big salary gap in this industry, most professional life coaches make a decent living. More experienced life coaches make more money, which is pretty much normal in any industry. However, remember that the ceiling for life coaches is high. So, if you are a professional coach, don’t set an earning limit because that will prevent you from catching the opportunities that lie ahead of you.
Finally, to increase your earnings as a life coach, there are some additional steps you should take. These steps include:
- Create a Paid Course
- Host Webinars and Seminars
- Conduct Workshops
- Host Retreats
- Coaching One-on-One Through VIP Days
- Mix Business Coaching with Consulting Services
- Become a motivational speaker
- Start a Membership Website
- Write coaching and personal development books
- Start a Mentorship Program and More.
