🏆 2026 Market Rankings

Highest Paying Cities for Recreation and Fitness Study Teacher (2026)

This page looks at highest paying cities for Recreation and Fitness Study Teacher through Careerclev's current salary model, built from the latest official BLS wage baseline. It shows which cities lead on pay, how big the gap is after the top spot, and where job opportunities are most concentrated.

In practice, Riverside, CA currently leads at $149,441/year, while San Diego, CA gives you a useful second benchmark at $143,079. That makes it easier to judge whether the leader is far ahead or part of a tighter upper tier.

📅 Updated April 2026📊 Modeled salary benchmarks🇺🇸 Recreation And Fitness Study Teacher · 12 markets ranked⏱ 12 min read
1
Riverside, CA
$149K est.
2
San Diego, CA
$143K est.
3
Los Angeles, CA
$138K est.
4
Fresno, CA
$136K est.
5
San Francisco, CA
$134K est.
#1 City
Riverside, CA
$149K
Markets Ranked
12
top markets
Data Layer
Metro
Careerclev salary model
Top Employment
190
employment estimate
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Highest Paying Cities for Recreation and Fitness Study Teacher: Full Ranking

If you're comparing the best cities for recreation and fitness study teacher, Riverside, CA sits at the top of this 12-market ranking at $149,441 per year in Careerclev's current salary model. From there, the second spot belongs to San Diego, CA at $143,079, which helps show whether the pay curve drops quickly or stays fairly tight after the leader. On entry-level pages, Careerclev uses lower wage percentiles as a transparent proxy for starting pay, because the public source data does not offer a clean entry-level field for every role.

1
Riverside, CA
190 employed · metro market
High payData year 2024Varies
100% benchmark
$149,441
official baseline $149K
2
San Diego, CA
140 employed · metro market
High payData year 2024Varies
vs #1
$143,079
official baseline $143K
3
Los Angeles, CA
780 employed · metro market
High payData year 2024Varies
vs #1
$138,107
official baseline $138K
4
Fresno, CA
60 employed · metro market
High payData year 2024Varies
vs #1
$136,227
official baseline $136K
5
San Francisco, CA
230 employed · metro market
High payData year 2024Varies
vs #1
$133,605
official baseline $134K
6
Sacramento, CA
50 employed · metro market
High payData year 2024Varies
vs #1
$123,671
official baseline $124K
7
Champaign, IL
110 employed · metro market
High payData year 2024Varies
vs #1
$106,153
official baseline $106K
8
Phoenix, AZ
80 employed · metro market
High payData year 2024Varies
vs #1
$104,043
official baseline $104K
9
Columbia, SC
80 employed · metro market
High payData year 2024Varies
vs #1
$101,128
official baseline $101K
10
New York, NY
540 employed · metro market
High payData year 2024Varies
vs #1
$101,076
official baseline $101K
11
Syracuse, NY
N/A employed · metro market
High payData year 2024Varies
vs #1
$90,452.0
official baseline $90.5K
12
Portland, OR
150 employed · metro market
High payData year 2024Varies
vs #1
$88,906.0
official baseline $88.9K

What Recreation and Fitness Study Teacher Do

Before the pay ranking means much, it helps to understand the work itself. Recreation and Fitness Study Teacher salary markets are easier to compare when the underlying role is clear.

This role combines strong pay potential with a specific preparation path and day-to-day work profile.

Recreation and Fitness Study Teacher Salary Trend

This market ranking is local, but the longer pay direction behind recreation and fitness study teacher is easier to read from the national salary trend. That helps show whether the role is sitting on a stable long-run wage climb or just posting a short-term local spike.

Careerclev's current 2026 estimate applies an annual modeled growth rate of 2.2% from the last confirmed BLS benchmark year, using wage history and employment outlook where available.

2026·$80.2KEstimated
$66.3K
2020
$72.4K
2021
$72.7K
2022
$75.8K
2023
$76.8K
2024
$78.5K
2025*
$80.2K
2026*
Official Data
May 2024 BLS
20202026 trend (est.)
21.1%
Forecast method
Trend + outlook model

* 2024–2026 values are modeled estimates extending from the last confirmed BLS benchmark. The last confirmed BLS figure ($76.8K, 2024) is extended with recent wage trend history, employment outlook, and tech-market signals where available, then replaced when official data is published.

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Entry-Level Pay Signals

A high median salary only tells half the story. What matters for career planning is where starting pay actually lands. Because BLS does not publish a clean entry-level label for every role, Careerclev uses lower wage percentiles as a transparent proxy. San Diego, CA shows an estimated early-career pay signal of $108,931, compared with a long-run median of $143,079. In turn, that gap gives a better feel for both long-run upside and how quickly a role starts rewarding experience.

JobEntry ProxyMedian SalaryPrep PathTypical Education
Riverside, CA$98,318.0$149,441VariesEducation path varies by employer
San Diego, CA$108,931$143,079VariesEducation path varies by employer
Los Angeles, CA$89,920.0$138,107VariesEducation path varies by employer
Fresno, CA$102,382$136,227VariesEducation path varies by employer
San Francisco, CA$89,940.0$133,605VariesEducation path varies by employer
Sacramento, CA$82,148.0$123,671VariesEducation path varies by employer
Champaign, IL$86,650.0$106,153VariesEducation path varies by employer
Phoenix, AZ$71,399.0$104,043VariesEducation path varies by employer

Jobs With Strong Demand

Pay ceilings matter more when the local labor market is deep enough to generate real openings. In Recreation and Fitness Study Teacher, Los Angeles, CA combines a salary of $138,107 with roughly 780 employed workers, which makes it one of the more accessible high-pay options on this list. By contrast, some specialties rank higher on salary but operate as narrower niches where openings are harder to find and entry paths are longer.

Very Deep Market
Los Angeles, CA
$138,107
780 employed
Training path varies in a varies pathway.
Very Deep Market
New York, NY
$101,076
540 employed
Training path varies in a varies pathway.
Strong Market
San Francisco, CA
$133,605
230 employed
Training path varies in a varies pathway.
Strong Market
Riverside, CA
$149,441
190 employed
Training path varies in a varies pathway.
Strong Market
Portland, OR
$88,906.0
150 employed
Training path varies in a varies pathway.
Strong Market
San Diego, CA
$143,079
140 employed
Training path varies in a varies pathway.

Salary vs Employment

The highest-paying job is not always the largest market, and that distinction changes the practical calculus. Riverside, CA leads on salary at $149,441, while Los Angeles, CA supports roughly 780 workers locally, a useful sanity check before committing to a long training path for a role with limited local openings.

Riverside, CASOC 25-1193
$149K
190
San Diego, CASOC 25-1193
$143K
140
Los Angeles, CASOC 25-1193
$138K
780
Fresno, CASOC 25-1193
$136K
60
San Francisco, CASOC 25-1193
$134K
230
Sacramento, CASOC 25-1193
$124K
50
Champaign, ILSOC 25-1193
$106K
110
Phoenix, AZSOC 25-1193
$104K
80

How to Choose a High-Paying Job Strategically

Salary rankings are a starting point, not a decision. In Recreation and Fitness Study Teacher, the gap between Riverside, CA at $149,441 and the early-pay signal from San Diego, CA at $108,931 shows why access, market size, and training timelines belong in the same conversation as the headline number. That is where this page becomes more useful than a simple ranking list.

1
Match salary to access realistically
A high median means little if there are only a handful of openings per year. Check the employment estimate alongside the salary. A role with 780 workers in Recreation and Fitness Study Teacher is fundamentally easier to enter than one with a few hundred.
2
Factor in education and licensure timelines
Some of the highest-paying roles on this list sit in prep bands such as Varies and often pair that with expectations like education path varies by employer. Build that timeline into your planning before targeting the salary ceiling.
3
Separate entry pay from long-run upside
The entry proxy column in this guide gives you an early-career anchor. A role that starts at $108,931 and scales to $143,079 offers a very different career arc than one that starts and peaks near the same figure.
4
Check the work before chasing the pay
Compare the day-to-day work with the training path before you commit. A role can rank highly on pay and still be a poor fit if the work itself does not match the kind of problems, environment, or responsibilities you want.
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Next Pages to Read

High-pay rankings are most useful when you read them alongside the core salary guide, the career entry path, and a few nearby role comparisons. That turns this page from a ranking into a better decision route for recreation and fitness study teacher.

FAQs

These questions cover the practical parts of the ranking: how entry pay is estimated, why wage fields sometimes differ by source, and how to compare the top salary with the real size of the job market.

Which city pays the most for Recreation and Fitness Study Teacher?
Riverside, CA currently leads this recreation and fitness study teacher ranking at $149,441 per year in Careerclev's current salary model, built from the latest available BLS OEWS wage baseline.
Is the entry-level pay data directly from BLS?
Not exactly. BLS publishes wage percentiles rather than experience-level labels, so Careerclev uses the 25th percentile (or the low-end wage where available) as an entry-pay proxy. It is a transparent approximation, not a direct label.
Which city pays the most for Recreation and Fitness Study Teacher?
Riverside, CA currently leads this recreation and fitness study teacher pay ranking at $149,441 per year, with an employment estimate of 190. Use the salary gap and employment depth together when comparing the strongest markets.
What kind of preparation does Recreation and Fitness Study Teacher usually require?
Recreation and Fitness Study Teacher is currently tagged as varies in the O*NET prep model. The most common education signal is education path varies by employer, while the training path is described as training path varies.
Does the top-paying market also have the deepest employment base?
Not always. Los Angeles, CA may support a deeper employment base than the #1 salary market, which can make them more practical despite a lower pay ceiling.
How should I compare salary with accessibility?
Use the ranking salary, entry-pay proxy, employment estimate, and preparation path together. The best target is usually the role that balances strong pay with a realistic path in.
Can a lower-ranked job be a better target than Riverside, CA?
Yes. A lower-ranked role can be the better choice if it has a shorter prep path, stronger entry pay, more openings, or a work profile that fits you better than Riverside, CA.
Why do some high-paying roles look hard to enter?
Many top-paying roles sit behind longer training, licensing, or related-experience requirements. That is why Careerclev shows preparation signals next to salary instead of treating all high-paying jobs as equally accessible.
🔬
Data Sources & MethodologyRankings use Careerclev salary facts built from BLS OEWS wage data and extended through Careerclev's current salary projection model where applicable. National pages use U.S. aggregate data, state pages use state-level data, and city pages use the BLS metro dataset behind the largest-city public label. Category labels are derived from BLS Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) major group codes, while prep-path notes come from imported O*NET job-zone and career requirement data where available.
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