Online Life Coach Salary – How much does a life coach make is a question that people ask quite often.
Related to this are life coach prices and life coaching fees and packages.
In this post, we’ll cover everything related to the salary of an online life coach. You’ll discover the average life coach salary plus how much does a life coach make per hour.
We’ll also explore why most successful coaches are making six figures, while others scrape by.
Key Takeaways:
- The average life coach salary is $47,100 globally and $62,500 in North America.
- Most coaches who specialize in a specific niche tend to earn higher salaries.
- Many coaches will build other income streams from books or other forms of content creation.
What is the Average Salary of an Online Life Coach?
The salary of an online life coach —like any other professional— is influenced by many factors. These include everything from the individual skills and qualifications of a life coach, years of experience, to where they are located.
Online Life Coach Salary
Let’s have a look at the global average salaries of life coaches…
According to a recent study that was commissioned by the International Coaching Federation (ICF), the average global salary of life coaches is $47,100.
That’s around $3,925 per month, which isn’t too shabby.
This study evaluated 22,457 real coaches from 161 countries so, it can give you a good idea about how the industry is doing globally.
In Western Europe, the average life coach salary was reported as equivalent to $51,100. Meanwhile, the average life coach salary in North America is $62,500.
So, how are the other regions’ life coaches doing?
Here are the numbers:
Latin America and the Caribbean: $20,900
Eastern Europe: $19,100
Middle East and Africa: $34,900
Asia: $33,600
Oceania: $61,100
As you can see, the numbers vary significantly between different regions. And even if we focus on a single, large market for life coaches like the US, different sources have different numbers.
Average Life Coach Salary Per Hour
The ICF study didn’t dive into the figures the average life coach salary per hour. However, this is reported by a range of other online sources. The following are the average life coach salaries per year and per hour in the US, according to some of the world’s top labor statistics websites:
| Source | Annual salary | Hourly rate |
| Payscale | $63,846 | $35.47 |
| Glassdoor | $61,875 | $23.76 |
| ZipRecruiter | $68,397 | $33 |
| Indeed | $35,207 | $17.21 |
As you’ve probably noticed, the numbers vary significantly, despite all being for life coaches who are working in the US.
One thing to keep in mind though is that the “average” online life coach salary isn’t an indicator of how much you are going to make. In terms of an average hourly fee, life coaches can make anything between $25 to $300 per hour. And in some cases, thousands of dollars per hour.
It all depends on your qualifications, your proven success as a life coach, your personal brand, and your specialization.
Life Coach Earnings by Specialization
Specialization is a factor that has a strong influence on a life coach’s salary. Some of the life coaching specializations are in more demand and as a result, there is more money in them.
The following are the most common life coach specializations, as well as their average earnings:
1. Health and Fitness Coach Salary
Sports coaching is a lucrative field. Sports coaches —especially in major sports leagues— make a lot of money and have a great experience in helping to achieve their health and fitness goals. Some sports coaches and athletes make the transition to becoming healthy and fitness life coaches, and many people are willing to pay top dollar for this skillset.
Related: Best High-Income Skills To Make You Rich
2. Spiritual Life Coach Salary
Spiritual life coaches guide people through difficult emotions that are usually related to things like grief over death, divorce…etc. Asides from star spiritual coaches like Eckhart Tolle —who authored the best-seller The Power of Now, spiritual life coaches make an average of $83,000 per year.
3. Business Coach Salary
This role is closely related to business consulting, and therefore the average salary is comparable. Business executive coaches work primarily to guide businesses when it comes to getting an edge over competitors, and achieving goals. If you can position yourself as a business coach, you can expect to make anything between $72,000 to $110,000 per year.
Even though these salaries are generally impressive, there is more to these numbers than meets the eye…
Related: How Much Does It Cost To Become A Life Coach?
What other income streams do life coaches have?
The above numbers cover the income of life coaches that are related directly to coaching. And by “related directly to coaching”, we mean the money that life coaches make from coaching other people.
This excludes all other revenue streams for life coaches, which in some cases, are pretty significant. Someone like Tony Robbins —recognized by many as the godfather of life coaching— makes millions every year from speeches and books alone.
That’s with zero hours of coaching per year.
Of course, we can’t say that Tony Robbins is the norm. What we’re saying is that additional services like books, speeches, YouTube content, and seminars do affect the income of a life coach.
Aspiring life coaches won’t have people waiting in line to buy their book or hear their speeches when they’re just getting started with one-on-one coaching, but that can change over time. Perhaps you’ll decide to offer support through these other services once you’ve completed your coach training and built a successful coaching business.
Remember, even the biggest names in the life coaching business had humble beginnings and made it to where they are today with consistent effort and perseverance.
Most life coaches aren’t salaried employees. They’re self-employed who can set individual rates for individual clients, so the income of people working in this occupation can vary significantly.
Related: 10 Best Life Coach Certifications Online ICF Accredited
What is a Life Coach?
Many people are confused when it comes to defining what an online life coach does. There is a popular misconception that life coaches and therapists are the same, which isn’t true.
Since we are shedding light on how much do life coaches make, we want to make sure that you understand what a life coach is.
While there are some similarities between what many life coaches and therapists do, there is a major difference when it comes to the type of service they provide.
Therapists are healthcare professionals who help people deal with emotional trauma and mental health issues. Sometimes, these mental and emotional issues even have physical symptoms.
Life coaches, on the other hand, are not healthcare professionals and don’t specialize in dealing with people who suffer emotional trauma and mental health conditions.
Of course, every rule has exceptions, as some life coaches have the training and education that enables them to blur the line between life coaching and therapy.
The general rule though is that life coaching isn’t about helping people overcome the past, it’s about helping them achieve the most out of their future. This includes helping people identify goals and problematic habits that are keeping them from achieving those goals.
Life Coach Certification
There are different reputable certification programs for life coaches. While certification isn’t always necessary, the profession isn’t completely unregulated like what some people might think.
A new coach will find it easier to a client base when they are certified. What’s more, certified life coaches will find it easier to attract new clients to pay them higher rates. It will also make you better qualified to offer a valuable life coaching service, so you can receive good reviews and referrals from your active clients. As such, it’s worth it for new coaches to invest the time and money into a life coaching certification.
For more information, see my list of the best life coaching certifications.
How To Become A Life Coach
I have written a full guide on how to become a life coach for those who are interested in starting a life coaching career. This guide will teach you how to develop your coaching vision, what training you need, and the skills you’ll need to develop.
Related: How Much Does It Cost To Become A Life Coach In 2024?
do life coaches make good money?
The short answer is an astounding YES!
Even with the big salary gap in the life coaching industry, most life coaches have good hourly rates and make a decent living. On top of that, they can set their own schedule and their own prices. Great life coaches make a great living, which is pretty much the norm in any industry.
The key takeaway is that the ceiling for life coaches is high. Life coaches increase their rates regularly as they become more experienced or qualified. If you set an earnings limit for a certain amount per week or year, this will prevent you from seeing the opportunities that lie ahead of you.
Set goals that continue to excite. If other people in your chosen niche can do it, you can do it. The sky is the limit for income potential with a successful coaching business. Remember that!
Any More Questions?
Thanks for reading my life coach salary guide. I hope that you have all the information you were looking for. Perhaps you’ve even been inspired to set up your own coaching business full-time.
If you have more questions about how life coaches work or their average annual salary, I have more guides than can help you.
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