How Much Do Bodybuilders Make?

If you’re considering pro bodybuilding as a career option then you’re probably wondering how much you might earn?

Now, obviously, Arnold Schwarzenegger has done very nicely from professional bodybuilding and his net worth is now $400 million! But not many bodybuilders are going to be Arnold Schwarzenegger.

In fact, according to federal tax data from 2018, a pro bodybuilder is likely to earn quite a bit less. The range of pay for pros in the industry runs from $19,726 at the lowest end and as much as $187,200 at the highest. Let’s take a look at this in a bit more detail.

Is The Fitness Industry Well-Paid?

The fitness industry itself can be quite well rewarded a personal trainer, for example, can lead a good life and a successful bodybuilder can pick up a decent income but overall, your net worth in this industry tends to be based on your success, your location and other things like you social media presence or popularity with fans.

How Much Does A Professional Bodybuilder Earn?

As we’ve already said there’s a big range for pay for bodybuilder work and your income can range from around $20,000 to $200,000!

However, the same federal tax data showed that the median – that is the people in the absolute middle earners making money from bodybuilding weren’t much more money than those at the bottom of the scale – with a median salary range of just $28,280 and $29,636!

That means that a lot of athletes aren’t getting much money or financial rewards from bodybuilding and are using part-time jobs to help keep the cash flowing.

However, a lot will depend on the way you approach growing your net worth as a bodybuilding pro.

There’s prizing money from competitions to be had and, of course, get a couple of Olympia wins under your belt and you’ll be rolling in so much money that you won’t be able to count it all.

But more realistically there are other ways to pick up the same kind of cash while bodybuilding, for example, if your social media space is hot, you could soon be selling supplements to your competitors and they won’t be able to muscle in on that action.

You could also supplement your income by training others at the gym, if you’re there for workouts anyway, why not grow your cash flow while you’re there?

What’s The Prize Money For Professional Bodybuilders Like?

However, there’s no doubt that if you want to transform yourself into the richest bodybuilder around then you’re going to have to win a competition or two like the Olympia competition which is often considered to be one of the world’s minimum standards for pro bodybuilders looking to establish a top rank reputation.

An Olympia winner doesn’t just join the ranks of top bodybuilders, they get paid a small fortune too – just think of the impact on your net worth if you could pick up the $400,000+ check for taking that title!

Ronnie Coleman didn’t get to be worth $10 million sitting around sipping on supplement brands, it took intense work and dedication.

The same is true for Lou Ferrigno, who turned his bodybuilding into $12 million!

Common Questions:

Do Bodybuilders Make Good Money?

The average bodybuilder won’t get paid a lot by the sport, even if they put in the hard work, but they can expect a decent living if they go beyond competitions and examine their overall potential – a good body can be a real gift if you want to work online at times or promote supplements.

If you want to be in the top ranks of the best-paid athletes then you’re going to need to win some competitions or you’re going to need to go beyond sports and start looking at other opportunities for athletes like yourself.

Is Bodybuilding A Good Career?

As you’ve seen not all bodybuilders are well paid but if this is a sport that calls to you? Then even bodybuilders without huge paychecks can be very happy.

This biggest concern for most bodybuilders is that this isn’t a career that you can really grow old in, sports athletes of all stripes generally have to retire when they reach their 30s or 40s and look for something else to do.

But if you’ve been taking care of your body, then you ought to find it easy to compete for work in the “real world” once you’ve finished with the sport.

Final Thoughts On Bodybuilding Professionally

It’s not easy to be a professional bodybuilder but it can be a very rewarding career.

You don’t have to be the next Arnold Schwarzenegger to make the most of being a professional bodybuilder either, you just need to work out how to create opportunities to earn.

If you’re hoping to turn pro, you might also enjoy these awesome bodybuilding documentaries and you might find that these post-work-out supplements and these awesome testosterone boosters (all-natural) help you get ahead.