Corporate Training Facilitator Pay and Rates 2026
BLS data for employed training staff. Honest context on external consultant day rates.
External facilitator cost is often the largest direct-cost line in instructor-led training budgets. It is also the least transparent market in the L&D industry. No single association publishes a comprehensive external-consultant day-rate table. Many rate tables in circulation (including the one previously published on this site) are not traceable to any public survey and have been removed. This page is the honest replacement: authoritative employed-staff salary data from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, plus a clear explanation of why external-consultant day rates cannot be published as a per-tier table without fabricating numbers.
Employed Training Staff: BLS OEWS May 2025
The US Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) May 2025 tables (released spring 2026) are the authoritative public source for corporate training staff pay. Both figures below are taken directly from the BLS data tables.
| Role | BLS Occupation Code | Median Annual Wage | Hourly 10th-90th Percentile |
|---|---|---|---|
| Training and Development Specialists | 13-1151 | $69,280 | $18.64-$59.26/hr |
| Training and Development Managers | 11-3131 | $133,000 | $63.94/hr median |
Source: US Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025. Specialist hourly range is the 10th-90th percentile. Prior year (May 2024): Specialist median $65,850.
Direct links: bls.gov/oes/current/oes131151.htm (13-1151) and bls.gov/oes/current/oes113131.htm (11-3131).
To convert BLS base wage to fully-loaded cost for L&D budgeting, multiply by 1.25-1.4 for benefits, employer payroll taxes, equipment, and overhead. At the Specialist median ($69,280), fully-loaded annual cost is approximately $87,000-$97,000. Use this for internal L&D headcount planning.
Projected employment growth 2024-2034 for Training and Development Specialists: 11 percent (much faster than the average for all occupations). BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook.
Training Staff Pay by State: BLS OEWS May 2025
These are the wages paid to employed Training and Development Specialists (BLS occupation code 13-1151) in each state, from the BLS OEWS May 2025 estimates. They are a benchmark for the labour cost of employing a trainer in a given state. They are not freelance facilitator day rates, and they are not what an external consultant charges you per delivery day. Employed-staff wages and consultant charge-out rates are different measures of different things. For why no sourceable external day-rate table exists, see the section immediately below.
The national median for 13-1151 is $69,280. The state spread around it is wide: Delaware has the highest median annual wage at $88,570 and Arkansas the lowest at $52,290. Sorted by median annual wage, highest first. Scroll the table for all 51 areas.
| State | Median annual wage | Median hourly wage |
|---|---|---|
| Delaware | $88,570 | $42.58 |
| New Hampshire | $86,050 | $41.37 |
| Alaska | $81,860 | $39.36 |
| Washington | $81,860 | $39.35 |
| District of Columbia | $80,980 | $38.93 |
| Massachusetts | $80,270 | $38.59 |
| Connecticut | $78,080 | $37.54 |
| Vermont | $77,800 | $37.41 |
| Virginia | $77,690 | $37.35 |
| New Jersey | $77,020 | $37.03 |
| Minnesota | $76,710 | $36.88 |
| Maryland | $76,370 | $36.72 |
| Oregon | $76,360 | $36.71 |
| New York | $76,080 | $36.58 |
| Rhode Island | $75,910 | $36.50 |
| California | $75,790 | $36.44 |
| Colorado | $75,790 | $36.44 |
| Florida | $71,990 | $34.61 |
| Pennsylvania | $71,350 | $34.30 |
| Wisconsin | $70,770 | $34.02 |
| Wyoming | $69,380 | $33.35 |
| Illinois | $67,380 | $32.39 |
| Georgia | $67,320 | $32.37 |
| Arizona | $67,140 | $32.28 |
| Iowa | $66,110 | $31.79 |
| Nebraska | $65,700 | $31.59 |
| Maine | $65,680 | $31.58 |
| North Carolina | $65,250 | $31.37 |
| West Virginia | $64,960 | $31.23 |
| Ohio | $64,780 | $31.15 |
| Alabama | $64,490 | $31.00 |
| Michigan | $64,350 | $30.94 |
| North Dakota | $63,260 | $30.41 |
| South Carolina | $63,070 | $30.32 |
| New Mexico | $62,900 | $30.24 |
| Montana | $62,880 | $30.23 |
| Texas | $62,860 | $30.22 |
| Tennessee | $62,280 | $29.94 |
| Kansas | $62,010 | $29.81 |
| Idaho | $61,720 | $29.67 |
| South Dakota | $61,570 | $29.60 |
| Kentucky | $61,390 | $29.52 |
| Nevada | $61,350 | $29.50 |
| Indiana | $61,050 | $29.35 |
| Oklahoma | $61,040 | $29.35 |
| Hawaii | $60,960 | $29.31 |
| Utah | $60,900 | $29.28 |
| Missouri | $58,670 | $28.21 |
| Louisiana | $58,070 | $27.92 |
| Mississippi | $53,680 | $25.81 |
| Arkansas | $52,290 | $25.14 |
Source: US Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025, state file (oesm25st.zip), occupation code 13-1151, Training and Development Specialists. Occupation page: bls.gov/oes/current/oes131151.htm. BLS data are in the public domain.
How this table was derived. Rows were filtered from the BLS state file to occupation code 13-1151 at state level, then restricted to the 50 states plus the District of Columbia, so territories are excluded and the table is a like-for-like comparison. Median annual and median hourly wages are the BLS values verbatim: nothing is rounded, interpolated, averaged or derived from anything else, and the hourly figure is BLS’s own, not the annual figure divided down.
Suppressed cells. BLS marks estimates it does not publish, and this table reproduces those marks rather than filling them in. All 51 areas published both a median annual and a median hourly wage in the May 2025 vintage. Three (Arizona, Missouri and New Hampshire) carry the BLS code ** in the employment column, meaning the employment estimate is not available; those cells are shown as not published and no substitute figure has been supplied.
Apply the same loading as the national figure above: multiply the state median by 1.25 to 1.4 for benefits, employer payroll taxes, equipment and overhead to get fully-loaded annual cost, then divide by roughly 260 working days for a per-working-day comparison. That gives you an internal-hire cost floor in your own labour market to hold an external quote against. It remains an employment cost, not a charge-out rate.
External Consultant Day Rates: Why This Page Will Not Publish a Tier Table
An earlier version of this page published a tiered table of external facilitator day rates (junior $1,500-$3,000, senior $3,500-$8,000, industry expert $8,000-$25,000, keynote $15,000-$50,000+). Those tiers are not traceable to any publicly-available industry survey that the site author can link to. On audit, those numbers were removed because the data integrity rules for the site require every dollar figure to link to a public URL.
What is genuinely in the public record on external training-consultant and coach rates:
- ICF 2023 Global Coaching Study (publicly summarised at coachingfederation.org): the most comprehensive public source for coaching session rate medians and ranges by experience band. Use the ICF published medians and ranges for 1:1 executive and leadership coaching.
- ATD research publications (td.org/research): selected figures are quoted in free summaries and press releases; the full member-survey data is paywalled.
- Learning and Performance Institute (LPI) publications (thelpi.org): some benchmark figures are quoted in LPI’s free content.
- Training Industry Magazine (trainingindustry.com): industry surveys occasionally publish facilitator-rate bands, usually framed as “industry-article estimate” rather than list price.
For procurement purposes, assume external-consultant day rates vary widely by specialisation depth, methodology certification, region, and travel terms. Get three written quotes for any engagement and compare them against the BLS employed-staff figures above to decide whether to hire an internal facilitator or engage a consultant.
What Drives Consultant Rate Variation
- Specialisation depth. A consultant with 20 years in a single domain (e.g. FDA GCP training, cybersecurity incident response) commands a higher rate than a generalist of comparable tenure.
- Methodology certification. Licensed delivery of proprietary programs (Sandler, Crucial Learning, Franklin Covey, Korn Ferry) carries licensing fees the consultant must recoup. Expect a base-rate premium of 20-40 percent for licensed methodology delivery, plus the licensing cost itself.
- Region. Metropolitan rates (New York, San Francisco, London) typically exceed national averages. Fully-remote delivery reduces rate premium but may extend engagement length.
- Travel and expenses. Usually quoted on top of day rate. Standard terms: economy/premium economy travel, 4-star or equivalent accommodation, per diem, at cost. Clarify before engagement.
- Intellectual property terms. Work-for-hire (you own the materials outright) costs more than ongoing-licensing (consultant retains materials, you pay for access). Price this explicitly.
Procurement Tips
- Get three written quotes. Compare structure (day rate vs programme fee) before comparing dollars.
- Normalise quotes to the same scope: delivery days, development days, materials, travel, licensing, rights.
- Ask about pass-through licensing fees upfront (methodology, assessment tools) and confirm they are quoted.
- Benchmark against the BLS employed-staff loaded cost: if day-rate-equivalent exceeds 2-3x the internal loaded rate, justify why an external engagement is better than hiring.
- For coaching engagements, cross-reference against the ICF 2023 Global Coaching Study published rate medians.
Sources: BLS OEWS May 2025, 13-1151; BLS OEWS May 2025 state file (13-1151 by state); BLS OEWS May 2025, 11-3131; BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook; ICF 2023 Global Coaching Study public summary; ATD Research; Learning and Performance Institute; Training Industry Magazine.
Last verified June 2026. Found an error? Report an error.