If you love soccer and love teaching, you may be looking to combine the two by becoming a soccer coach. One of the first things everyone looks at when considering a new job or career is how much it pays.
A soccer coach makes between $20,800 and $124,800 a year. The amount they earn will be dependent on what level of soccer they are coaching and how many hours a week they coach. Elite-level soccer coaches can make up to $45 million a year.
If you look at the top coaches in world soccer you will see they are earning huge amounts of money.
Diego Simeone, for example, is currently the highest-earning coach in world soccer. He is estimated to be earning around $3.8 million a month at Athletico Madrid. That’s $45.2 million a year!
Chances you’re not reading this as an elite-level coach(at least not yet!) trying to find out what other coaches earn. If you’re at that coaching level, you probably already know the answer to the question!
You probably just want to know what most soccer coaches out there are getting paid.
In this post, I have researched a range of different job listings for a soccer coach from across the US. I’ve presented them all here in an easy to read format for you to look at and compare.
The tables below will show you the location of the coaching jobs and the amount the coach will be paid both annually and per hour.
These tables should give you a much better, and clearer, idea of how much a soccer coach makes.
Five Categories of Soccer Coaching Roles
I’ve also split the examples of how much soccer coaches are paid into 5 different categories.
- Head Soccer Coach
- Assistant Soccer Coach
- High School Soccer Coach
- Middle School Soccer Coach
- Youth Soccer Coach
While researching this I noticed that these 5 categories cover the vast majority of the jobs that are available out there. There are a few other options I came across occasionally (such as soccer coach for toddlers) but those were not very common.
50 Examples from around the US of how much money a soccer coach makes
Let’s start by looking at what jobs are currently on offer around the country for a head soccer coach to earn.
*Note: all the results below are based on a full-time 40-hour working week. What is actually on offer when it comes to the hours available to work can and do vary between job offers.*
Head Soccer Coach
A head soccer coach can make anywhere from $21,600 – $124,800 a year, or $10.38 – $60 an hour. The highest paid jobs are often reserved for the top-level coaches who are highly qualified and come with significant experience.
A head soccer coach should know everything there is to know about soccer ID camps. Have a look at my article – Are soccer ID camps worth it? – for more info on this topic.
Assistant Soccer Coach
An assistant soccer coach can make anywhere from $20,800 – $104,000 a year, or $10 – $60 an hour. The highest paid jobs are often reserved for coaches with the most qualifications and experience.
High School coach
A high school soccer coach can make anywhere from $25,000 – $124,800 a year, or $12.02 – $60 an hour. High schools will look to pay a coach more if they have relevant qualifications and experience.
For more information about high school soccer, check out one of my related articles: What are high school soccer tryouts REALLY like? or High school Vs professional soccer field.
Middle School Coach
A middle school coach can make anywhere from $20,000 – $68,848 a year, or $9.62 – $33.1 an hour. Middle school coaches are less well paid than other soccer coaches, but their earnings can increase with qualifications and experience.
Youth Soccer Coach
A youth soccer coach can make anywhere from $20,800 – $120,000 a year, or $10 – $57.69 an hour. How much a youth soccer coach earns will depend upon the team’s success and reputation, along with how much experience and qualifications the coach has.
For more information on youth soccer, check out my article on Youth Soccer Positions. And for a complete guide on how to be a youth soccer coach, check out my article – How to Coach Youth Soccer: My Top Tips.
So what is the average salary for a soccer coach?
By looking through the information and research above, based on a selection of jobs that are being advertised right now, we can see what the average salary a soccer coach is.
On average, a soccer coach makes approximately $50,000 a year or $24 an hour. A soccer coach’s earnings depend on a variety of factors, including the team’s success and age, and the coach’s reputation, experience, and qualifications.
There are obviously a lot of variables around these numbers. And it is important to remember this is an average, not an exact figure that all coaches will earn. But this should give you a good idea of what amount of money a soccer coach can make.
How Much Top-level Soccer Coaches Earn
Now we have established what the majority of soccer coaches make, you may still be interested in what sort of money is made at the very top of the game.
Although coaches change often and contracts are renegotiated all the time I have listed below the current top earning coaches in world soccer right now. This should give you an idea of how much money coaches at the very highest level of the make.
Qualifications Needed for Coaching Soccer
To be a good soccer coach you need to know what you’re doing and what you’re talking about. One of the best ways to do that is to get a coaching qualification.
With the right coaching qualification, you are much more likely to be offered a soccer coaching job and be able to earn the amount of money that is on offer.
So what qualifications does a soccer coach need?
To coach a recreational or youth team you often don’t need a qualification.
There are often just looking for volunteers to help out and any knowledge or experience of the game is good. This can be a great place to start if you’re looking for some experience coaching.
Having a qualification, however, is not only an advantage when coaching but many organizations actually require one when you apply for a job as a coach.
Coaching License Pathway from US Soccer
US Soccer offers a Coaching License Pathway that is universally accepted and recognized across the US.
Other than having a bachelor’s degree which some of the higher-level coaching jobs require, these qualifications are the most important qualifications to have.
There are 10 different levels to their courses –
- 4×4 – online or in-person course
- 7×7 – online or in-person course
- 9×9 – online or in-person course
- 11×11 – online or in-person course
- D – in-person course
- C – in-person course
- B – in-person course
- A Senior – in-person course
- A Youth – in-person course
- Pro – in-person course
As you move further along the pathway the pre-requisites, time commitment, and evaluation criteria become increasingly more robust.
The first few levels up to “D” are designed more for people coaching at a grassroots level. From there up the coaching courses are aimed at people coaching at a professional level.
Many high school and college prefer a coach to have at least achieved level “D” of the Coaching License Pathway. For a youth soccer coach, the expectation is often lower.
As I have mentioned before this does vary from coaching role to coaching role. Some coach’s roles only need experience whereas some roles at the very top of the game require a Pro coaching qualification.
Conclusion
So in conclusion, a soccer coach can make a reasonable income at any level of the game.
But as you progress up into the more competitive and professional games you will require a higher level of qualifications and experience, but you will also earn more for the coaching ability that you bring to the role.
If you found this post helpful you may also enjoy reading another one of my related articles:
- Do soccer players get paid more than football players?
- Do soccer players get paid more than basketball players?
- Do college soccer players get paid?
*Check out the next post – Soccer vs Football – How The Sports Compare*
