NAICS code for a personal trainer: 812990, or 713940 if you run a gym

This page is for self-employed trainers filling in a business code on a tax return, an LLC filing, an insurance application or a bank account, for studio owners deciding between a training code and a gym code, and for sellers who target trainers and gyms.

The codes for fitness work

812990 is a residual code. Its other examples include bail bonding, wedding planning, dating services, personal shoppers and personal chefs, which is why the establishment count says nothing about trainers.

How to choose: facility, instruction or service

The Census Bureau's cross-references settle this more clearly than for most occupations. The 713940 definition sends "personal fitness training services without facilities" to 812990, and so does 611620's. The 713940 definition also sends instruction-led businesses (its examples are aerobic dance or exercise instruction and yoga instruction) to sector 61.

1. Do you operate the space? If members or clients pay you to use a facility you run, you're 713940. If you train in clients' homes, parks, online or a gym you don't run, you're 812990.
2. Is the product instruction or training? A business built around classes or courses (a bootcamp program, a martial arts school, a teacher training course) fits 611620 or 611699. One-to-one coaching on a client's own program fits 812990.
3. Is it clinical? Exercise physiology in a health practitioner's office is 621340, and fitness evaluations outside a practitioner's office are 621999.

The private studio row is our reading of the definitions: 713940 is about operating fitness facilities for clients to use, so a trainer who rents a room only to run their own sessions still sells training, not facility access. If the studio sells memberships or open-gym time, it's a fitness center.

The SIC code

The 1987 SIC manual has no entry for personal trainers. Two codes come closest. SIC 7991, Physical Fitness Facilities, covers "reducing and other health clubs, spas, and similar facilities featuring exercise and other active physical fitness conditioning," including aerobic dance and exercise classes; it maps to 713940. SIC 7999, Amusement and Recreation Services, Not Elsewhere Classified, lists professional sports instructors and yoga instruction. The Census concordance traces 812990 to five SIC codes, including 7299, Miscellaneous Personal Services, and 7999. So a gym owner gives 7991, and a freelance trainer asked for SIC usually gives 7999 or 7299. Check pairs in the NAICS to SIC converter.

How many trainers and gyms there are

Census can't count trainers directly: most work for gyms, which are counted as gyms, and self-employed trainers without staff aren't in County Business Patterns. The better count is from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Its Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics for May 2025 show 322,930 people employed as exercise trainers and group fitness instructors (SOC 39-9031), with an annual mean wage of $52,420 and a median of $47,160. By industry:

Shares are our calculation. OEWS counts wage and salary jobs and excludes the self-employed, so independent trainers are additional.

For the facilities, CBP 2023 counts 41,556 fitness and recreational sports center establishments (713940) with 708,273 employees and $13.5 billion in annual payroll, about 17 employees per establishment. 8,944 (21.5%) have 20 or more employees. The top states are California (5,371), Texas (3,465), Florida (2,791), New York (2,498) and Pennsylvania (1,637). CBP uses NAICS 2017 codes; none of these changed in 2022.

Where the code is used, and what a wrong one costs

• Tax returns. Schedule C's list includes 812990, All other personal services, and puts fitness centers inside 713900, Other amusement and recreation services. A trainer without a gym uses 812990.
• Insurance. Trainer liability and gym policies cover different risks, so give the code that matches whether you run a facility.
• Loans and grants. SBA size standards are $15.0 million for 812990, $17.5 million for 713940, $9.0 million for 611620 and $16.5 million for 611699, in SBA's table effective 17 March 2023, all far above any solo practice.

Finding trainers and fitness businesses

Public gym operators file under SEC SIC 7997, Membership Sports and Recreation Clubs, not a fitness code:

For individual trainers, the US Registry of Exercise Professionals says it verifies credentials for over 130,000 fitness professionals, and certifying bodies publish their own lookups. Bebop finds studios and gyms from a description, such as boutique strength studios with 5 to 20 trainers in Denver.

Worked example

Illustrative example. The trainer and figures are invented; the codes and standards are the Census Bureau's and SBA's.

Maya runs Northside Strength LLC (northsidestrength.example). Last year she earned $68,000 training clients in their homes and at a gym where she rents floor time, $22,000 from an outdoor small-group bootcamp and $10,000 from online programs: $100,000 in all.

1. Code. One-to-one training is 68% of revenue and she runs no facility, so her code is 812990, on Schedule C as well. The bootcamp could be listed as 611620 where a form allows a secondary code.
2. If she opens a studio. She leases 2,000 square feet and sells monthly memberships. Once membership revenue passes her training revenue, the business becomes 713940 (SIC 7991).
3. Size. The smallest standard that could apply, $9.0 million for 611620, is 90 times her revenue, so she's small under every code she might use.

Next step: look up any other code in the NAICS code lookup.