Personal Care & Fitness Jobs in Columbus, OH

On the official wage side, the broad SOC 39 family in Columbus showed a $33,530 annual median and a $38,650 annual mean in 2025. The BLS also reported a mean hourly wage of $18.58 for Columbus personal care and service occupations in May 2025. For fitness specifically, older BLS metro data put exercise trainers and group fitness instructors at a $39,850 annual median in May 2023. Directional proxy tables for May 2025 suggest about $37,410 for personal trainers and $36,260 for cosmetologists in Columbus. Recent local postings cluster around about $22 to $38 an hour, but that posting band is a directional sample rather than a market-wide wage measure.

Full September 2026 market report

Advertised pay

Across the 15 openings that disclose pay, the advertised range midpoint runs $44,720 at the 25th percentile, $55,000 at the median and $111,800 at the 75th. These are advertised ranges, not earned pay.

Active openings as of October 16, 2026

Senior roles | Entry level | Remote | Posted this week

Live from the Callings.ai index of over 13 million postings, refreshed hourly and re-checked here nightly. Roles that close are dropped at the next refresh.

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What our analysts see this month

Competitive market | next 3-6 months

Columbus is a workable but competitive market for Personal Care & Fitness right now: metro unemployment was 3.3% in August 2026, but Columbus Other Services employment, which covers many salon and personal-service businesses, was down -1.3825% year over year. At the state occupation level, Personal Care & Fitness employment in Ohio was down 1.0% year over year in September 2026, while active postings were essentially flat. Still, the local market showed more than 50 postings across more than 20 companies over the last 90 days, and fresh openings in the broader sense are being supported by new venues and public programming such as POWR-ZONE, Green|House Columbus, and Columbus Recreation and Parks fitness events.

Best positioned: The best odds right now go to candidates who can work on-site, show CPR/AED or a cosmetology license, and prove group-coaching or client-facing skill on day one.

Main caution: The biggest trap is assuming a wellness-heavy city means easy, high-paying jobs; most local postings skew entry level, and official Columbus personal-care wages averaged $18.58 an hour in May 2025 versus $32.34 across all occupations locally.

From the September 2026 market report

Who is hiring here

Counted across all 20 openings in this market. 2 of the employers below are hiring for more than one role right now.

1. Primetime Fitness: 2 open roles
2. Sharkey's Cuts for Kids International: 2 open roles
3. Crunch Fitness, Primetime Fitness LLC: 1 open role
4. Elements Massage: 1 open role
5. HairClub For Men, Ltd.: 1 open role
6. Hand and Stone Massage and Facial Spa, Inc.: 1 open role
7. Hand & Stone Corp.: 1 open role
8. JCPenney: 1 open role
9. JCPenney: 1 open role
10. Nationwide Children's Hospital Inc: 1 open role

Where the openings are

• Columbus: 10
• Dublin: 3
• Hilliard: 1
• Reynoldsburg: 1
• Genoa Township: 1
• Westerville: 1
• Lewis Center: 1
• New Albany: 1

Work arrangement

on-site 19 (100%)

Where the demand is

Opportunity is not spread evenly across every sub-role in this category. In the recent Columbus sample, wellness and fitness services made up about 45% of postings, with healthcare at about 20%, health, wellness & fitness at about 10%, retail at about 10%, and smaller slices elsewhere. That points first to trainer and instructor openings, then to wellness-adjacent service roles rather than a broad surge across every personal-care title. The named-employer picture also looks like a studio-and-service market, not a single dominant buyer. Orangetheory Fitness led the recent sample at around 15 postings, followed by Salon PS LLC at around 5, and overall hiring was fragmented across employers. Outside the posting sample, local signals also point to incremental opportunity around Life Time, YMCA of Central Ohio, Premier Fitness, POWR-ZONE, Green|House Columbus, and city recreation programming. For job seekers, the practical lesson is to pick a lane and tailor your proof for that lane instead of mass-applying across the whole category.

• Chain and boutique fitness studios (high): Best fit for trainers who can lead strength, heart-rate, or group formats. Local signals include Orangetheory Fitness in the posting sample, plus Life Time, YMCA of Central Ohio, Premier Fitness, and the new POWR-ZONE venue in broader local context.
• Beauty and salon services (moderate): A solid but license-gated lane. Salon PS LLC shows up in the employer sample, and cosmetology licenses appear regularly in local posting requirements.
• Community and residential wellness programming (moderate): Smaller but useful for instructors who can teach yoga, Pilates, senior fitness, or event-style classes, with Columbus Recreation and Parks and Green|House Columbus showing recent activity.

Where to focus: If you need the shortest path to interviews, focus on on-site group fitness roles first and lead with CPR/AED plus an NCCA-recognized or employer-approved trainer credential; if you are on the beauty side, go directly after license-gated roles rather than broad service postings.

Roles worth searching next

• Physical therapy aide or rehab tech: This is a logical bridge for trainers with movement coaching, equipment demonstration, and healthcare comfort, especially because healthcare accounts for about 20% of the local posting mix and U.S. Education and Health Services employment was up 1.9% year over year.
• Membership sales or client success at a fitness club: This fits candidates who like the industry but are stronger in customer conversion and retention. That matters because employers increasingly value client acquisition and retention, and Columbus hiring is spread across studio-style employers such as Orangetheory and other gym operators.
• Beauty retail advisor or salon coordinator: Retail makes up about 10% of the local mix, and this path lets cosmetology-track candidates use product knowledge, customer service, and scheduling strengths while building toward licensed service work.
• Wellness program coordinator: Recent Columbus signals show new wellness-heavy settings and community programming, including Green|House Columbus amenities and Columbus Recreation and Parks events, where scheduling, member experience, and instructor coordination matter.

What postings ask for

• CPR/AED certification (table_stakes | immediate): It is the most common local credential signal in postings, showing up in multiple phrased variants. Who: Anyone targeting trainer, instructor, recreation, or childcare-facing work.
• NCCA-recognized personal trainer certification (table_stakes | immediate): National employer guidance says NCCA-recognized certifications are almost always required by gyms, hospitals, or corporate wellness programs, and local postings also call for certified personal trainer or personal training certification. Who: Entry-level trainers, career switchers, and anyone applying outside independent freelance work.
• Strength training and fitness coaching (table_stakes | immediate): These are among the most-requested local hard skills, along with goal setting and heart-rate-focused training. Who: Trainer and instructor candidates who want the broadest local relevance.
• Customer service, motivational speaking, and equipment demonstration (differentiator | immediate): Local employers are not just buying technique; they also ask for client-facing skills that make onboarding and retention easier. Who: Entry-level candidates and career switchers who need to prove day-one readiness.
• Orangetheory-approved or heart-rate training format familiarity (differentiator | near-term): Local postings frequently mention Orangetheory certification language and heart-rate-focused training, which signals that branded or structured class formats can speed hiring. Who: Candidates targeting studio chains and coached small-group environments.
• Corrective Exercise or Senior Fitness specialization (premium | near-term): National trainer guidance says the most in-demand personal trainers pair a base certification with at least one specialization, including Corrective Exercise or Senior Fitness. Who: Mid-career trainers or entry-level candidates who need a sharper hook.

Questions about this market

What do Personal Care & Fitness roles pay in Columbus, OH?

On the official wage side, the broad SOC 39 family in Columbus showed a $33,530 annual median and a $38,650 annual mean in 2025. The BLS also reported a mean hourly wage of $18.58 for Columbus personal care and service occupations in May 2025. For fitness specifically, older BLS metro data put exercise trainers and group fitness instructors at a $39,850 annual median in May 2023. Directional proxy tables for May 2025 suggest about $37,410 for personal trainers and $36,260 for cosmetologists in Columbus. Recent local postings cluster around about $22 to $38 an hour, but that posting band is a directional sample rather than a market-wide wage measure. This is mostly a moderate-pay market, not a high-pay one. Even the broad Columbus all-occupation mean was $32.34 an hour in May 2025, well above the local personal-care mean. At the state level, mean offered salary on new Personal Care & Fitness openings was about $40,577 in September 2026, versus about $61,592 across all occupations in Ohio.

Where is demand for Personal Care & Fitness roles in Columbus, OH concentrated?

Opportunity is not spread evenly across every sub-role in this category. In the recent Columbus sample, wellness and fitness services made up about 45% of postings, with healthcare at about 20%, health, wellness & fitness at about 10%, retail at about 10%, and smaller slices elsewhere. That points first to trainer and instructor openings, then to wellness-adjacent service roles rather than a broad surge across every personal-care title. The named-employer picture also looks like a studio-and-service market, not a single dominant buyer. Orangetheory Fitness led the recent sample at around 15 postings, followed by Salon PS LLC at around 5, and overall hiring was fragmented across employers. Outside the posting sample, local signals also point to incremental opportunity around Life Time, YMCA of Central Ohio, Premier Fitness, POWR-ZONE, Green|House Columbus, and city recreation programming. For job seekers, the practical lesson is to pick a lane and tailor your proof for that lane instead of mass-applying across the whole category.

Which employers are hiring the most Personal Care & Fitness talent in Columbus, OH?

Recent postings show the most activity from Orangetheory Fitness (15 postings), Salon PS LLC (5 postings). See the full market report for the complete employer landscape.

How current are these listings?

Openings come from the Callings.ai live index of over 13 million jobs, refreshed hourly. This page searches postings from the last 30 days; run the search yourself to filter by anything else in plain language.

Browse Ohio openings by job title

• General Manager: 324 open roles statewide

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