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Athletic Trainers vs Licensed Practical and Licensed Vocational Nurses: what changes?

Consider Athletic Trainers if you want to evaluate and treat musculoskeletal injuries or illnesses. Consider Licensed Practical and Licensed Vocational Nurses if you would rather care for ill, injured, or convalescing patients or persons with disabilities in hospitals, nursing homes, clinics, private homes, group homes, and similar institutions. Entry credentials differ: Athletic Trainers, master's degree; Licensed Practical and Licensed Vocational Nurses, postsecondary nondegree award.

Try this next: Compare three local entry-level postings for Athletic Trainers and Licensed Practical and Licensed Vocational Nurses. List the duties, credentials, prior experience, and paid training each employer actually asks for. Try a supervised class or sample project from each field before choosing a program.

BLS 2025 wages and 2025–2035 projections. National medians are not starting offers. Occupation size is not a count of vacancies. View the BLS data.

Compare the practical differences
What this means in practice

The facts most likely to affect your decision

Start with earnings, the route into the job, training, available openings, and a day-to-day reality.

Athletic Trainers

National median pay (2025)
$62,520
Route into the job
Master's degree
Prior related experience
No prior related occupation is typically required; employer requirements vary.
Training and licensing
BLS does not list a separate on-the-job training requirement. Employers may still provide orientation and role-specific training.
Work to investigate
Conduct an initial assessment of an athlete's injury or illness to provide emergency or continued care and to determine whether they should be referred to physicians for definitive diagnosis and treatment.
Annual openings (2025–2035)
2,400
Know before you choose

The helping mission includes documentation, direct care, and safety-critical routines where a missed detail can affect a patient.

See the full Athletic Trainers brief

Licensed Practical and Licensed Vocational Nurses

National median pay (2025)
$64,400
Route into the job
Postsecondary nondegree award
Prior related experience
No prior related occupation is typically required; employer requirements vary.
Training and licensing
BLS does not list a separate on-the-job training requirement. Employers may still provide orientation and role-specific training.
Work to investigate
Observe patients, charting and reporting changes in patients' conditions, such as adverse reactions to medication or treatment, and taking any necessary action.
Annual openings (2025–2035)
51,800
Know before you choose

Exposure to illness or infection is a recurring part of the work context, even when safety procedures are followed.

See the full Licensed Practical and Licensed Vocational Nurses brief
See scores, detailed data, and how the comparison works

How the national numbers differ

1

Licensed Practical and Licensed Vocational Nurses has the edge on annual openings

Licensed Practical and Licensed Vocational Nurses is at 51,800 annual openings, compared with 2,400 annual openings for Athletic Trainers.

2

Athletic Trainers has the edge on projected growth

Athletic Trainers is at 12.7% projected growth, compared with 3% projected growth for Licensed Practical and Licensed Vocational Nurses.

3

Typical preparation differs.

Athletic Trainers: Master's degree Licensed Practical and Licensed Vocational Nurses: Postsecondary nondegree award Preparation categories do not establish admission difficulty, calendar time, tuition, time without earnings, or licensing difficulty.

4

Licensed Practical and Licensed Vocational Nurses has the edge on median pay

Licensed Practical and Licensed Vocational Nurses is at $64,400, compared with $62,520 for Athletic Trainers.

51.8/ 100

Athletic Trainers

vs
63.8/ 100

Licensed Practical and Licensed Vocational Nurses

Each available metric is ranked from 0 to 100 against the careers on ChooseField. The weighted average uses this profile: pay 30%, growth 25%, openings 30%, preparation level 15%. Missing values are not scored as zero; their weights are redistributed across available metrics. Occupation size has zero weight: employment is not accessible vacancies. Preparation categories do not measure admission difficulty or years without earnings. The score summarizes national measures; local opportunities and personal fit still need separate consideration.

Detailed evidence

Athletic Trainers vs Licensed Practical and Licensed Vocational Nurses

DimensionAthletic TrainersLicensed Practical and Licensed Vocational Nurses
Median pay (2025)$62,520$64,400
Pay percentile52.4 percentile56 percentile
Projected growth (2025–2035)12.7%3%
Annual openings (2025–2035)2,40051,800
2025 employment35,200666,900
How you qualifyMaster's degreePostsecondary nondegree award
O*NET preparation groupJob Zone 5Job Zone 3
Related work experienceNo prior related occupation is typically required; employer requirements vary.No prior related occupation is typically required; employer requirements vary.
On-the-job trainingBLS does not list a separate on-the-job training requirement. Employers may still provide orientation and role-specific training.BLS does not list a separate on-the-job training requirement. Employers may still provide orientation and role-specific training.

The table reports national benchmarks and reviewed work descriptions. It does not rate personal suitability, job security, or physical safety.

Read Athletic Trainers briefRead Licensed Practical and Licensed Vocational Nurses brief

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Athletic Trainers vs Occupational Therapist

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Athletic Trainers
$62,520 · 12.7% growth
Occupational Therapist
$100,330 · 14.8% growth
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Athletic Trainers
$62,520 · 12.7% growth
Acupuncturists
$76,040 · 8.6% growth
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Licensed Practical and Licensed Vocational Nurses vs Psychiatric Technicians

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Licensed Practical and Licensed Vocational Nurses
$64,400 · 3% growth
Psychiatric Technicians
$45,130 · 22.3% growth
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Licensed Practical and Licensed Vocational Nurses vs Ophthalmic Medical Technicians

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Licensed Practical and Licensed Vocational Nurses
$64,400 · 3% growth
Ophthalmic Medical Technicians
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ChooseField compares fields using public labor-market and professional sources.