Also called: Professional Baseball Player
Plays professional baseball in Major League Baseball.
A 162-game season means playing almost every day from April to September. Players arrive hours early for batting practice, video review, and workouts. Most spend years in the minor leagues first.
Estimate based on MLB data: the minimum is about $760k, the median is around $1.5M, and stars earn $30M+.
Approximate: anchored on Bureau of Labor Statistics data for a broader job group.
High school diploma, about 4 years after high school. Most athletes start as kids and compete through high school and college; no degree is required, though many earn one. Players are drafted from high school or college and develop in the minor leagues.
Ways in: On-the-job training, Self-taught. Training cost: $15k – $60k.
Majors to look at: Kinesiology, Sports Management.
Growing faster than average (about 5% over 10 years). BLS projects 5% growth for all athletes and sports competitors (2024-34), but roster spots in each league are nearly fixed, so competition is extreme.
Low risk for 10 years. Analytics and pitch-tracking AI drive strategy and training; hitting and pitching stay human skills.
Classes: Weight training PE, NCAA-approved core courses, Statistics.
Official data: O*NET occupation 27-2021.
Career Universe is an early version. Pay, training and AI-risk figures are estimates to start your own research, not verified facts. The research was written with AI research assistants, checked by validation scripts and spot-checked by hand. Check anything important with schools, employers and official sources. How the numbers work.