Athletic Trainer
44,424 active US providers register Athletic Trainer as their primary taxonomy. That is 0.5% of every provider in the registry, and the 50th largest of 584 specialties with a page here.
- Taxonomy code
- 2255A2300X
- Grouping
- Respiratory, Developmental, Rehabilitative and Restorative Service Providers
- Classification
- Specialist/Technologist
- Specialization
- Athletic Trainer
- Active providers
- 44,424
- States covered
- 51 of 51
What the code means
Athletic trainers are allied health care professionals who work in consultation with or under the direction of physicians, and specialize in the prevention, assessment, treatment and rehabilitation of injuries and illnesses. Currently, the entry-level employment requirements are a bachelor's degree with a major in athletic training from an accredited university or college. A majority of athletic trainers hold advanced degrees. National board certification is generally required as a condition of state licensure and employment. Most states regulate athletic trainers, and they practice within the scope of that license or regulation. Clinical practice includes emergency care, rehabilitation, reconditioning, therapeutic exercise, wellness programs, exercise physiology, kinesiology, biomechanics, nutrition, psychology and health care administration.
Definition quoted verbatim from the NUCC Health Care Provider Taxonomy code set, version 25.1. Not paraphrased.
Where they are
Counted by practice location, not by mailing address or by licence state. A provider practising across a state line is counted where they practise.
| State | Providers | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Texas | 3,008 | |
| Pennsylvania | 2,865 | |
| California | 2,578 | |
| Ohio | 2,400 | |
| Florida | 2,195 | |
| Illinois | 1,938 | |
| North Carolina | 1,636 | |
| New York | 1,604 | |
| Indiana | 1,584 | |
| Michigan | 1,527 | |
| Virginia | 1,442 | |
| Georgia | 1,430 | |
| Wisconsin | 1,233 | |
| New Jersey | 1,150 | |
| Massachusetts | 1,068 |
Showing the 15 largest of 51 states with at least one.
Who registers under this code
Almost all of these are individual clinicians: 44,203 people against 221 organisations. Half of them had registered by 2017, and 10,313 registered in the last five years, 23% of the current population.
That is close to the pace of the registry as a whole.
Where the practices are
By practice-location city. City counts are noisier than state counts, because a large employer files one address for many providers.
- INDIANAPOLIS, IN296
- HOUSTON, TX258
- CINCINNATI, OH245
- PITTSBURGH, PA236
- SAN DIEGO, CA233
- CHICAGO, IL215
- COLUMBUS, OH204
- OGDEN, UT204
- ORLANDO, FL196
- PHILADELPHIA, PA190
What else they list
Providers whose primary code is Athletic Trainer most often carry these secondary taxonomies as well. This is the closest thing the registry has to a map of which specialties overlap in practice, and it is not published anywhere else.
| Also listed | Providers | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Student in an Organized Health Care Education/Training Program | 2,437 | 5.5% |
| Basic Emergency Medical Technician | 192 | 0.4% |
| Physical Therapist | 152 | 0.3% |
| Physical Therapy Assistant | 131 | 0.3% |
| Massage Therapist | 127 | 0.3% |
| Sports Physical Therapist | 44 | 0.1% |
| Orthopedic Assistant | 35 | 0.1% |
| Health Educator | 32 | 0.1% |
Nearby specialties
Other taxonomies NUCC files under Specialist/Technologist.
- Speech-Language Assistant12,979
- Speech/Language/Hearing Specialist/Technologist627
- Respiratory/Developmental/Rehabilitative Specialist/Technologist593
- Blind Rehabilitation Specialist/Technologist376
Looking up a specific provider
These counts come from the monthly NPPES file. To check one provider, use their NPI: the lookup reads the live registry and shows whether the identifier is still active, which the monthly file cannot tell you about the last few weeks.
Counts from npidata_pfile_20050523-20260712.csv, built 2026-08-09. Primary taxonomy only, deactivated identifiers excluded.