Training and Development Specialist Salary in 2026: Pay by State, Industry and City

How Much Does a Training and Development Specialist Make?

A training and development specialist makes $69,280 a year at the median and $33.31 an hour, in the May 2025 federal wage survey, the same figure the handbook gives. The survey counts 458,300 training and development specialists, and the pay runs across a wider band than the midpoint suggests.

The 10th percentile is $38,760 and the 25th is $50,110, so a quarter of training and development specialists earn $50,110 or less. The 75th percentile is $95,050 and the 90th is $123,250, which is $84,490 above the 10th. If you're starting out, plan around the lower quarter. Established training and development specialists are who the upper quarter describes, and the sector and employer figures below show which employers put their own median anywhere near it.

A median is a midpoint, not an offer. Half of training and development specialists earn more than $69,280 and half earn less, and the mean of $75,550 is $6,270 higher, so the top end pulls the average up by a modest amount. The sharper fact is at the bottom. Accommodation and food services, which employs 35,550 training and development specialists, pays a median of $35,360, under the occupation's own 10th percentile of $38,760. Where you train people decides your pay more than the fact that you train them.

Training and Development Specialist Salary by State

Training and Development Specialist salary by state runs from a median of $88,570 in Delaware to $52,290 in Arkansas, across the 50 states and the District of Columbia where the survey publishes a median. A state median is a location figure: it reflects which employers are there and what living costs, not what any one employer pays.

Highest-Paying Cities for Training and Development Specialists

The highest-paying cities for training and development specialists are the metro areas below, the ten with the highest median among the 385 metro areas where the survey publishes one and at least 100 people hold the job. The second chart lists the ten metro areas that employ the most training and development specialists, which is where most of the openings are.

Training and Development Specialist Salary by Industry

Training and Development Specialist pay by industry is set out below for every industry sector where the survey publishes a median, highest first, with the number employed in each. A high median in a sector with few jobs is a real figure but a narrow door.

What Drives Training and Development Specialist Pay?

Training and development specialist pay is driven by the industry you train in, more than by anything else. Utilities pays a median of $126,550 across 4,400 training and development specialists, and mining, quarrying and oil and gas pays $100,340 across 950. Both are small sectors. The large ones that pay above the median are professional, scientific and technical services at $82,110 across 54,120 jobs, information at $82,170 across 13,920, finance and insurance at $78,490 across 34,460, and educational services at $75,090 across 47,360. The handbook names health care and social assistance as the largest employer, at 12 percent, and the survey puts it at $67,610 across 55,590 jobs, $1,670 under the national median. Retail trade pays $47,560 across 20,520 jobs and accommodation and food services pays $35,360 across 35,550.

Ownership is the second driver, and government pays more here. Government as a whole pays a median of $74,940 against $68,090 for private employers, a $6,850 difference, and private employers hold 411,540 of the jobs. Local government, including schools and hospitals, pays $77,420 across 27,530 training and development specialists. The federal government pays $92,960, but across only 1,060 jobs. State government pays $68,780, close to the private figure.

Metro area is the third. Dothan, AL pays $120,020, but with 120 training and development specialists in the whole metro. San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara pays $104,770 across 3,310, and San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont pays $95,050 across 6,310. Among the metros that employ the most training and development specialists, Boston-Cambridge-Newton pays $83,800 and Washington-Arlington-Alexandria pays $82,400, while Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, with 9,630 jobs, pays $62,630. At the state level Delaware leads at $88,570 and Arkansas sits at $52,290.

The handbook's employer-side factors are experience and certification. Training and development specialists need a bachelor's degree and related work experience, employers may hire candidates with a master's degree instead of work experience, and some employers prefer to hire certified candidates, and some positions require certification. Those decide which employers will consider you, and the sector split above decides what the job pays once they do.

How Can a Training and Development Specialist Earn More?

A training and development specialist earns more by changing the industry they train in, and the survey shows that lever is larger than any other. Moving from health care and social assistance at a median of $67,610 to professional, scientific and technical services at $82,110 is a $14,500 difference for the same title. Moving from retail trade at $47,560 to finance and insurance at $78,490 is $30,930. Utilities, at $126,550, pays $57,270 above the national median, though it employs 4,400 training and development specialists, so those openings are scarce.

Employer type is a smaller lever but a real one. Government pays $74,940 against $68,090 in private work, and local government, including public schools and hospitals, pays $77,420 across 27,530 jobs. Location adds more. San Jose pays $104,770, San Francisco $95,050 and Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue $89,550, and Boston pays $83,800 across 9,360 training and development specialists. The Washington metro pays $82,400 across 11,490.

The handbook's path up is a title change. Training and development specialists may advance to training and development manager or human resources manager positions, both of which are different jobs with their own pay. It also says some employers prefer certified candidates and some positions require certification, and that a master's degree can stand in for work experience with some employers. Read those as ways into the employers that pay more, since the handbook describes them as hiring factors.

The steps into the job, and whether a general studies degree is enough to get there, are in the training and development specialist career guide.