To: coaches running their own practice
Subject: The industry · 3 min read
The coaching gender pay gap is mostly a niche gap
Male coaches average around $79,000, female coaches around $61,000, in a profession that is 72% female. Niche concentration explains most of it.
Coaching is a 72% female profession. Male coaches average around $79,000 a year; female coaches average around $61,000.
The published analysis attributes the gap primarily to niche concentration rather than to rates charged within the same niche.
Where the concentration sits
Men are disproportionately represented in executive and business coaching, the two niches that command the highest fees and sell predominantly to organisations. Women are disproportionately represented in life, health and relationship coaching, the three most crowded and lowest-paying seams.
The report also notes that female coaches are statistically more likely to undercharge in early career stages, which compounds the effect.
Why this is worth saying out loud
A structural gap has structural remedies. If the difference were purely rate-setting, the advice would be "charge more", which is both true and insufficient.
Because the gap is largely about which market you are selling into, the more useful lever is the one this publication keeps returning to: who signs the cheque. Moving toward employer-funded work changes the ceiling in a way that raising a consumer rate does not.
Sources · ICF Global Coaching Study 2025 · PayScale coaching salary data
Cite as: The Coaching Tribune, dispatch 017, 7 Sept 2026. coachingtribune.com