Musician earnings by seniority

90th percentile

Top-level musician earnings begin at:

$80.44 per hour

$167,315 per year

75th percentile

Senior-level musician earnings begin at:

$57.55 per hour

$119,704 per year

50th percentile

Mid-level musician earnings begin at:

$36.52 per hour

$75,962 per year

25th percentile

Junior-level musician earnings begin at:

$17.65 per hour

$36,712 per year

10th percentile

Starting level musician earnings begin at:

$10.33 per hour

$21,486 per year

Approximate values based on highest and lowest earning segments.

Musician salary by state

State Name Average Salary
Nevada $86,174
Hawaii $79,280
South Carolina $77,085
Connecticut $75,962
New Mexico $69,430
Massachusetts $69,014
Texas $66,789
Pennsylvania $66,768
Georgia $65,541
New York $64,813
District of Columbia $64,272
California $63,669
Illinois $61,950
Missouri $55,931
Minnesota $55,578
New Jersey $55,515
Rhode Island $54,288
Florida $54,038
Arkansas $52,320
Colorado $50,898
Ohio $48,485
Michigan $47,320
Alabama $46,015
North Carolina $45,727
Oregon $45,406
Iowa $42,751
Louisiana $40,539
Tennessee $39,054
Kansas $35,232
Montana $33,280
Nebraska $30,805
Arizona $27,040
Virginia $27,000
Washington $25,480
Maryland $20,280

How do musician salaries compare to similar careers?

Musicians earn about the same as related careers in Connecticut. On average, they make less than audio engineers but more than composers.

Career Median Salary
Audio engineer salary $86K
Music teacher salary $87K
Talent director salary $70K
Music artist salary $76K
Singer salary $76K
Musician salary $76K
Conductor salary $50K
Composer salary $50K

Source: CareerExplorer (Aggregated)