Musician Salary Overview

"Music is a discipline, and a mistress of order and good manners, she makes the people milder and gentler, more moral and more reasonable." - Martin Luther

While it's perhaps not the goal of every musician to make people more moral and reasonable, it can't be denied that music and musicians play a huge part in human society and have for thousands of years. "Musician" is one of the oldest professions known to humankind. Long before there were accountants, biologists, lawyers or bartenders, musicians were already carving out their niche in society. As with a majority of artists, musicians are not typically the most well-paid group of people. When you think of "musician salary," do you picture a best-selling recording artist or that guy you just passed on the subway - the one with his guitar case open, playing for dollar bills? Those who become famous and earn a huge musician salary may be far and few between, but it's entirely possible for many people to make a good living as a musician. Salary will of course vary depending on a musician's skill level, the industry in which he or she works and more. PayScale's musician salary data can help you find which factors are most influential for the average musician salary.

Researching Musician Salary Data

As you can see from the Musician Salary by City graph, location plays a huge role in determining musician salaries. For cities with high musician salary, Los Angeles is currently far in the lead. Expand your research to Musician Salary by State and you'll find that overall, California offers the highest average musician salary. Of course, California is also a state that is known for having a fairly high cost of living, especially in the larger cities like Los Angeles. How far will a musician salary go given the cost of living in Los Angeles? You can use the PayScale Cost of Living Calculator to find both Cost of Living and Musician Salary Data for Los Angeles and other U.S. cities.

When it comes to professional musicians, a very small fraction of the group makes a vast majority of the money. Measuring Musician Salary by Industry shows that working in entertainment will bring in the highest musician salary - it's good work if you can get it. Unfortunately, we can't all be pop stars! Other lines of work for a musician include symphony/orchestral music and church worship music. Unlike most other professions, it's not necessarily required of a musician to have years and years of experience to earn a good musician salary. Research Average Musician Salary by Years Experience, and you'll find that musician salaries are actually highest for those who've been in the music business for five to nine years.

Musician Salary Story

Just like eight little notes can produce seemingly infinite variations, so many factors influence the average musician's salary that the data alone doesn't always give the whole picture. For a more personal account, read "Professional Musician Careers: Average Musician Salary" in the Salary Stories blog. It's the true story of Stefano Capobianco, a professional musician in Los Angeles. He's got insider information on working in the music industry and the steps involved in a musician's career, as well as what contributes to the average musician salary.