How much do musicians make a year?

BLS publishes only an hourly figure for musicians: $47.80 at the median (May 2025).

Straight answer · Musicians

Musicians make about $47.80 an hour.

Q: How much do musicians make?

The middle musician on a payroll earns $47.80 an hour.

The middle musician on a payroll earns $47.80 an hour.Verified

Musicians, U.S.	Pay
Middle (median) hourly	$47.80

Median hourly is verified from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 (released May 2026), occupation “Musicians and singers.” BLS does not publish a yearly figure for this job, because most of this work isn't full-time year-round. These are paychecks for people on someone else's payroll, before taxes.

If you work for yourself, that's not your number

When you own the work, nobody hands you a paycheck. You get what's left after the costs, and that's where the money leaks: pricing, unbilled time, fees, the bills that eat it. This lane's Fix Kit finds the leaks and shows the fix.

Music Royalties & SoundExchange: 11 Money Leaks

That's gross. What do you keep?

The number above is before taxes, before what comes out of your check, before the bills that eat it. TrueNET draws the line on what you really keep, free, in about a minute.

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