Music Directors and Composers · SOC 27-2041

Highest-Paying Metro Areas for Music Directors and Composerss

Source: BLS OEWS, May 2025U.S. metropolitan areas

Metro areas ranked by published median annual wage for music directors and composers. Areas where BLS suppressed the median are not ranked (13 such areas are excluded here). Higher medians often track higher living costs — this is a pay comparison, not a ranking of where the job is “best”.

Top 25 of 52 metro areas

Music Directors and Composers: metro areas with the highest published median annual wages, May 2025
#	Metro area	Median annual	Employment	Per 1,000 jobs
1	Syracuse, NY	$140,230	120	0.4
2	Trenton-Princeton, NJ	$115,400	30	0.1
3	San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA	$112,950	320	0.1
4	Colorado Springs, CO	$104,690	40	0.1
5	New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ	$97,970	1,520	0.2
6	Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA	$94,700	110	0.1
7	Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA	$93,090	1,280	0.2
8	Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin, TN	$84,660	310	0.3
9	Rochester, NY	$84,130	180	0.4
10	Las Vegas-Henderson-North Las Vegas, NV	$82,920	Not published	Not published
11	Salt Lake City-Murray, UT	$82,570	100	0.1
12	Indianapolis-Carmel-Greenwood, IN	$81,770	90	0.1
13	Madison, WI	$79,870	70	0.2
14	Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH	$78,760	260	0.1
15	Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV	$78,760	320	0.1
16	Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX	$76,700	130	0.0
17	Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA	$75,030	190	0.1
18	Cleveland, OH	$74,370	100	0.1
19	San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA	$74,270	170	0.1
20	Scranton--Wilkes-Barre, PA	$73,610	40	0.2
21	Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT	$71,850	40	0.1
22	Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton, PA-NJ	$71,800	40	0.1
23	Lancaster, PA	$71,100	40	0.2
24	Urban Honolulu, HI	$69,330	70	0.2
25	Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC	$67,590	40	0.0

Full state and metro tables, the national distribution, and the pay map are on the Music Directors and Composers overview.

About this data. Estimates are from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics program, May 2025 release, retrieved from bls.gov/oes/tables.htm on July 24, 2026. OEWS estimates describe metropolitan/nonmetropolitan areas and states — not city limits — and are not designed for year-over-year comparisons. See BLS methodology, our plain-English methodology, and sources. CitySalaryData is independent and not affiliated with BLS.