Music Directors and Composers · SOC 27-2041

Music Directors and Composers Salary in the Boston Metro Area

Source: BLS OEWS, May 2025Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH metro area

Figures describe the Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH metropolitan statistical area as defined by BLS/OMB — the whole multi-county metro region, not Boston city limits.

Median annual wage$78,760
Median hourly wage$37.87

Music Directors and Composers in the Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH metro area earned a median of $78,760 per year ($37.87 per hour) as of the May 2025 BLS OEWS estimates. Pay ranged from $51,120 at the 10th percentile to $140,710 at the 90th. BLS estimates 260 people work in this occupation in the area.

Pay distribution

Half of Music Directors and Composers in the Boston metro area earn more than $78,760 per year, half earn less; the middle half earn between $64,520 and $107,910.

Wage percentiles (BLS OEWS)
Wage10th25thMedian75th90th
Annual$51,120$64,520$78,760$107,910$140,710
Hourly$24.58$31.02$37.87$51.88$67.65

A percentile is a cut point: 25% of workers in this occupation and area earn less than the 25th-percentile wage. The median is the 50th percentile — half earn less, half earn more.

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How this area compares

  • Boston metro areathis metro area
    $78,760 median for Boston metro area; middle half earns $64,520 to $107,910
  • Massachusettsstate (MA)
    $78,620 median for Massachusetts; middle half earns $63,800 to $114,150
  • $73,710 median for United States; middle half earns $53,110 to $104,090

Bars span the 25th–75th percentile (the middle half of workers); the tick marks the median.

The median here is about the same vs Massachusetts overall and +7% vs the U.S. median for this occupation.

Compare with other areas

Where this metro sits nationally

$40,500$73,743$106,987$140,230Binghamton, NY — $40,500Fresno, CA — $46,960Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL — $49,150Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN — $50,530Akron, OH — $51,530Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI — $52,900Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk, VA-NC — $55,130Salem, OR — $56,730Pittsburgh, PA — $57,650Richmond, VA — $57,860Columbus, OH — $58,490Raleigh-Cary, NC — $58,570Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, FL — $59,720Jacksonville, FL — $60,000Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL — $60,500Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD — $61,160Kiryas Joel-Poughkeepsie-Newburgh, NY — $61,670St. Louis, MO-IL — $61,670Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA — $61,740Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN — $63,290Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX — $63,440Dayton-Kettering-Beavercreek, OH — $63,850Providence-Warwick, RI-MA — $64,250Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD — $64,300Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA — $64,440Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood, MI — $65,190Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA — $66,800Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC — $67,590Urban Honolulu, HI — $69,330Lancaster, PA — $71,100Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton, PA-NJ — $71,800Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT — $71,850Scranton--Wilkes-Barre, PA — $73,610San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA — $74,270Cleveland, OH — $74,370Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA — $75,030Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX — $76,700Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH — $78,760Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV — $78,760Madison, WI — $79,870Indianapolis-Carmel-Greenwood, IN — $81,770Salt Lake City-Murray, UT — $82,570Las Vegas-Henderson-North Las Vegas, NV — $82,920Rochester, NY — $84,130Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin, TN — $84,660Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA — $93,090Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA — $94,700New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ — $97,970Colorado Springs, CO — $104,690San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA — $112,950Trenton-Princeton, NJ — $115,400Syracuse, NY — $140,230

Each dot is one metro area with a published median — hover any dot for the name and figure. Metros without published estimates are not drawn.

The Boston metro area has the 14th-highest published median for this occupation among the 52 metro areas where BLS publishes it. Higher medians often track higher living costs — this is a pay comparison, not a ranking of where the job is “best”.

Keep exploring

Other occupations in the same SOC group with published medians here, largest employment first:

Highest-paying metro areas for music directors and composerss · Highest-paying occupations in Boston Metro

About this estimate

These figures are survey estimates from the BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics program — modeled from employer reports collected over three years and benchmarked to May 2025. They describe what employers in this area currently pay across all industries, not what any individual worker will be offered.

Employment counts wage-and-salary jobs in the occupation (self-employed workers are excluded). Estimates carry sampling error; percentile wages are rounded by BLS. Some values are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality or quality — suppressed values appear here as “not published”, never as zero. Read the full methodology.

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.