Money · 1 of 5
What composers make
Median
$73,710
Bottom tenth
$39,880
Top tenth
$165,760
The national median is $73,710 a year, the bottom tenth earn $39,880 or less and the top tenth $165,760 or more (2025 federal wage survey). Read it carefully: the wage survey counts Music Directors and Composers together, and it counts people in salaried posts. Most composers are paid per project, and stringing together a full year of work is the hard part, so plenty earn less than the bottom of this range in a slow year.