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Music Therapists
Other names for this job might include Board Certified Music Therapist, Clinician, Community Music Therapist, Director of Music, Director of Music Therapy, Director, Private Music Therapy Agency, Expressive Music Therapist, Hospice Music Therapist, Hospice Music Therapy, Music Therapist
- $48190Salary
- 74%Job satisfaction
- Quite HardBecoming one
- MediumJob growth
B+
How Much Do Music Therapists Make In 2018
Table of Contents
In this salary guide, you will find out how much do Music Therapists make.
After reading this, you will be able to make a decision if working as a Music Therapist will suit your financial goals (e.g: buying a home, BMW or just your target salary goal).
Average salary
One of the most popular questions we get from our readers here at OwlGuru is how much do Music Therapists make per year and what is their hourly wage.
According to BLS, the average annual salary of Music Therapists is $48190. Their salary can also be as low as $28010 if you’re still a newbie with no experience to over $72340 if you have a ton of experience under your belt.
The typical hourly pay is $23.170 and can range from $13.470 to $34.780 which also depends if you’re a newbie or a professional.
Just like any other job, the salary of A Music Therapist will vary based on your education and experience level.
We wanted to make it easy for our readers to compare the salary of A Music Therapist to all the other careers out there. So we created Salary Rank.
This compares the salary of all careers and we give them a rank of A, B, C or D depending on how high or low is their average salary.
After comparing how much do Music Therapists make with other careers, they have a salary rank of C.
Become one
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| Level | Hourly | Yearly |
|---|---|---|
| Highest (Top 10%) | $34.780 | $72340 |
| Senior (Top 25%) | $28.690 | $59680 |
| Middle (Mid 50%) | $22.310 | $46410 |
| Junior (Bottom 25%) | $17.100 | $35570 |
| No experience (Bottom 10%) | $13.470 | $28010 |
Entry-level Music Therapists who starts out at $35570 can expect to make $46410 after 3-5 years of experience in the field.
The bottom 10% makes less than $13.470 per hour while the top 10% makes over $34.780 per hour.
While the median wage is $46410 per annum or $22.310 per hour.
Depending on who you work for, you might also get overtime pay.
Highest paying industries
| Industry name | Hourly wage | Annual salary |
|---|---|---|
| Federal Executive Branch | 31.51 | 65540 |
| Federal government, including the US Postal Service | 31.51 | 65540 |
| Specialty hospitals, State government owned | 28.7 | 59700 |
| Federal, State, and Local Government | 25.02 | 52050 |
| Federal, State, and Local Government, excluding state and local schools and hospitals, and the US Postal Service | 25.02 | 52050 |
| General Medical and Surgical Hospitals, State government owned | 24.8 | 51580 |
| Educational Services, Privately owned | 24.76 | 51490 |
| Federal, state, and local government, including government owned schools and hospitals, and the US Postal Service | 24.36 | 50670 |
| Home Health Care Services | 24.19 | 50320 |
| Employment Services | 23.99 | 49910 |
| General Medical and Surgical Hospitals (including private, state, and local government hospitals) | 23.81 | 49520 |
| Specialty (except Psychiatric and Substance Abuse) Hospitals (including private, state, and local government hospitals) | 23.81 | 49520 |
| Sector 56- Administrative and Support and Waste Management and Remediation Services | 23.78 | 49470 |
| Administrative and Support Services | 23.78 | 49470 |
| General Medical and Surgical Hospitals, Privately owned | 23.78 | 49470 |
| Educational Services (including private, state, and local government schools) | 23.52 | 48930 |
| Hospitals, State government owned | 23.49 | 48850 |
| General Medical and Surgical Hospitals, Local government owned | 23.48 | 48830 |
| Hospitals, Local government owned | 23.4 | 48670 |
| Hospitals (including private, state, and local government hospitals) | 23.33 | 48520 |
| Specialty hospitals, Privately owned | 23.27 | 48400 |
| Hospitals, Privately owned | 23.26 | 48380 |
| Psychiatric and Substance Abuse Hospitals, State government owned | 23.05 | 47950 |
| State government, including schools and hospitals | 23.05 | 47940 |
| Management of Companies and Enterprises | 23.02 | 47880 |
| Elementary and Secondary Schools, Privately owned | 22.86 | 47560 |
| State Government, excluding schools and hospitals | 22.71 | 47250 |
| Elementary and Secondary Schools (including private, state, and local government schools) | 22.65 | 47110 |
| Offices of Physical, Occupational and Speech Therapists, and Audiologists | 22.62 | 47040 |
| Offices of Other Health Practitioners | 22.59 | 46990 |
| Educational Services, Local government owned | 22.57 | 46940 |
| Elementary and Secondary Schools, Local government owned | 22.57 | 46940 |
| Psychiatric and Substance Abuse Hospitals (including private, state, and local government hospitals) | 22.47 | 46730 |
| Local government, including schools and hospitals | 22.27 | 46330 |
| Ambulatory Health Care Services | 22.18 | 46140 |
| All industries | 22.14 | 46060 |
| Local Government, excluding schools and hospitals | 21.62 | 44970 |
| Psychiatric and Substance Abuse Hospitals, Privately owned | 21.57 | 44870 |
| Offices of Physicians | 21.44 | 44600 |
| Health Care and Social Assistance (including private, state, and local government hospitals) | 21.42 | 44560 |
| Educational Services, State government owned | 21.36 | 44420 |
| Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools (including private, state, and local government schools) | 21.32 | 44350 |
| All industries, private ownership only | 21.18 | 44050 |
| Colleges, universities, and professional schools, State government owned | 20.79 | 43250 |
| Other Services (except Federal, State, and Local Government) | 20.5 | 42640 |
| Religious, Grantmaking, Civic, Professional, and Similar Organizations | 20.5 | 42640 |
| Outpatient Care Centers | 20.11 | 41820 |
| Nursing Care Facilities (Skilled Nursing Facilities) | 20.04 | 41680 |
| Nursing and Residential Care Facilities | 19.63 | 40820 |
| Residential Mental Health and Substance Abuse Facilities | 19.45 | 40460 |
| Other Residential Care Facilities | 19.07 | 39670 |
| Residential Intellectual and Developmental Disability, Mental Health, and Substance Abuse Facilities | 19.05 | 39620 |
| Continuing Care Retirement Communities and Assisted Living Facilities for the Elderly | 18.54 | 38560 |
| Outpatient Mental Health and Substance Abuse Centers | 18.44 | 38360 |
| Residential Intellectual and Developmental Disability Facilities | 18.23 | 37920 |
| Services for the Elderly and Persons with Disabilities | 17.58 | 36560 |
| Vocational Rehabilitation Services | 17.52 | 36440 |
| Social Assistance | 17.43 | 36250 |
| Individual and Family Services | 17.24 | 35860 |
Not all industries pay the same for Music Therapists.
One of the easiest way to increase your salary is to change industries and find a higher paying one.
Highest paying states
| State | Hourly | Annual |
|---|---|---|
| CA | $30.76 | $63990 |
| CT | $27.44 | $57080 |
| AZ | $26.78 | $55710 |
| NJ | $26.18 | $54460 |
| DC | $25.41 | $52860 |
| NY | $25.37 | $52760 |
| OR | $25.07 | $52140 |
| FL | $24.73 | $51430 |
| ID | $24.42 | $50790 |
| WA | $24.38 | $50720 |
Another simple way to boost your pay as A Music Therapist is to move to a higher paying state. However moving to a higher paying state like CA doesn’t mean you will make more overall. This is because the expenses at CA may be 2x higher than where you are currently living at right now.
According to the BLS, the highest paid / most successful Music Therapists are in the states of CA, CT, AZ, NJ and DC. The average salary in CA is $63990.
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Music Therapists salary, how much do Music Therapists earn, Music Therapists hourly wage, Music Therapists annual pay, highest paying industries for Music Therapists, which states pay the highest for Music Therapists
Additional resources
http://www.bls.gov/OOH/healthcare/recreational-therapists.htmhttp://www.musictherapy.org/
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