The median average salary for an audio engineer is between $48000 and $67000 per annum in the United States. Therefore, the average Sound engineer makes between $23-$32.28 per hour in the United States, depending on the State, what role you have and who you work for.
When speaking to people wanting to pursue a career in audio and music, I often get asked, how much an audio engineer makes?
Having spent a decade in this industry and also knowing many people, I have an idea of this.
I also managed to get some publically available statistics and information as well.
- Do you want to be an audio engineer?
- Are you considering a career, but want to know how much money you can make from it?
- Are you interested in finding out which places offer you the most money for your talent?
If so, keep reading to find out more about how much you can make as an audio engineer.
So What Can You Earn As An Audio Engineer?
A beginner audio engineer could make anywhere from $48 000 per annum or $23 per hour in the US depending on State, Role, and who you work for.
According to the U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTIC, The median salary for an audio engineer or an individual within the sound technician industry is roughly $ 67,360 or $32.28 per hour
Again, this depends very much on the state, role, and who you end up working for.
How much can you make as an audio engineer in different jobs and industries?
If you are an audio engineer in the Management, Scientific, and Technical Consulting Services you could earn an annual mean wage of $ 72,410 or $34.81 per hour, which is the industry with the highest potential earnings.
If you work in the Promoters of Performing Arts, Sports, and Similar Events industry, you can find yourself earning approximately $10 000 less per annum at $ 57,530.
What Can I earn as an Audio engineer by State?
California is the state with the highest potential for employment within the industry with over 50% of jobs being available in this state.
However, California only ranks sixth in terms of wages at $ 77,320 per annum and an hourly mean wage of $ 37.17 per hour.
New York comes in as the state with the highest annual and hourly wage rates at $ 93,470 per annum and $ 44.94 per hour respectively.
New York is closely followed by Florida which comes in at an impressive wage of $ 90,720 per annum or $ 43.61.
Utah is the state that pays the least, with a measly wage of $ 31,570 per annum and $ 15.18 per hour.
As Far as metropolitan areas are concerned you will make the most living in the New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA, where you can earn a jaw-dropping $ 96,070 annum or $ 46.19 per hour.
Whereas Salt Lake City Utah can net you a salary of $ 13.77 per hour or $ 28,630 per annum.
How much can I earn internationally as an audio engineer
The cool thing about having a job as an audio engineer is the fact that you can make money globally.
If traveling is your thing then there are a few countries that you may consider working in.
Canada
In Canada, the average audio engineer can earn up to $84,819 (CAD) or $41 per hour.
However, this also depends on what audio engineering work you do and where you do it.
A more accurate salary range for an audio engineer in Canada is $60,645 – $102,291.
Source: https://www.erieri.com/salary/job/audio-engineer/canada
United Kingdom
In the UK, you can expect an annual median wage of between £24,658 and £38,600 as an audio engineer.
Australia
In Australia, you can expect an annual median wage of between $52 000 and $96 000 as an audio engineer.
Types of companies that offer audio engineering work and salaries
Note that all of this data was as of 22 July 2022. All of this information is from publicly available sources.
Some of the companies offering the highest salaries for audio engineering work are.
Meta – the average wage is $41.99 per hour
Video Tech Services Inc. – Average wage is $39.34 per hour
The Crossing Church – Average wage is $34.42 per hour
ZOO DIGITAL GROUP PLC – Average wage of $25.17 per hour
Types of jobs in audio engineering and pay
Note that these jobs are across the USA and vary greatly in terms of the role and expectations.
These numbers are by no means the industry average but they do give insight into how the market looks at the moment.
| Role | Wage (USD/hour) | No of Jobs |
|---|---|---|
| Sound Engineer | 24.53 | 5000+ |
| Audio Visual Engineer | 26.44 | 1500+ |
| Sound Technician | 21.09 | 1800+ |
| Broadcast Engineer | 32 | 1600+ |
| Board Operator | 18.27 | 184000+ |
| Audio Visual Technician | 24.81 | 3500+ |
Is audio engineering a good career?
Yes, audio engineering is a good career and very rewarding.
As a sound engineer, you get to work on a variety of projects and opportunities.
Many people think that sound engineering is just about recording artists, however, you could be an audio-visual engineer, a sound technician, a broadcast engineer, and so much more.
Additionally, you can work with celebrities and produce masterpieces.
It is also very demanding and you can work into the evenings and weekends to get a project done.
This means that you will learn a lot and also learn how to deal with pressure.
Audio Engineering Tools and Equipment
If you are serious about audio engineering, then you may want to start practicing, so as to set yourself up for a gig in the future and be a top earner.
Some of the products I recommend for aspiring Audio engineers are the following.
The Bottom Line
Audio engineering is broad and the salaries are vast. How much you earn depends on the type of job that you want and the city that you are willing to live in.
All said, you can make quite a bit of money as an audio engineer if you work hard and you persist.
All said you should probably be looking at a starting salary of $48k in a midsized to the large city when entering this industry, and depending on your performance and who you work with, you can earn in excess of $100k and beyond.
Let us know if there are any comments that you have or anything else that you would like to know.
If you want to learn more about the landscape so far as audio engineering is concerned, check out the following article.
If you want to read similar content then check out the following articles
If you would like to read more articles like this then click any of the articles below
