Studio musician employment is counted within the broader U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Musicians and Singers occupation, which includes performers who work in recording studios and as session musicians. The occupation held about 170,400 jobs in 2025, while the BLS projects about 17,400 openings per year from 2025 through 2035. These figures describe the wider occupation rather than a separately reported studio-only total.
Contents
- How many jobs include studio musicians?
- What do musicians and singers earn?
- Which industries employ the occupation?
- Where are musician jobs concentrated?
- What does the employment outlook show?
- Who is represented in the workforce?
How many jobs include studio musicians?
The BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook reports about 170,400 Musicians and Singers jobs in 2025. That classification is the closest available national employment measure for studio musicians because it includes both musicians performing in recording studios and session musicians. It should not be read as a count of people working exclusively in studios. BLS, Musicians and Singers: Occupational Outlook Handbook
Self-employment is a major part of the occupation. Self-employed workers represented 48% of the 2025 Musicians and Singers workforce, according to the same BLS source. For studio and session work, this measure is important because the occupation’s employment total includes people whose work is not necessarily organized as a conventional year-round payroll job. The statistic describes employment status for the occupation as a whole, not a separate studio-musician subgroup.
The BLS industry distribution also shows that music work is spread across several types of employers. Religious, grantmaking, civic, professional, and similar organizations accounted for 35% of Musicians and Singers jobs in 2025. Performing arts, spectator sports, and related industries accounted for 12%, while educational services at the state, local, and private levels accounted for 3%.
Those percentages are useful for interpreting the studio-musician figure. Recording and session work is part of a broad labor market that also includes live performance, organizational music programs, and teaching-related employment. The national occupation total therefore measures the available professional field around studio musicians rather than a narrow studio payroll category.
What do musicians and singers earn?
BLS wage data show a wide spread across the Musicians and Singers occupation. In May 2025, the median hourly wage was $47.80. The lowest-paid 10% earned less than $20.35 per hour, while the highest-paid 10% earned more than $132.56 per hour. These are hourly wage measures for the occupation and do not establish a guaranteed rate for a studio session, project, or individual recording date. BLS, Musicians and Singers: Occupational Outlook Handbook
The occupation’s median was higher than two comparison measures reported by BLS for May 2025. The broader entertainers and performers, sports, and related workers group had a median hourly wage of $28.56, and the median across all U.S. occupations was $24.51.
Industry medians varied as well:
| Industry grouping | Median hourly wage, May 2025 |
|---|---|
| Religious, grantmaking, civic, professional, and similar organizations | $53.16 |
| Performing arts, spectator sports, and related industries | $50.56 |
| All Musicians and Singers | $47.80 |
| Educational services | $30.88 |
| All U.S. occupations | $24.51 |
The BLS figures place the median for performing arts, spectator sports, and related industries at $50.56 per hour, above the occupation-wide median of $47.80. The median for religious, grantmaking, civic, professional, and similar organizations was $53.16. Educational services had a lower median of $30.88. These comparisons identify measured differences among industry groupings; they do not convert hourly wages into annual studio income.
Which industries employ the occupation?
The BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics chart for May 2024 provides selected industry employment counts. Performing arts companies employed 21,390 Musicians and Singers, the largest listed industry employment count for the occupation. Religious organizations employed 7,490. Colleges, universities, and professional schools employed 1,920, while elementary and secondary schools employed 1,370. BLS, OEWS Chart: Largest Occupations in Selected Industries, May 2024
Within performing arts companies, the same May 2024 chart lists several occupations alongside Musicians and Singers. Music directors and composers numbered 4,550 jobs, self-enrichment teachers numbered 9,880, producers and directors numbered 7,690, and actors numbered 6,420. Musicians and Singers numbered 21,390 jobs in that industry.
| Selected occupation in performing arts companies | Jobs, May 2024 |
|---|---|
| Musicians and Singers | 21,390 |
| Self-enrichment teachers | 9,880 |
| Producers and directors | 7,690 |
| Actors | 6,420 |
| Music directors and composers | 4,550 |
The industry counts are not a studio-only employment series. They instead show where the broader occupational classification appears in the selected BLS industry view. For someone studying studio musician employment, performing arts companies provide the largest listed industry count in this source, while religious organizations and education provide additional measured employment settings.
Where are musician jobs concentrated?
State-level BLS data for May 2023 show that the largest reported employment counts among the listed states were in California, New York, Florida, Illinois, and Tennessee. California employed 5,540 Musicians and Singers, followed by New York with 4,080, Florida with 2,180, Illinois with 1,950, and Tennessee with 1,870. BLS, Occupational Employment and Wages, May 2023: 27-2042 Musicians and Singers
Employment concentration looks different when measured relative to the size of each state’s overall labor market. Hawaii had 1.28 Musicians and Singers jobs per 1,000 jobs in May 2023. Tennessee had 0.58, Nevada had 0.50, New York had 0.43, and Oregon had 0.37.
The location quotient provides another view of concentration. Hawaii’s location quotient was 5.47, Tennessee’s was 2.48, Nevada’s was 2.15, New York’s was 1.86, and Oregon’s was 1.58. A location quotient above 1 indicates a higher concentration relative to the national occupational pattern; the figures here are the BLS-reported measures for May 2023.
| State | Jobs, May 2023 | Jobs per 1,000 jobs | Location quotient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hawaii | — | 1.28 | 5.47 |
| Tennessee | 1,870 | 0.58 | 2.48 |
| Nevada | — | 0.50 | 2.15 |
| New York | 4,080 | 0.43 | 1.86 |
| Oregon | — | 0.37 | 1.58 |
The largest state employment count and the highest relative concentration are different measures. California led the listed states by employment count, while Hawaii led the listed concentration measures. The state data therefore support two separate questions: where more jobs are counted, and where the occupation represents a larger share of the local labor market.
State wage measures also varied in May 2023. The mean hourly wage was $51.73 in California, $55.78 in New York, $59.27 in Florida, $64.68 in Illinois, and $48.50 in Tennessee. These are mean hourly wages, not the May 2025 national median, and the measurement period and statistic should remain distinct.
What does the employment outlook show?
The BLS projects Musicians and Singers employment to change by 0% from 2025 to 2035. Its projection is 170,900 jobs in 2035 compared with 170,400 in 2025, a projected numeric increase of 600 jobs. The percentage is rounded to 0%, while the projected counts show a small positive change. BLS, Musicians and Singers: Occupational Outlook Handbook
The same BLS outlook projects about 17,400 openings for Musicians and Singers per year on average from 2025 through 2035. Openings are not the same as net employment growth: the projection combines the labor-market need represented by annual openings with an occupation whose total employment is projected to remain broadly stable.
For comparison, employment in the broader entertainers and performers, sports, and related workers group is projected to grow 4% from 2025 to 2035. Employment across all occupations is projected to grow 3% over that period. The Musicians and Singers projection is therefore flat by percentage, while the broader comparison groups have positive projected growth.
| BLS projection, 2025–2035 | Projected change |
|---|---|
| Musicians and Singers | 0% |
| Entertainers and performers, sports, and related workers | 4% |
| All occupations | 3% |
For studio musicians, the most relevant outlook figures are the stable occupation size and the annual openings estimate. The BLS does not provide a separate 2025–2035 projection in the supplied figures for recording-studio musicians alone.
Who is represented in the workforce?
The Current Population Survey estimated 167,000 Musicians and Singers in the 2025 annual average, with the count measured in thousands in the household survey tables. This estimate is close in scale to, but not identical with, the 170,400-job occupational employment figure from the Occupational Outlook Handbook. The two measures come from different BLS statistical programs and should not be treated as interchangeable. BLS, Household survey data, 2025 annual averages
In the 2025 annual-average Current Population Survey estimate, women represented 34.1% of Musicians and Singers. White workers represented 84.3%, Black workers represented 9.1%, Asian workers represented 3.4%, and Hispanic or Latino workers represented 14.8%.
| Workforce measure | 2025 annual-average estimate |
|---|---|
| Estimated Musicians and Singers | 167,000 |
| Women | 34.1% |
| White workers | 84.3% |
| Black workers | 9.1% |
| Asian workers | 3.4% |
| Hispanic or Latino workers | 14.8% |
These demographic measures describe the broader Musicians and Singers occupation, not a separately measured studio-musician population. They also come from the 2025 annual average rather than the May 2025 wage period, May 2024 industry counts, or May 2023 state estimates. Keeping those dates and source programs separate is essential when using employment statistics to understand studio and session work.