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Job outlook for singers in the United States
Are singer jobs in demand?
Singer job and salary trends over time
Singer jobs over time
Singer job growth rate over time
Year  | # Of Jobs | % Of Population |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 2,956 | 0.00% |
| 2020 | 4,268 | 0.00% |
| 2019 | 5,049 | 0.00% |
| 2018 | 5,117 | 0.00% |
| 2017 | 4,931 | 0.00% |
Average singer salary over time
Singer salary by year
| Year | Avg. Salary | Hourly Rate | % Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | $62,613 | $30.10 | +4.0% |
| 2024 | $60,179 | $28.93 | +5.4% |
| 2023 | $57,107 | $27.46 | +2.2% |
| 2022 | $55,870 | $26.86 | +2.8% |
| 2021 | $54,354 | $26.13 | +2.1% |
Singer jobs by state
Most common states for singers
| Rank | State | Population | # of Jobs | Employment/ 1000ppl |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Maryland | 6,052,177 | 1 | 0% |
| 2 | Ohio | 11,658,609 | 1 | 0% |
| 3 | Alaska | 739,795 | 0 | 0% |
| 4 | Rhode Island | 1,059,639 | 0 | 0% |
| 5 | Connecticut | 3,588,184 | 0 | 0% |
| 6 | Pennsylvania | 12,805,537 | 0 | 0% |
| 7 | New Hampshire | 1,342,795 | 0 | 0% |
| 8 | New Jersey | 9,005,644 | 0 | 0% |
| 9 | Delaware | 961,939 | 0 | 0% |
| 10 | New York | 19,849,399 | 0 | 0% |
| 11 | Massachusetts | 6,859,819 | 0 | 0% |
| 12 | Michigan | 9,962,311 | 0 | 0% |
| 13 | Vermont | 623,657 | 0 | 0% |
| 14 | Maine | 1,335,907 | 0 | 0% |
| 15 | West Virginia | 1,815,857 | 0 | 0% |
| 16 | Nevada | 2,998,039 | 0 | 0% |
| 17 | California | 39,536,653 | 0 | 0% |
| 18 | Arizona | 7,016,270 | 0 | 0% |
| 19 | Virginia | 8,470,020 | 0 | 0% |
| 20 | Wisconsin | 5,795,483 | 0 | 0% |
Singer job outlook: Expert opinions
Our panel of singer experts
Eastern Washington University
Bowling Green State University
University of Utah
Rhode Island College
Longy School of Music of Bard College
Nick Klein
Lecturer in Vocal MusicEastern Washington University
What skills stand out on Singer resumes?
Nick Klein: Opera Singer resumes don't follow the traditional format of resumes in the professional business world. The standard operatic resume lists the artist's name and voice type at the top, along with contact information and a headshot. Following that header, artists tend to list their upcoming roles or performance contracts, then roles they have performed in their entirety. After these sections of roles, artists will list concert and stage performances. Further down the resume, artists often list prominent directors, voice teachers, coaches, and collaborative pianists they have worked with, and then a list of additional skills comes at the very end.
As a director on the casting side, I tend to look first at the roles they have performed (or have coming up) and the company with whom they performed those roles. A lot can be inferred about a singer's abilities based on who has already hired them to sing certain roles. If a singer lists a large role, but it was done with a small company or a community-type production, that doesn't say as much about the artist as if they have listed more prominent companies.
After looking through the artist's past repertoire, I look at the list of who they have worked with within various capacities. In the operatic community, connections mean a great deal because people know people. If I don't know any of the directors, teachers, coaches, etc., that a singer has listed on their resume, I would be wearier of hiring them versus someone who has worked with people whose names I recognize.
All in all, a singer in the operatic style is going to benefit from listing roles sung with large or prominent companies and well-known teachers and directors on their resumes.
What soft skills should all Singers possess?
Nick Klein: Soft skills are some of the most important skills as a professional musician. Regardless of how talented a singer may be, a company is not likely to hire (or rehire) them if they don't possess certain skills. Opera singers must be dependable, adaptable, directable, coachable, and willing to learn. Singers have to show up on time to rehearsal with their music learned - notes, rhythms, translations, etc. During the rehearsal process, singers have to be willing to listen to all directors and find creative solutions to adapt the director's desires with the interpretation they've already established. Most importantly, however, is a singer's ability to work collegially as a team member. Some of the most successful singers are those who are enjoyable to work with, even if they don't have the most spectacular instrument. A singer's work ethic and personality in the rehearsal process go way further than their ability to beautifully sing the notes on the page.
What hard/technical skills are most important for Singers?
Nick Klein: For singers, obviously, vocal technique and vocal hygiene are a must. If a singer gets sick or is unable to sing for a portion of a rehearsal process or gig, they will likely be replaced and put on a "do not hire again" list. Knowing how to care for your body and voice is absolutely crucial. Aside from vocal hygiene, singers must know their languages and the variations in pronunciation between languages or even from a spoken language to its sung counterpart. Directors shouldn't have to coach a singer on how to properly pronounce words in whatever language the opera is in. The point of the director is to create a cohesive and impactful artistic experience, and that can only be done if the singer is singing the language correctly and understand what they and the other artists around them are saying.
What skills will help Singers earn the most?
Nick Klein: Contract negotiation as a singer is a skill that needs to be practiced. Singers must know their worth based on their own training and experience. As important as hard skills and technical proficiency as a singer and actor are to an operatic artist, the skills that are going to get an artist hired more frequently with a more substantial contract fee are the soft skills previously mentioned. If a company/director has enjoyed working with you or has heard good things from other directors who have worked with you, they are going to work harder to get you to sing for their company, typically meaning they will offer more money. From there, it is the responsibility of the singer to negotiate the terms of their contract based on their experience and other hard skills, such as language proficiency and the technical demands of a specific role or show. But, as previously mentioned, those skills don't matter if people don't enjoy working with you, so soft skills of dependability, work ethic, directability, coachability, and overall demeanor as a member of a team are the most crucial in getting continuous work and more substantial contracts.
What are the biggest trends we'll see in the Singer job market given the pandemic?
Geoffrey Stephenson Ph.D.: Computers! The industry was already heading in this direction, with every actor needing either a Facebook or Instagram presence at the very least, and at best a very professionally put together website. Auditions in New York now are all prescreened through online video, so an actor can submit for a myriad of jobs per week. So knowing how to navigate all this is incredibly important for a college graduate entering the job market.
But of course there is a cost to this. Most auditions are not just to assure that the actor has the requisite skills, but also what kind of person they are. I have a friend that is a company manager for Broadway tours, and he says it is really important to know whether or not you can live with a person when on tour. Some actors aren't cut out for it, and they can make life difficult for the entire company. I'm not sure that quality can be assessed when the audition is mediated through technology. I'm assuming (hoping) that actors go through a live audition as well.
What Singer skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?
Geoffrey Stephenson Ph.D.: If they are going into the musical theatre industry, they must get with a voice teacher to keep developing those skills – either live or online. Likewise, if they are dancers they need to participate in some sort of consistent training of their skills. Singing and dancing are physical skills that require consistent participation in order to improve. So in that case, it isn't at all about class credit, but much more about preparing for a career.
What general advice would you give to a Singer?
Geoffrey Stephenson Ph.D.: If there is anything else that you could do as a vocation, do it. (Oddly enough, that is the same advice I got when I briefly considered the ministry! Ha!) Seriously though, it is a terrific idea to have something else that you love doing while looking for a performing job. I have students who now teach dance classes, work as personal trainers, write and direct in addition to performing, teach acting and professional management workshops, even editing podcasts. The industry has changed a lot since I was there in the late 80s/early 90s: everyone has a side hustle. Gone are the days of just working as a waiter or in catering.
Beyond that – and I can't emphasize this enough – a young performer needs to have faith in themselves and know in their heart that they belong in that audition, whether they're what the casting folks are looking for or not (and a lot of times you go to those auditions just to remind them that you're there, you're skilled, you're friendly, and you're a professional). One of my biggest mistakes when I was in New York was that I became so desperate to get a performing gig, I became a nervous wreck – and the casting folks can smell that desperation on you – and it isn't attractive. No one ever performed well with a loaded audition held to their head.
What are the biggest trends we'll see in the Singer job market given the pandemic?
Kirstin Chavez: When it comes to the business of classical singing, I think we will see a number of marked changes that will be directly linked to our time in this global pandemic. So many of us have had to up our technology game-to learn new ways of studying with coaches and teachers, to find new ways of collaborating with other musicians in online platforms that can function successfully, as a result of high-quality audio and low latency sound transmission. It has been quite a slog for us to figure this out, but we all banded together and shared the things we were learning and discovering, and so there has been an overall significant improvement in the kinds of music-making we can achieve, even while separated. I believe that, even when we can have the blessing of speaking of this pandemic in the past tense, we will carry with us many of the new-found technological capabilities, and I believe that creating digital content in our medium will be very much a part of the way forward. We all look forward to the day when we can safely welcome our audiences back into the theaters to enjoy the art we make, but I truly believe that there will continue to be a sizable market for more and more digital content, and I think that kind of consumption of classical music will exist alongside the live-theater version.
What technology do you think will become more important and prevalent for Singers in the next 3-5 years?
Kirstin Chavez: We have already seen the huge demand for low-latency, high-quality audio transmission. I think we will see vast improvements in that arena, and I believe that we will also see significant developments in broadcasting capabilities that will allow opera companies and orchestras, and other live performing organizations, to broadcast their work to a much wider audience. We will soon see that we can enjoy 'live' performances, with no compromise in quality, from halfway around the world and in real-time. These advances are already in the works, and the pandemic has thrust them into high gear. I, myself, am preparing for performances with my pianist—she is in Montreal, and I am in Utah—and, with the combination of several applications and web platforms, we can perform together in real-time and broadcast over the internet to the entire globe. This kind of performance will become more and more common, and it will vastly expand our ability to collaborate with a huge number of artists who, previously, felt unreachable because of physical distance. That will no longer be an issue.
Will there be an increase or decrease in demand for Singers in the next 5 years?
Kirstin Chavez: Art is art. It continues to be wildly relevant and supremely important and necessary. Human beings hunger for it, even more so in times of stress and challenge. That has not changed during this period of crisis, nor will it do so in the future. I think the circumstances of the pandemic have only put the need for art and expression and communal experience into greater focus. There will definitely be a demand for more and more well-educated and talented artists to go forth into the world, and those who learn from the lessons of this pandemic and adapt their art to new platforms and new mediums will find great success.
Greg Abate
Adjunct Instructor, International Jazz artist and recording artistRhode Island College
Music, Theater, and Dance Department
What type of skills will young Singers need?
Greg Abate: They will need social skills and respect.
Are there any particularly good places in the United States for Singers to find work opportunities?
Greg Abate: For jazz, a career is challenging. One must be prepared to get exposure, and networking is the key, along with number 1.
How do you envision technology impacting Singers in the next 5 years?
Greg Abate: It may take the classic feel out of the art form of real Jazz and creative playing a live performance.
What type of skills will young Singers need?
Ashley Hall: Graduates from music conservatories first need to consider who they are as a multifaceted human. What do they value, what type of career(s) would be meaningful to them, and how can they craft a path as an artist that allows them to intersect their values with their career? Young musicians need to be good at marketing, time-management, and networking. They need to be organized and clear about their goals with the mental flexibility to be open to paths that correlate with their musical lives well. Young musicians need to stay curious, be excellent at their craft, and always be prepared and easy to work with. Also, acquiring a business and entrepreneurial skills can be quite important for this field.
Are there any particularly good places in the United States for Singers to find work opportunities?
Ashley Hall: My simple answer to this question is “anywhere that you have or can easily make meaningful relationships” and “it depends on the work.” The large cities are always going to be places where a wide variety of creative outlets exist. The music field is full of possibilities, and with creativity, persistence, and lots of courage, any community can be a place where graduates can find work.
How do you envision technology impacting Singers in the next 5 years?
Ashley Hall: I don't think any technology will ever be able to replace the feelings of connectivity that we experience as humans through the collective power of live music. Live music and art will always be a part of the fabric of a vibrant society. This pandemic has shown us that technology does open up many possibilities for teaching, masterclasses, professional development, and even holding efficient meetings across time zones. Some of these advances and changes will likely remain and become the "new normal," and perhaps, the advances in technology will provide increased opportunities to access and reach new audiences. But technology will never be able to replace the experience and necessity for the arts in our world.