How Much Do Piano Tuners Make? – Is This a Lucrative Career?

Are you thinking about becoming a piano tuner? Or perhaps you are just starting in this career and are wondering what kind of earning prospects you can expect. Or maybe you are just intrigued about what masters of this interesting career make month to month.

A piano tuner may tune, repair and service pianos of all kinds. They will need training and a technical skillset to enter this career. You can either work for a company full-time or part-time or alternatively, work independently.

We will cover all you need to know about the wages of the different types of piano tuners below.

What does a Piano Tuner Earn?

A piano tuner can earn a significant wage, especially when they have experience. An experienced piano tuner can make around $6,900-$11,500 per month. While an inexperienced professional will earn less.

In addition to work experience, a few other things can impact the earning potential of a piano tuner. When it comes to determining factors, the most significant ones are:

• Location – if you belong to an artistic city, you can expect more from your profession. But when you make tunings in a small area or town, the earnings will not be comparable.
• Clients – If you are working independently people struggle to bring in consistent clients.

If you want to be a piano tuner and make more from your profession, you can choose a favorable location. In some cities, you can earn more and prove your true potential. You will likely get more clients as well as be able to charge more.

Therefore, you can explore more instead of limiting yourself to certain cities. With experience, you can make six figures. You cannot expect to achieve everything overnight. It will take time, and you will learn from your experience. You will have to prepare yourself for initial struggles if you want to make more in the future.

If you do not explore more and stay working independently, you can get $32.930 per year. You will have to work with individual clients on their private musical instruments. You can repair and maintain these.

However, if you work in a company, you may find a more lucrative position. Also, you will have the option to explore and grow with the company to get better opportunities. You can earn $64,230 per year. If you stay in a favorable location, you can make much more from your profession.

Is a piano tuner a good career?

While tuning can be profitable, many piano tuners struggle to make more money. Especially in the initial years of their career, or if they live in a place that does not value the career much. Therefore tuners often branch out into other areas of piano servicing. For example, also learning how to voice, and regulate can boost the salary of a piano tuner.

Is there a demand for piano tuners?

According to career explorer, there are currently around 8,300 piano tuners in the states. A percentage that is set to rise between 1 and 2%. It is expected that demand will grow slightly, so the career outlook is not too bad.

You can work either:

• For a company
• As an independent piano tuner

If you are looking to land a job as a piano tuner, the following people may look to employ them:

• Piano dealerships
• Repair shops
• Recording studios
• Concert halls
• Venues for events
• Theatres
• Music colleges
• Clubs
• Churches
• Homeowners
• Musicians

If you want to work independently, statistically you will earn more with experience. Read on to find out more about how much you can make from your profession.

Experienced Piano Tuners

As mentioned earlier, having more experience can enable you to make more. We can do a simple calculation to know how much you can make from piano tuning. The average piano tuning price can be charged around $115. If you have experience, you can perform four to five tunings every day.

You can make even more in a favorable working environment. Also, you might need to drive to your destination every day. You will have to deduct that time. Besides, you might need to spend on advertising. The estimated cost for the monthly advertisement is $400. As you will drive every day, you will have to consider the gas cost as well.

So to make a calculation for an experienced piano tuner we can take four to five tunings every day at an average of $115. Then subtract the expenses, $400 on the promotion plus around $140 on the gas, so $540.

• The monthly income will be between $6900-$11,500
• The gas expenses $140
• The monthly promotion expenses $400
• Overall monthly earning $6360-$10,960

In total, you can make $6360-$10,960 per month.

However, the earning will depend on your workload. If you do not have much work, you cannot make this much money. Also, if you do not work in an advanced city, you cannot expect to make this much. Hence, you will have to understand the work requirements and location before calculating the exact amount. A bit of research might help you to have a better idea about a particular city.

Starting Piano Tuners

In all the industries, you cannot make much in the initial years. The piano industry is not an exception. First of all, you might not find much work. It will take time to create your space in the industry. If you start working on your own, you can charge around $70 per tuning. However, you will have to spend money on marketing yourself.

Marketing can help you to reach your target. Therefore, you might have to pay almost $400 for the promotion every month. The gas costs average around $35.

• The monthly income will be around $1680
• The monthly promotion cost will be $400
• The gas price is $35
• The overall monthly earning is $1245

In the initial months of your career, you can earn $1245 per month. With experience, you can gradually make more. Also, you can reach this figure if you work eighteen to nineteen hours per week.

How Much Do Piano Tuners Make Per Hour ?

Now you know how much an experienced and early-career piano tuner can make. Next, we will come down to hourly earnings.

• The top-level tuner hourly rate is $28.92
• Senior-level tuner hourly earnings start at $23.40
• Mid-level piano tuner hourly earnings begin at $17.62
• Junior level tuner hourly rate is $13.82
• The startup tuner hourly rate is $11.34

Piano Tuner – Earnings by State

As stated earlier, your earning ability will mostly depend on your state. When some states pay more to piano tuners, others do not promote these professionals.

For example, you can make the most in New Mexico. Your earning potential will be the best if you live in this state.

However, if you stay in West Virginia, Florida, Colorado, Indiana, Oregon, Ohio, and Utah, you cannot make more from your profession.

Some favorable states are Georgia, Illinois, Maryland, Washington, New Jersey, and Vermont.

Wrapping It Up

It might not be easy to predict how much exactly you can earn from piano tuning. Even if you have skills and experience, you might not make more from your profession when you belong to the above states. Hence, you will have to research your state to know how it pays to piano tuners.

If you are passionate about this profession, then certainly give it a try. It can definitely be lucrative. However, explore to make the most out of your passion. It is better to wisely choose a suitable location, build up success and authority to eventually reap the rewards.

Also Read – 4 Basic Piano Chords You Can Easily Learn