Music Therapists
Health ScienceO*NET 29-1129.02United States
Plan, organize, direct, or assess clinical and evidenced-based music therapy interventions to positively influence individuals' physical, psychological, cognitive, or behavioral status.
- Median annual earnings
- $77,310
- Projected change
- +21.5%
- Typical education
- Bachelor's degree
- Employment
- 65.56K jobs
50th percentile, United States
2025 to 2035
84.6% of the workforce
Growing to 79.66K by 2035
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Build the skills
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These courses and certificates are connected through catalog career relationships and Lightcast skill tags.
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The work
What music therapists do
Tasks reported for this occupation, ordered by how often they come up in the role.
- Design or provide music therapy experiences to address client needs, such as using music for self-care, adjusting to life changes, improving cognitive functioning, raising self-esteem, communicating, or controlling impulses.
- Design music therapy experiences, using various musical elements to meet client's goals or objectives.
- Sing or play musical instruments, such as keyboard, guitar, or percussion instruments.
- Communicate with clients to build rapport, acknowledge their progress, or reflect upon their reactions to musical experiences.
- Customize treatment programs for specific areas of music therapy, such as intellectual or developmental disabilities, educational settings, geriatrics, medical settings, mental health, physical disabilities, or wellness.
- Establish client goals or objectives for music therapy treatment, considering client needs, capabilities, interests, overall therapeutic program, coordination of treatment, or length of treatment.
- Document evaluations, treatment plans, case summaries, or progress or other reports related to individual clients or client groups.
- Assess client functioning levels, strengths, and areas of need in terms of perceptual, sensory, affective, communicative, musical, physical, cognitive, social, spiritual, or other abilities.
- Observe and document client reactions, progress, or other outcomes related to music therapy.
- Improvise instrumentally, vocally, or physically to meet client's therapeutic needs.
- Gather diagnostic data from sources such as case documentation, observations of clients, or interviews with clients or family members.
- Plan or structure music therapy sessions to achieve appropriate transitions, pacing, sequencing, energy level, or intensity in accordance with treatment plans.
- Engage clients in music experiences to identify client responses to different styles of music, types of musical experiences, such as improvising or listening, or elements of music, such as tempo or harmony.
- Participate in continuing education.
- Communicate client assessment findings and recommendations in oral, written, audio, video, or other forms.
- Integrate behavioral, developmental, improvisational, medical, or neurological approaches into music therapy treatments.
- Confer with professionals on client's treatment team to develop, coordinate, or integrate treatment plans.
- Select or adapt musical instruments, musical equipment, or non-musical materials, such as adaptive devices or visual aids, to meet treatment objectives.
- Compose, arrange, or adapt music for music therapy treatments.
- Identify and respond to emergency physical or mental health situations.
- Analyze or synthesize client data to draw conclusions or make recommendations for therapy.
- Collaborate with others to design or implement interdisciplinary treatment programs.
- Conduct information sharing sessions, such as in-service workshops for other professionals, potential client groups, or the general community.
- Analyze data to determine the effectiveness of specific treatments or therapy approaches.
- Apply selected research findings to practice.
- Assess the risks and benefits of treatment termination for clients.
- Supervise staff, volunteers, practicum students, or interns engaged in music therapy activities.
- Adapt existing or develop new music therapy assessment instruments or procedures to meet an individual client's needs.
- Apply current technology to music therapy practices.
- Conduct, or assist in the conduct of, music therapy research.
Pay and outlook
What the job pays and where it is heading
Annual earnings range
Reported earnings by percentile, United States
- 10th percentile
- $34,013
- 25th percentile
- $51,723
- 50th percentile
- $77,310
- 75th percentile
- $114,249
- 90th percentile
- $190,067
The gold marker shows the median. Half earn more than $77,310 and half earn less.
Employment outlook
2025 to 2035 projection
+21.5%much faster than average
202565,560 jobs
2035 projected79,660 jobs
14,100 more positions over the decade, before replacement hiring.
Preparation
Education levels
What people currently working in the career hold. These are not entry requirements.
- Bachelor's degree
- 84.6%
- Master's or Professional degree
- 15.4%
Skills
Skills employers ask for
Technical skills appearing most often in job postings for this occupation.
How the work gets done
Core competencies
Broad capabilities associated with strong performance in this occupation.
- Social Perceptiveness
- Being aware of others' reactions and understanding why they react as they do.
- Active Listening
- Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
- Reading Comprehension
- Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work-related documents.
- Critical Thinking
- Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions, or approaches to problems.
- Service Orientation
- Actively looking for ways to help people.
- Speaking
- Talking to others to convey information effectively.
- Monitoring
- Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.
- Judgment and Decision Making
- Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one.
- Learning Strategies
- Selecting and using training/instructional methods and procedures appropriate for the situation when learning or teaching new things.
- Writing
- Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.
- Active Learning
- Understanding the implications of new information for both current and future problem-solving and decision-making.
- Instructing
- Teaching others how to do something.
- Coordination
- Adjusting actions in relation to others' actions.
- Complex Problem Solving
- Identifying complex problems and reviewing related information to develop and evaluate options and implement solutions.
- Persuasion
- Persuading others to change their minds or behavior.
- Negotiation
- Bringing others together and trying to reconcile differences.
- Systems Analysis
- Determining how a system should work and how changes in conditions, operations, and the environment will affect outcomes.
- Time Management
- Managing one's own time and the time of others.
- Systems Evaluation
- Identifying measures or indicators of system performance and the actions needed to improve or correct performance, relative to the goals of the system.
- Management of Personnel Resources
- Motivating, developing, and directing people as they work, identifying the best people for the job.
In the market
Job titles and employers
Recent job postings in United StatesCommon job titles
- 01Music Therapists821 postings
- 02Hospice Music Therapists275 postings
- 03Therapists61 postings
- 04Licensed Therapists58 postings
- 05Rehabilitation Therapists39 postings
- 06Creative Arts Therapists38 postings
- 07Activity Therapists34 postings
- 08School Therapists33 postings
- 09Expressive Therapists16 postings
- 10Recreation Therapists11 postings
- 11Music Therapy Interns10 postings
- 12Licensed Clinical Social Workers9 postings
- 13Music Specialists9 postings
- 14Primary Therapists9 postings
- 15School Speech Therapists9 postings
- 16Licensed Professional Counselors7 postings
- 17Expressive Art Therapists6 postings
- 18Student Music Therapists6 postings
- 19Aides5 postings
- 20Dance Movement Therapists5 postings
Top employers
- 01St. Croix Hospice94 postings
- 02LifeStance Health51 postings
- 03Soliant Health47 postings
- 04Lifespark41 postings
- 05The Jewish Board34 postings
- 06Uhs26 postings
- 07AccentCare25 postings
- 08Acadia Healthcare22 postings
- 09UnitedHealth Group22 postings
- 10Residential Home Health21 postings
- 11Universal Health Services21 postings
- 12Moments Hospice17 postings
- 13Optum16 postings
- 14Anchor Health14 postings
- 15State of Florida13 postings
- 16State of Missouri13 postings
- 17The Learning Spectrum13 postings
- 18Benchmark Human Services12 postings
- 19Astrocare Home Healthcare11 postings
- 20American Public Human Services Association10 postings
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