Choreographers Salary
Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media Occupations · 2.9K employed in the U.S.
Median annual
$55,310
Median hourly
$27
Average annual
$73,100
Typical range
$34,090–$138,630
Pay distribution
10th to 90th percentile, with the median marked.
What this role pays
The median annual salary for Choreographers is $55,310 as of May 2025, based on the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) survey. That works out to about $27 an hour at a full-time schedule.
Create new dance routines. Rehearse performance of routines.
Most earn between $34,090 and $138,630 a year. There are roughly 2.9K people employed as choreographers in the United States. Use the state and metro pages below to see how pay changes by location, and the calculator to convert any hourly or annual figure.
Salary calculator
Convert your pay and see where it lands for Choreographers.
- Hourly
- $26.59
- Daily
- $213
- Weekly
- $1,064
- Bi-weekly
- $2,127
- Monthly
- $4,609
- Annual
- $55,310
$55,310 a year is around the 50th percentile for Choreographerss. The median is $55,310.
Highest-paying states
Median annual wage by state.
Top-paying metro areas
Median annual wage by metro area.
- 1New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ$170,780
- 2San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA$99,430
- 3Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA$87,850
- 4Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA$75,000
- 5Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI$74,810
- 6Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD$70,360
- 7Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD$61,130
- 8San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA$49,560
- 9Indianapolis-Carmel-Greenwood, IN$44,840
- 10Rapid City, SD$41,080
- 11Sioux Falls, SD-MN$36,220
Related job titles
Employers advertise Choreographers roles under these titles.
Related occupations
What a Choreographers does
- Advise dancers on standing and moving properly, teaching correct dance techniques to help prevent injuries.
- Choose the music, sound effects, or spoken narrative to accompany a dance.
- Experiment with different types of dancers, steps, dances, and placements, testing ideas informally to get feedback from dancers.
- Seek influences from other art forms, such as theatre, the visual arts, and architecture.
- Develop ideas for creating dances, keeping notes and sketches to record influences.
- Coordinate production music with music directors.
- Design dances for individual dancers, dance companies, musical theatre, opera, fashion shows, film, television productions, and special events, and for dancers ranging from beginners to professionals.
- Audition performers for one or more dance parts.
Frequently asked questions
- How much does a Choreographers make?
- The median annual wage for Choreographers is $55,310 ($27 per hour). Pay ranges from about $34,090 at the 10th percentile to $138,630 at the 90th percentile.
- What is the average salary for a Choreographers?
- The average (mean) annual salary is $73,100, which is higher than the median because a small number of high earners pull the average up.
- Which state pays Choreographerss the most?
- New York has the highest median annual wage for this occupation at $173,100.
- Is Choreographers a growing occupation?
- BLS employment data for May 2025 counts about 2.9K people in this occupation. Projected growth is published separately in the BLS Employment Projections program.
- What does a Choreographers do?
- Advise dancers on standing and moving properly, teaching correct dance techniques to help prevent injuries.; Choose the music, sound effects, or spoken narrative to accompany a dance.; Experiment with different types of dancers, steps, dances, and placements, testing ideas informally to get feedback from dancers..