---
title: "Sound Engineering Technician"
description: "Assemble and operate equipment to record, synchronize, mix, edit, or reproduce sound, including music, voices, or sound effects, for theater, video…"
canonical: "https://nuecareer.com/careers/sound-engineering-technician"
last-updated: "2026-10-09T10:57:55.138Z"
---

# Sound Engineering Technician

**Category:** Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media · **SOC code:** 27-4014 · **O\*NET-SOC code:** 27-4014.00

Assemble and operate equipment to record, synchronize, mix, edit, or reproduce sound, including music, voices, or sound effects, for theater, video, film, television, podcasts, sporting events, and other productions.

Also advertised as: Audio Engineer; Audio Operator; Mastering Engineer; Mixing Engineer; Mixing Technician (Mixing Tech); Music Producer; Recording Engineer; Sound Editor.

## At a glance

- **Median annual wage:** $73,130 (BLS OEWS, May 2025)
- **Median hourly wage:** $35.16/hr
- **Wage range (10th–90th percentile):** $37,570 to $137,370, with the middle half between $49,910 and $100,280
- **Total US employment:** 13,080
- **Typical entry education:** Certificate
- **Preparation required:** Some preparation — O\*NET rates this "Job Zone Three: Medium Preparation Needed"
- **Projected growth:** -3.1% over 2025–2035 (BLS EP, 2025–2035)
- **Annual job openings:** 1,000 openings a year
- **AI-resilience score:** 41/100 — a NueCareer heuristic over O\*NET work activities and context, not a BLS or O\*NET figure

## Pay

National wage distribution, BLS OEWS, May 2025, across 13,080 US jobs.

| Percentile | Annual wage |
| --- | --- |
| 10th | $37,570 |
| 25th | $49,910 |
| 50th (median) | $73,130 |
| 75th | $100,280 |
| 90th | $137,370 |
| Mean (average) | $81,390 |

### Pay by state

The 15 highest-paying states, by median annual wage. The cost-of-living-adjusted column divides the state median by that state's BEA Regional Price Parity, so the columns answer different questions: the first is what the job pays there, the second is what that pay buys there.

| State | Median annual wage | Cost-of-living adjusted | Employment |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| NJ | $115,190 | $105,868 | 290 |
| DC | $106,630 | $97,024 | 90 |
| NY | $87,510 | $81,087 | 2,050 |
| NV | $84,570 | $84,588 | 170 |
| MD | $79,990 | $76,211 | 160 |
| CA | $78,150 | $70,583 | 4,060 |
| GA | $77,010 | $79,975 | 200 |
| KY | $74,100 | $82,188 | 60 |
| IL | $73,130 | $73,161 | 570 |
| IN | $73,130 | $78,357 | 50 |
| CT | $72,800 | $70,263 | 60 |
| FL | $70,360 | $68,037 | 590 |
| AZ | $66,350 | $65,904 | 130 |
| NH | $65,630 | $63,006 | 30 |
| OH | $64,030 | $69,017 | Not published by BLS |

21 more states with published wage data are omitted here. The full table for all 36 states is at https://nuecareer.com/careers/sound-engineering-technician/salary-by-state, or as JSON at https://nuecareer.com/api/v1/careers/sound-engineering-technician.

## Outlook

BLS projects employment to move from 15,000 in the 2025–2035 base year to 14,600 by the end of the cycle — a loss of 500 jobs, or -3.1%. Declining: -3.1% against 3.5% projected for all occupations over the same cycle. About 1,000 openings a year are expected on average, counting openings from growth as well as from workers leaving the occupation permanently. Source: BLS EP, 2025–2035.

## How to get in

- **Typical entry education:** Postsecondary nondegree award (BLS Employment Projections).
- **Preparation level:** Some preparation — O\*NET's preparation band for this occupation is "Job Zone Three: Medium Preparation Needed".
- **Related work experience typically required:** None.
- **Typical on-the-job training:** Short-term on-the-job training.

### Education people in this job actually hold

O\*NET surveys incumbents, so this distribution describes who is in the job today and can differ from the BLS entry requirement above.

| Education level | Share of workers |
| --- | --- |
| High School Diploma or the equivalent (such as a GED) | 32.0% |
| Post-Secondary Certificate | 20.0% |
| Bachelor's Degree | 20.0% |
| Associate's Degree or other 2-year degree | 12.0% |
| Some College Courses | 8.0% |
| Post-Master's Certificate | 4.0% |

## What the work involves

- Confer with producers, performers, and others to determine and achieve the desired sound for a production, such as a musical recording or a film.
- Regulate volume level and sound quality during recording sessions, using control consoles.
- Record speech, music, and other sounds on recording media, using recording equipment.
- Separate instruments, vocals, and other sounds, and combine sounds during the mixing or postproduction stage.
- Set up, test, and adjust recording equipment for recording sessions and live performances.
- Synchronize and equalize prerecorded dialogue, music, and sound effects with visual action of motion pictures or television productions, using control consoles.
- Reproduce and duplicate sound recordings from original recording media, using sound editing and duplication equipment.
- Prepare for recording sessions by performing such activities as selecting and setting up microphones.

## Skills and knowledge

### Essential skills

- Active Listening — importance 3.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Speaking — importance 3.6 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Critical Thinking — importance 3.5 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Reading Comprehension — importance 3.3 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Writing — importance 3.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Active Learning — importance 3.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Monitoring — importance 3.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Learning Strategies — importance 2.5 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

### Transferable skills

These are the skills that carry into other occupations, and they drive the related-occupation and career-change rankings on this site.

- Complex Problem Solving — importance 3.4 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Operations Monitoring — importance 3.3 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Operation and Control — importance 3.3 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Judgment and Decision Making — importance 3.3 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Coordination — importance 3.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Service Orientation — importance 3.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Systems Analysis — importance 3.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Time Management — importance 3.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

### Knowledge areas

- Computers and Electronics — importance 4.6 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Customer and Personal Service — importance 3.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Fine Arts — importance 3.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- English Language — importance 3.7 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Engineering and Technology — importance 3.7 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Communications and Media — importance 3.5 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

### Abilities

- Hearing Sensitivity — importance 4.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Oral Comprehension — importance 4.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Oral Expression — importance 4.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Near Vision — importance 4.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Auditory Attention — importance 4.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Fluency of Ideas — importance 3.5 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

## Who it suits

O\*NET rates every occupation on the six Holland (RIASEC) interest areas, on a 1–7 scale. This occupation's strongest areas are Realistic (R), Artistic (A), Conventional (C).

| Interest area | Score (1–7) |
| --- | --- |
| R — Realistic | 5.14 |
| A — Artistic | 4.45 |
| C — Conventional | 4.22 |
| I — Investigative | 2.68 |
| E — Enterprising | 2.16 |
| S — Social | 1.69 |

### Personality fit

These scores are **derived by NueCareer**, not published by any government agency: they are cosine similarities between a personality type's trait profile and this occupation's O\*NET interest and work-style ratings, expressed 0–100. Treat them as a starting point for exploration, not as evidence that a type belongs in a job.

| Type | Fit score (0–100) |
| --- | --- |
| ISTJ | 74.8 |
| ISTP | 73.2 |
| INTJ | 70.5 |
| ISFJ | 61.4 |
| INTP | 60.6 |

Best-fitting types: ISTJ, ISTP, INTJ.

## Related occupations

O\*NET's primary related occupations, in its own ranked order.

- [Audio and Video Technician](https://nuecareer.com/careers/audio-and-video-technician) — median $58,100
- [Broadcast Technician](https://nuecareer.com/careers/broadcast-technician) — median $59,570
- [Lighting Technician](https://nuecareer.com/careers/lighting-technician) — median $68,060
- [Electrical and Electronic Engineering Technologist and Technician](https://nuecareer.com/careers/electrical-and-electronic-engineering-technologist-and-technician) — median $78,190
- [Audiovisual Equipment Installer and Repairer](https://nuecareer.com/careers/audiovisual-equipment-installer-and-repairer) — median $52,600
- [Calibration Technologist and Technician](https://nuecareer.com/careers/calibration-technologist-and-technician) — median $67,820
- [Media Technical Directors/Manager](https://nuecareer.com/careers/media-technical-directors-manager) — median $90,360
- [Camera Operator, Television, Video, and Film](https://nuecareer.com/careers/camera-operator-television-video-and-film) — median $74,990
- [Film and Video Editor](https://nuecareer.com/careers/film-and-video-editor) — median $75,420
- [Electrical and Electronics Repairer, Commercial and Industrial Equipment](https://nuecareer.com/careers/electrical-and-electronics-repairer-commercial-and-industrial-equipment) — median $74,090

## Sources

- **O\*NET** — O\*NET 31.0 Database, August 2026. https://www.onetcenter.org/database.html
- **BLS OEWS** — BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025. https://www.bls.gov/oes/
- **BLS EP** — BLS Employment Projections, Table 1.2, 2025–2035. https://www.bls.gov/emp/
- **BLS OOH** — BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2025–2035 edition. https://www.bls.gov/ooh/
- **BEA RPP** — BEA Regional Price Parities by State, 2024. https://www.bea.gov/data/prices-inflation/regional-price-parities-state-and-metro-area

---

This bank includes information from the O\*NET 31.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). O\*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. NueCareer has transformed the data by joining it to BLS wage and projection data and deriving facet, personality-fit and AI-resilience scores. BLS and BEA data are public domain (17 U.S.C. §105).

O\*NET content is used under [CC BY 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). How these figures are sourced and derived: https://nuecareer.com/careers/methodology

JSON representation of this page: https://nuecareer.com/api/v1/careers/sound-engineering-technician