Indiana·Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media Occupations·SOC 27-2032

Best Choreographer programs in Indiana, ranked by enrollment

Create new dance routines. Rehearse performance of routines.

7 schools in Indiana run programs that feed this job, graduating 58 people a year. The job pays a median of $44,840 in Indiana across about jobs (BLS OEWS May 2025).

Also calledDance MakerChoreographerDance DirectorOpera ChoreographerDance MasterDancing MasterBallet DirectorDance Instructor
Graduates / yr
58
in Indiana
Median pay · Indiana
$44,840
BLS OEWS May 2025
Jobs in state
people employed
Schools
7
with a feeder program
Avg graduation rate
63%
across those schools
Median net price
$21,789
per year, IPEDS

Fields of study in Indiana that lead to this job

Grouped at the 4-digit CIP level. Numbers are graduates per year in this state.

3 programs in Indiana that lead to this job

Ranked by graduates per year in Indiana (IPEDS completions). Graduate earnings and debt are national College Scorecard figures reported at the 4-digit CIP level, so specializations within one field share a figure. Each program also links to its own Indiana page.

Degree programs that lead to this occupation, ranked by graduates per year
#ProgramGraduates / yrShare of pipelineSchoolsGrad earnings (1 yr)Median debt
1
CIP 50.0301In Indiana
37
63.8%
5$21,877$25,000
2
CIP 50.0509In Indiana
16
27.6%
4$20,667$24,994
3
CIP 50.0302In Indiana
5
8.6%
1$21,877$25,000

Top 7 schools in Indiana

Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 2 of the 7 schools in this state.

Schools ranked by graduates per year into this occupation
#SchoolGraduates / yrTop feeder programGrad earnings (1 yr)Grad rateNet priceAcceptance
1Indiana University - Bloomington
Bloomington, IN Public · 3 feeder programs
30Dance, General$14,83180%78%
2Butler University
Indianapolis, IN Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
13Dance, General80%$35,69685%
3Ball State University
Muncie, IN Public · 1 feeder programs
6Dance, General$28,83862%85%
4Anderson University
Anderson, IN Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs
4Musical Theatre54%$21,78979%
5Purdue University Fort Wayne
Fort Wayne, IN Public · 1 feeder programs
2Musical Theatre36%84%
6University of Saint Francis - Fort Wayne
Fort Wayne, IN Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
2Dance, General55%$20,01296%
7Taylor University
Upland, IN Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
1Musical Theatre74%$20,83674%

All 7 schools in Indiana

Every school in Indiana with a program that feeds this job, ordered by graduates per year. Earnings are shown for the ranked schools above; open a school profile for the rest.

All schools in Indiana that feed this occupation
SchoolCityControlGraduates / yrFeeder programs
Indiana University - BloomingtonBloomingtonPublic303
Butler UniversityIndianapolisPrivate not-for-profit131
Ball State UniversityMunciePublic61
Anderson UniversityAndersonPrivate not-for-profit42
Purdue University Fort WayneFort WaynePublic21
University of Saint Francis - Fort WayneFort WaynePrivate not-for-profit21
Taylor UniversityUplandPrivate not-for-profit11

What choreographers earn in Indiana

What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.

Median annual in Indiana
$44,840
Mean annual
$50,860
Jobs in state
What the range looks like
10th pct$41,740Median$44,84090th pct$82,280
Versus the national median
-18.9%

U.S. median $55,310. Indiana pays below the national figure.

Metro areas in Indiana

Indianapolis-Carmel-Greenwood, IN
$44,840median

Job outlook

Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections, 2024 to 2034.

Projected growth 2024–34
+6.1%
Faster than average
Openings per year
700
new jobs plus replacements
Employment change
300
4,600 → 4,900
Typical entry education
High school diploma or equivalent
Plus long-term on-the-job training

Growth and openings are national. The Bureau of Labor Statistics does not publish employment projections at state level, so these figures describe the occupation across the whole U.S., not this state alone.

How to get in

The full skills, tools, and day-to-day breakdown lives on the national Choreographers page.

How to become a Choreographer

Job zone 3 of 5 · SVP 6.0 to < 7.0
Typical entry education
High school diploma or equivalent
Work experience needed
5 years or more
On-the-job training
Long-term on-the-job training

Most occupations in this zone require training in vocational schools, related on-the-job experience, or an associate's degree.

Previous work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is required for these occupations. For example, an electrician must have completed three or four years of apprenticeship or several years of vocational training, and often must have passed a licensing exam, in order to perform the job.

Employees in these occupations usually need one or two years of training involving both on-the-job experience and informal training with experienced workers. A recognized apprenticeship program may be associated with these occupations.

Top skills

Active ListeningSpeakingMonitoringLearning StrategiesReading ComprehensionCritical Thinking

The same job in other states

Where else this occupation employs the most people, and what it pays there.

Related careers in Indiana

Every major mapped to this job

The official federal mapping behind the rankings above.

All 5 majors mapped to Choreographers5 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
  • 50.0301Dance, General
  • 50.0302Ballet
  • 50.0399Dance, Other
  • 50.0509Musical Theatre
  • 50.0512Theatre and Dance

Common questions

Answers for people weighing choreographers programs in Indiana.

What degree do you need to become a Choreographer?+

High school diploma or equivalent is the typical entry-level education BLS reports for this occupation. The most common program people actually graduate from is Dance, General, which awarded 37 degrees in Indiana in 2024-25, 63.8% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.

Which college majors lead to becoming a Choreographer?+

The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 3 programs to this occupation. The largest are Dance, Drama/Theatre Arts and Stagecraft. Together they graduate about 58 people a year in Indiana.

How much do choreographers earn in Indiana?+

The median is $44,840 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 18.9% below the U.S. median of $55,310. This is pay for people already working in the occupation, not the same thing as graduate earnings one year after finishing a degree.

Is demand for choreographers growing?+

BLS projects a +6.1% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, faster than average, with roughly 700 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.

How many schools offer programs for this career in Indiana?+

7 institutions in Indiana reported graduates from at least one of the 3 programs that feed this occupation in IPEDS 2024-25. Rankings on this page use graduates per year, because the federal data publishes no enrollment count by program.

What other job titles do choreographers work under?+

Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Dance Maker, Choreographer, Dance Director, Opera Choreographer among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 27-2032.

About the data on this page

Rankings use IPEDS completions 2024–25, degrees awarded per year. That is the closest federal measure of how many people a program puts into a career, because no federal dataset publishes enrollment by program. Wages and employment come from BLS OEWS May 2025, growth and openings from BLS Employment Projections 2024-34, and which majors lead to which jobs from the NCES CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk. Occupation descriptions, tasks, skills and tools are O*NET 30.3 (CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor/ETA).

  • BLS Occupational Employment & Wage Statistics

    May 2025

    Wages, employment counts, location quotients and metro breakdowns.

  • BLS Employment Projections

    2024–34

    Projected growth, annual openings and typical entry-level education.

  • IPEDS Completions

    2024-25 (provisional)

    Graduates per year by program and institution — the ranking metric.

  • College Scorecard, Field of Study

    2020-21 cohorts

    Median graduate earnings one year after completion, and median debt.

  • Census Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes

    latest available

    Graduate earnings 1/5/10 years out, where the state participates.

  • NCES CIP 2020 and the CIP-to-SOC 2018 crosswalk

    CIP 2020 / SOC 2018

    Which college programs officially lead to this occupation.

  • O*NET Database 30.3

    30.3

    Tasks, skills, knowledge, tools, job zone and alternate job titles.

    Official source →CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor / ETA

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