Best degree programs for Musical Instrument Repairers and Tuners, ranked by enrollment
1 college programs and 8 schools train Musical Instrument Repairers and Tuners. Compare graduates per year, cost and pay, $46,420 median wage, 5,380 U.S. jobs. Federal data.
1 college programs at 8 schools train musical instrument repairers and tuners, graduating 201 people a year (IPEDS completions). The largest is Musical Instrument Fabrication and Repair. The job pays a median of $46,420 (BLS OEWS May 2025).
About musical instrument repairers and tuners
Repair percussion, stringed, reed, or wind instruments. May specialize in one area, such as piano tuning.
Fields of study that lead to this job
Grouped at the 4-digit CIP level, the tier our program pages are built on. Numbers are graduates per year.
1 degree programs that lead to this job
Ranked by graduates per year (IPEDS completions). Graduate earnings and debt are College Scorecard figures for people who finished the program, reported at the 4-digit CIP level, so specializations within one field share a figure. That is a different measurement from the occupation-wide wages further down this page.
| # | Program | Graduates / yr | Share of pipeline | Schools | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Median debt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | CIP 47.0404 | 201 | 100.0% | 8 | $30,986 | $16,687 |
Top 8 schools by graduates into this job
Counting every feeder program a school offers, not just its largest one.
| # | School | Graduates / yr | Top feeder program | Grad rate | Net price | Acceptance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Minnesota State College Southeast Winona, MN Public · 1 feeder programs | 63 | Musical Instrument Fabrication and Repair | 47% | — | — |
| 2 | Roberto - Venn School of Luthiery Phoenix, AZ Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 49 | Musical Instrument Fabrication and Repair | 100% | $25,894 | — |
| 3 | Musicians Institute Hollywood, CA Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 41 | Musical Instrument Fabrication and Repair | 53% | $37,963 | 78% |
| 4 | North Bennet Street School Boston, MA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 25 | Musical Instrument Fabrication and Repair | 90% | $35,199 | — |
| 5 | Renton Technical College Renton, WA Public · 1 feeder programs | 15 | Musical Instrument Fabrication and Repair | 46% | — | — |
| 6 | Western Iowa Tech Community College Sioux City, IA Public · 1 feeder programs | 5 | Musical Instrument Fabrication and Repair | 50% | — | — |
| 7 | De Anza College Cupertino, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 2 | Musical Instrument Fabrication and Repair | 68% | — | — |
| 8 | Palomar College San Marcos, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 1 | Musical Instrument Fabrication and Repair | 38% | — | — |
What musical instrument repairers and tuners earn
What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.
Top-paying states
Top-paying metro areas
Job outlook
Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections, 2024 to 2034.
Where the jobs are, state by state
Pick a state for in-state pay, the schools there, and the programs they run.
| State | Median pay | Jobs | Concentration | Schools | Graduates / yr |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Minnesotalimited | $44,230 | 100 | 1.01× | 1 | 63 |
| Arizonalimited | $37,850 | 110 | 1.01× | 1 | 49 |
| Californiamoderate | $47,580 | 520 | 0.82× | 3 | 44 |
| Massachusettslimited | $46,820 | 130 | 1.00× | 1 | 25 |
| Washingtonlimited | $43,330 | 150 | 1.22× | 1 | 15 |
| Iowalimited | $38,700 | 90 | 1.61× | 1 | 5 |
Skills and tools
From O*NET, the U.S. Department of Labor's occupational database. Importance is a 1 to 5 scale.
What they do day to day
- Adjust string tensions to tune instruments, using hand tools and electronic tuning devices.
- Compare instrument pitches with tuning tool pitches to tune instruments.
- Play instruments to evaluate their sound quality and to locate any defects.
- Disassemble instruments and parts for repair and adjustment.
- Repair or replace musical instrument parts and components, such as strings, bridges, felts, and keys, using hand and power tools.
- Reassemble instruments following repair, using hand tools and power tools and glue, hair, yarn, resin, or clamps, and lubricate instruments as necessary.
- Inspect instruments to locate defects, and to determine their value or the level of restoration required.
- Shape old parts and replacement parts to improve tone or intonation, using hand tools, lathes, or soldering irons.
Skills
- Critical Thinking3.6
- Active Listening3.0
- Speaking3.0
- Reading Comprehension3.0
- Monitoring2.9
- Writing2.8
- Active Learning2.8
- Learning Strategies2.4
Knowledge areas
- Customer and Personal Service4.3
- Mechanical3.8
- Fine Arts3.5
- English Language3.4
- Administration and Management2.9
- Sales and Marketing2.9
Abilities
- Hearing Sensitivity4.4
- Near Vision4.0
- Arm-Hand Steadiness4.0
- Manual Dexterity4.0
- Finger Dexterity4.0
- Auditory Attention3.8
Core activities
- Making Decisions and Solving Problems4.2
- Getting Information4.0
- Thinking Creatively3.7
- Handling and Moving Objects3.7
- Judging the Qualities of Objects, Services, or People3.7
- Establishing and Maintaining Interpersonal Relationships3.6
Tools and technology
hotmarks an O*NET hot technologyHow to get in
How to become a Musical Instrument Repairer
Job zone 3 of 5 · SVP 6.0 to < 7.0- Typical entry education
- High school diploma or equivalent
- On-the-job training
- Apprenticeship
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.
Every major mapped to this job
The official federal mapping behind the rankings above.
All 1 majors mapped to Musical Instrument Repairers and Tuners1 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
- 47.0404Musical Instrument Fabrication and Repair
Related careers
Jobs O*NET identifies as close to this one, with their own pay and outlook.
Common questions
What degree do you need to become a Musical Instrument Repairer?+
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 Musical Instrument Fabrication and Repair, which awarded 201 degrees in 2024-25, 100.0% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.
Which college majors lead to becoming a Musical Instrument Repairer?+
The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 1 programs to this occupation. The largest are Precision Systems Maintenance and Repair Technologies/Technicians. Together they graduate about 201 people a year.
How much do musical instrument repairers and tuners earn?+
The median is $46,420 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). The middle range runs from $31,220 at the 10th percentile to $71,600 at the 90th. 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 musical instrument repairers and tuners growing?+
BLS projects a +1.4% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, little or no change, with roughly 600 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.
How many schools offer programs for this career?+
8 institutions reported graduates from at least one of the 1 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 musical instrument repairers and tuners work under?+
Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Luthier, Piano Tuner, Piano Technician (Piano Tech), Instrument Repair Technician (Instrument Repair Tech) among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 49-9063.
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 2025Wages, employment counts, location quotients and metro breakdowns.
BLS Employment Projections
2024–34Projected 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 cohortsMedian graduate earnings one year after completion, and median debt.
Census Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes
latest availableGraduate earnings 1/5/10 years out, where the state participates.
NCES CIP 2020 and the CIP-to-SOC 2018 crosswalk
CIP 2020 / SOC 2018Which college programs officially lead to this occupation.
O*NET Database 30.3
30.3Tasks, 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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