Sound Designers are in charge of getting all sound effects needed for production, whether recorded or live. This person also needs to set up the sound playback equipment and ensure that the board operator has received sufficient training.
If you're thinking of starting a career in this field, you need to be very imaginative since a production's sound design is an artistic component. To design sound effects rather than simply re-record them, you need to first study the script and meet with the Director to discuss the best sound attributes for the show. After this, you can start putting together the cue list.
As someone aspiring to be a sound designer, you must be an outstanding problem-solver. Not just this, you should be able to think quickly and clearly when anything goes wrong. Irrespective of educational background, what is essential for sound designers is a broad understanding of audio editing, microphone selection and placement, electrical engineering, and acoustics. You'll earn up to $52,966 yearly as a sound designer.
What is a Sound Designer?
What Does a Sound Designer Do
There are certain skills that many sound designers have in order to accomplish their responsibilities. By taking a look through resumes, we were able to narrow down the most common skills for a person in this position. We discovered that a lot of resumes listed communication skills, computer skills and manual dexterity.
How To Become a Sound Designer
If you're interested in becoming a sound designer, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 69.4% of sound designers have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 9.0% of sound designers have master's degrees. Even though most sound designers have a college degree, it's possible to become one with only a high school degree or GED.
Average Salary for a Sound Designer
What Am I Worth?
States With The Most Sound Designer Jobs
Mouse over a state to see the number of active sound designer jobs in each state. The darker areas on the map show where sound designers earn the highest salaries across all 50 states.
Number Of Sound Designer Jobs By State
| Rank | State | Number of Jobs | Average Salary |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | California | 2,482 | $90,134 |
| 2 | New York | 1,110 | $73,868 |
| 3 | Texas | 1,043 | $68,609 |
| 4 | Washington | 700 | $74,894 |
| 5 | Georgia | 672 | $72,628 |
| 6 | Illinois | 639 | $68,597 |
| 7 | Virginia | 635 | $92,073 |
| 8 | Massachusetts | 595 | $48,009 |
| 9 | Florida | 594 | $75,135 |
| 10 | Pennsylvania | 560 | $94,656 |
| 11 | North Carolina | 471 | $84,416 |
| 12 | Michigan | 430 | $78,123 |
| 13 | Ohio | 429 | $80,991 |
| 14 | Oregon | 375 | $92,283 |
| 15 | Minnesota | 352 | $69,022 |
| 16 | New Jersey | 330 | $85,149 |
| 17 | Colorado | 315 | $58,141 |
| 18 | Maryland | 315 | $49,983 |
| 19 | Wisconsin | 297 | $66,809 |
| 20 | Indiana | 257 | $69,950 |
| 21 | Missouri | 253 | $58,794 |
| 22 | Arizona | 249 | $88,211 |
| 23 | Utah | 194 | $68,867 |
| 24 | Tennessee | 194 | $63,196 |
| 25 | South Carolina | 168 | $72,662 |
| 26 | Connecticut | 153 | $50,213 |
| 27 | Iowa | 148 | $60,367 |
| 28 | Alabama | 147 | $74,452 |
| 29 | Kansas | 120 | $56,235 |
| 30 | Kentucky | 118 | $72,805 |
| 31 | Oklahoma | 109 | $69,459 |
| 32 | Louisiana | 85 | $76,056 |
| 33 | New Hampshire | 83 | $45,173 |
| 34 | Arkansas | 79 | $54,849 |
| 35 | Nebraska | 75 | $54,576 |
| 36 | Nevada | 75 | $51,388 |
| 37 | New Mexico | 73 | $65,442 |
| 38 | Rhode Island | 61 | $49,658 |
| 39 | Maine | 59 | $65,705 |
| 40 | Mississippi | 55 | $68,346 |
| 41 | Idaho | 54 | $65,717 |
| 42 | Delaware | 43 | $50,432 |
| 43 | West Virginia | 41 | $82,751 |
| 44 | Montana | 38 | $57,129 |
| 45 | South Dakota | 28 | $57,866 |
| 46 | North Dakota | 27 | $55,381 |
| 47 | Vermont | 25 | $39,101 |
| 48 | Alaska | 22 | $66,696 |
| 49 | Hawaii | 19 | $59,071 |
| 50 | Wyoming | 15 | $59,239 |
Top Colleges for Sound Designers
1. New York University
New York, NY • Private
2. Stanford University
Stanford, CA • Private
3. Johns Hopkins University
Baltimore, MD • Private
4. Harvard University
Cambridge, MA • Private
5. Minnesota State University - Mankato
Mankato, MN • Private
6. University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA • Private
7. Inter American University of Puerto Rico Bayamon
Bayamon, PR • Private
8. Northeastern University
Boston, MA • Private
9. California State University - Long Beach
Long Beach, CA • Private
10. Yale University
New Haven, CT • Private
Top Skills For a Sound Designer
The skills section on your resume can be almost as important as the experience section, so you want it to be an accurate portrayal of what you can do. Luckily, we've found all of the skills you'll need so even if you don't have these skills yet, you know what you need to work on. Out of all the resumes we looked through, 23.5% of sound designers listed audio assets on their resume, but soft skills such as communication skills and computer skills are important as well.
Choose From 10+ Customizable Sound Designer Resume templates
Zippia allows you to choose from different easy-to-use Sound Designer templates, and provides you with expert advice. Using the templates, you can rest assured that the structure and format of your Sound Designer resume is top notch. Choose a template with the colors, fonts & text sizes that are appropriate for your industry.
Sound Designer Demographics
Sound Designer Gender Distribution
After extensive research and analysis, Zippia's data science team found that:
- Among sound designers, 14.0% of them are women, while 86.0% are men.
- The most common race/ethnicity among sound designers is White, which makes up 68.9% of all sound designers.
- The most common foreign language among sound designers is Spanish at 45.1%.
Work Experience Programs For Sound Designers
Virtual work experience programs replicate work at top companies and help you gain the skills to be successful when applying and working there. In only a few hours, learn the relevant tools necessary to complete a typical work day at that company. Virtual work experience programs are 100% free, open-access, and self-paced. No experience or application is required!
Company: Accenture North America
Cost: Free
Duration: 5-6 hours
Company: Accenture North America
Cost: Free
Duration: 4 hours
Online Courses For Sound Designer That You May Like
What you’ll achieve: In this project-centered course*, you will create sounds and use them in your own musical compositions. Whether you're an aspiring producer, composer, or hobbyist, this course will help you gain skills in music production and confidence using software synthesizers. Along with your classmates, you will create a massive database of designed sounds, or patches, to use in your compositions. As part of the course, you will work with a free version of FXpansion Strobe 2. What...
In this course students learn the basic concepts of acoustics and electronics and how they can applied to understand musical sound and make music with electronic instruments. Topics include: sound waves, musical sound, basic electronics, and applications of these basic principles in amplifiers and speaker design...
Master sound design for music production, game audio development, film scoring, composition, and more!...
Best States For a Sound Designer
Some places are better than others when it comes to starting a career as a sound designer. The best states for people in this position are Pennsylvania, Oregon, Virginia, and California. Sound designers make the most in Pennsylvania with an average salary of $94,656. Whereas in Oregon and Virginia, they would average $92,283 and $92,073, respectively. While sound designers would only make an average of $90,134 in California, you would still make more there than in the rest of the country. We determined these as the best states based on job availability and pay. By finding the median salary, cost of living, and using the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Location Quotient, we narrowed down our list of states to these four.
1. Oregon
$92,283
Avg. Salary
2. Virginia
$92,073
Avg. Salary
3. Pennsylvania
$94,656
Avg. Salary
How Do Sound Designer Rate Their Jobs?
Top Sound Designer Employers
Most Common Employers For Sound Designer
| Rank | Company | Average Salary | Hourly Rate | Job Openings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Microsoft | $134,785 | $64.80 | 6 |
| 2 | Berklee College of Music | $118,383 | $56.91 | 4 |
| 3 | ViacomCBS | $113,788 | $54.71 | 3 |
| 4 | Full Sail University | $109,466 | $52.63 | 3 |
| 5 | PlayStation | $96,112 | $46.21 | 4 |
| 6 | Accenture | $89,068 | $42.82 | 12 |
| 7 | Harmonix Music Systems | $88,644 | $42.62 | 3 |
| 8 | Electronic Arts | $83,826 | $40.30 | 6 |
| 9 | Activision Blizzard | $81,586 | $39.22 | 3 |
| 10 | Savannah College of Art and Design | $76,141 | $36.61 | 5 |
Sound Designer Videos
