Salary
Average Salary: $45,000
Expected Lifetime Earnings: $1,878,660
The average salary for a K-12 music teacher is $45k a year.
How much you make really depends on how much experience you have and where you live. If you live in Podunk, USA, be thankful for $30k, benefits, and a pension.
If, however, you work at either a fancy private school or one of the top public high schools in a posh area that's known for winning music competitions, then your street rep goes up. Add in an advanced degree and any extra responsibilities (like being a choir director and head of an award-winning jazz band), and you could be looking at six figures. However, plum jobs like these are few and far between. Better to be realistic and count your lucky stars if you can find work to begin with, considering all the budget cuts going on in the arts.
Sure, you can teach private lessons after school (or you can skip the school route altogether and just teach kids an instrument in one-on-one lessons). However, it's not that easy to build a sustainable client base. At least with teaching in school you're guaranteed a salary, benefits, and a pension.
The pay for private instructors depends on their experience, fame, and location. Many famous musicians and working studio musicians teach out of their homes and their rates are obviously higher (some even command upwards of $120/hour). Most private instructors make between $40-$70 an hour, but they don't teach all day long. In fact, they're lucky if they have a steady stream of students for even a few hours every day. Private instructors have tight connections with their school counterparts, who recommend and send their students to them for that much needed one-on-one instruction.
If you plan on making your living as a working musician, then teaching privately is a must to help supplement your income. If you plan on teaching at a school, odds are you'll be too tired to teach lessons on top of all of your other responsibilities, except maybe on weekends or during the summer.