Salary

Average Salary: $46,000

Expected Lifetime Earnings: $1,920,408


But until then, you just get to play with this little guy. (Source)

Your typical audio engineer takes home a median salary of $56,610. A job early on this career track, for example, "assistant audio engineer," might make you something in the range of $32,000 a year, whereas a senior engineer earns around $72,000 (source). 

That's a rather middle class salary range, but there are definitely those who soar high in this field and earn more using their resourcefulness and exemplary auditory gifts. It does, of course, take some luck to get your name tied to the really big name acts and poncy woncy jobs. Your expectations in this field should have more to do with finding work you enjoy than getting mega-daddy-warbucks-rich.