The stereotype of the starving artist must be laid to rest. A study of artists in the U.S. labor force by the National Endowment for the Arts shows the earnings of artists to be well above average—a median of $52,800 for those who worked full-time, year-round in 2012–16. Although this is less than the median for all professional workers ($60,460), it is 18 percent more than the median for the average worker ($44,640).
The National Endowment for the Arts collected data for its profile of artists by analyzing a number of government surveys including the Census Bureau's American Community Survey and Current Population Survey, and the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Contingent Workers Survey and Occupation Employment Survey. Artists are defined as those working in the following occupations, listed from most to least numerous...
Artists in the labor force
Designers: 938,000
Architects: 256,000
Art directors, fine artists, animators: 247,000
Writers and authors: 235,000
Photographers: 225,000
Musicians: 194,000
Producers and directors: 188,000
Other entertainers: 71,000
Actors: 53,000
Announcers: 51,000
Dancers and choreographers: 23,000
Fully 2.4 million workers are employed as artists in their primary occupation. Another 333,000 workers are artists as a second job. Musicians are the ones most likely to be artists as a second job (35 percent).
The 58 percent majority of those who are artists in their primary job work for a private company, 30 percent are self-employed, 7 percent work for a nonprofit, and 5 percent for government. Most of those who work as artists in a second job are self-employed (58 percent).
The median age of artists ranges from a low of 26 among dancers and choreographers to a high of 45 among architects and musicians. The median earnings in 2012–16 of artists who worked full-time ranged from a low of $31,150 for dancers and choreographers to a high of $76,680 for architects.
Source: National Endowment for the Arts, Artists and Other Cultural Workers: A Statistical Portrait
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