The salary statistics of artists and related workers are shown in Table 1. The average hourly salary of artists and related workers in the United States is shown in Table 2. In the next few tables we compare the average salaries of artists and related workers within different industry sectors and in the 50 states of the United States. The artists and related workers annual salary statistics are from the national compensation survey conducted by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics in 2022 and published in April 2023 [1].
| Percentile Bracket | Average Annual Salary |
|---|---|
| 10th Percentile Wage | $41,830 |
| 25th Percentile Wage | $62,460 |
| 50th Percentile Wage | $95,220 |
| 75th Percentile Wage | $132,790 |
| 90th Percentile Wage | $178,100 |
Table 1 shows the average annual salary for artists and related workers. The average annual salary for the 90th percentile (the top 10 percent of the highest paid) artists and related workers is $178,100. The median annual salary (50th percentile) is $95,220. The average annual salary for the bottom 10 percent is $41,830. Take note that in the United States, the annual salary of the 90th percentile (the top 10 percent of the highest paid) is almost 325% higher than that of the bottom 10 percent.
The table and chart below show the trend of the median salary of artists and related workers from 2012 to 2022.
| Year | Median Salary | Yearly Growth | 10-Year Growth |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | $95,220 | 14.94% | 33.50% |
| 2021 | $80,990 | 0.78% | - |
| 2020 | $80,360 | 3.87% | - |
| 2019 | $77,250 | 2.15% | - |
| 2018 | $75,590 | 1.98% | - |
| 2017 | $74,090 | 5.41% | - |
| 2016 | $70,080 | 3.51% | - |
| 2015 | $67,620 | 2.60% | - |
| 2014 | $65,860 | 1.55% | - |
| 2013 | $64,840 | 2.34% | - |
| 2012 | $63,320 | - | - |
The average salaries of artists and related workers in 17 major industry sectors are shown in Table 2. We note that the salaries vary considerably within different industry sectors. The highest paying industry sector for artists and related workers occupations is the finance and insurance sector with an annual salary $122,780. The lowest paying sector is the health care and social assistance sector (annual salary $43,680).